I just finished reading this - read for a solid 3 hours and 30 minutes as I couldn't put it down, except to get on and off the MRT and bus, and to come up for air occasionally. It was an absolutely amazing and addictive read, as addictive as the Indomee in the title. I regret not purchasing this earlier when I saw it at the Huggs Epigram store and realized that it was initially published by my favourite Malaysian indie publisher, Buku Fixi. What a way for my two worlds to collide - my favourite Singaporean fiction publisher together with Fixi? This confused the heck out of me, but knowing Amir and knowing Edmund, I knew that the results were going to be explosive in some ways. And boy, explosive does not even come close to describing this reading experience.
At first glance, this book confused the heck out of me - at times I thought that I was reading a typical Malay romance novel, but I knew something was coming up on the horizon. I know Amir's aversion towards cheesy romantic novels, and that there was no way he would choose to publish such a story (and no judgement on great Malay romance novels here, I love them just as much as any Bedah down the street). The pacing is fast (I find that to be one of the most delightful differences between reading an Indonesian and Malaysian novel) and Ratu is a heroine who's not easy to love. But the character growth! The development of complex feelings! The story arc that had me constantly reading ahead to the next page as I just had to know what happened next - this book was a dizzying roller coaster ride and I savoured every second of it, as much as I savour every curly strand of Indomee goreng at the
bottom of the bowl after I've glommed a whole pack in a single sitting. Personally, I find it interesting to read books when it's hard to like the main character, as you are forced to suspend your prejudice and learn and grow with them. Now that's what I call masterful writing. Also loved the scenes of everyday Jakarta life and the trip to Jogjakarta - having gone to both places, I relished the chance to relive the memories (bakso, Thamrin, Prambanan) and the KPop culture references totally cracked me up and
I appreciated them greatly. The writer also had the time to throw in a jibe about the Singaporean bureaucracy. As a Singaporean I loved that tongue in cheek reference hahaha!
And the twist ladies and gentlemen, delivered via Epilogue 2 - you will NOT expect it and it just elevates the book from great to excellent and unforgetable.
Kudos to the author for writing such a book, and to Amir and Edmund for this (what seemed to me) to be a left field yet long overdue collaboration. While this was the first, I sure hope it won't be the last. I can even classify this as one of the few truly Southeast Asian novels that I had the privilege of reading in my lifetime, and I demand more!!
Now off to find the book in the original language so that I can savour it again in another language. Never happier to be proficient in both languages - double the enjoyment woohoo!