personal rating — 3.5/5🌟
genre(s) — young adult, slice of life
trope(s) — eldest daughter struggles, friendship core, not-so-meet-cute, enemy/rival to not-so-lover maybe something like special friend, found family
⚠️ There will be minor spoilers so read at your own risk. Sorry in advance, for any manglish words used in this review!
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I have mixed feelings honestly. However, let’s start with what I like about this book:
🍓 Cameron Highlands setting! Reading the info dump about foods, places and activities in this book got me thinking that the author really did a great job in conveying those things. I enjoy reading about the making of Nek Suria’s sambal! As someone who rarely cooks (unless mum is in the kitchen with me🙂↔️) I love getting new knowledge about food recipes😍 the sharing about wasting rice hits too🥹
🍓 Hanan’s personality. The way I can relate so much to her as an eldest daughter, + her relationship with her mother (sometimes rainbow sometimes hurricane ya like that). Our intention has always been good, but people are used to interpreting it the other way round🥲 That ONE PARAGRAPH at that one page left my mouth hanging while reading because THAT’S SO CRUEL OF THE AUTHOR TO ATTACK ME LIKE THAT💔 with.those.words.😭 Hanan’s character development in letting go, moving on and grieving over from the past >>> when she wanted to leave people first so that she won’t get hurt😭 her father’s absence left her traumatised and i truly feel her to my core❤️🩹
🍓 Their friendship- Hanan, Elyas, Julie, Donny & Rasyid! VERY CUTESYYY 🩷 Julie & Rasyid kinda make a cute pair tho… 👀
🍓 Hanan & Elyas’ dynamic. Their bickering tickles the humour in me 😆 it is realistic how ego Elyas is as a guy- not wanting to say sorry during their first encounter haha. Although some might get the ick with Hanan at that scene for being so petty, it is understandable (for me) after knowing her backstory.
🍓 The writing. This is one of the factors i didn’t drop this book outta my cr. To beginners, worry not because the English used in this book is easy to understand, at the same time I got to learn new words too. I would say this book is suitable for young adults (high schoolers) yang baru nak nampak hitam putih dunia. You can get A LOT to learn from this tale. Especially to those who’s finding and catching their dreams ✨
🍓 The plot twist of Elyas’ actual aim in coming to Cameron Highlands. Oof… I didn’t see that coming honestly. But based on Hanan’s POV, there were droplets of hints about Elyas’ backstory. I was the one who doesn’t really put my focus to it.
🍓 THE ENDING. BRO THIS IS LITERALLY THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE BOOK because it made me change the book’s rating😭🫶🏻 the scene before epilogue welled my eyes with tears luckily i was in public or else i would bawl😭😭😭 it broke me that it was meant to be bittersweet but REALISTICALLY CUTE!! 🥹🤍
I wouldn’t say there is something I don’t like about this book, but some things were just not for me. Please don’t let my thoughts bother you otherwise. As a reader, our responsibility is to read and evaluate the work by ourselves, ite?
🍓 Taylor once said “It’s me, hi I’m the problem it’s me” and yes in this case, it is my problem for putting much expectation for the percentage of slice of life and romance. HANAN AND ELYAS GOT SO MUCH POTENTIAL😭🫵🏻 i need more romance in them PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE being more-than-a-friend but less-than-a-couple is not enough for them. Their rival phase was not much either but I did enjoy their banter and sarcasm, I really wish there were more scenes of Hanan & Elyas flirting with each other😔🫶🏻
🍓 It was written by POV3 but I somehow can only feel Hanan’s side (I wouldn’t say mostly because what I actually feel is wholely Hanan’s) it is much better if I know what Elyas has been feeling towards Hanan. This is just my POV as a romance sucker, but at the same time I understand what the author’s trying to deliver—TDWH is largely about Hanan’s growth. Life is not just about love gitu.
🍓 I acknowledged it earlier that this book’s setting is in Malaysia, the characters are all Malaysian too. And it is acceptable for some words that genuinely looks Malaysian like ‘ibu’ or ‘sambal’ is included in a sentence. But when there are several Manglish lines (for example, ‘Jadi, where do you want to go tonight?’ this is just an example!) it sorta disturbs my reading journey. Eventhough my English isn’t that fluent, I like it better when an overall English book is using full english sentences to describe a dialogue either narrative.
🍓 Donny is a Sabahan, eh? 😭 i dont know if I ada terlepas any of his background details tapi i really need a translator everytime he bukak mulut😭😭 because i legit can only understand 50% of what he’s talking about! 😭 not just Donny but Julie, Hanan’s friend (a chinese girl) does talk in Chinese too (not all but some words). As someone who learns chinese for 2 years last time, bolehlah i faham sikit sikit apa dia cakap tu. I think it’s better if the author includes the meaning of what she’s saying (if it’s not in Malay/English) right after the dialogue so that the readers can comprehend it straightforwardly.