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Revenge, Murder in Three Parts
‘Before I go into my grave,’ she says out loud, ‘I will kill that man.’
A brilliant new novel from the author of Real Differences. A family favour their son over their daughter. Shan attends university before making his fortune in Australia while Yannie must find menial employment and care for her ageing parents. After her mother’s death, Yannie travels to Sydney to become enmeshed in her psychopathic brother’s new life, which she seeks to undermine from within …
This is a novel that rages against capitalism, hetero-supremacy, mothers, fathers, families – the whole damn thing. It’s about what happens when you want to make art but are born in the wrong time and place.
S. L. Lim brings to vivid life the frustrations of a talented daughter and vengeful sister in a nuanced and riveting novel that ends in the most unexpected way. It will not be easily forgotten.
A brilliant new novel from the author of Real Differences. A family favour their son over their daughter. Shan attends university before making his fortune in Australia while Yannie must find menial employment and care for her ageing parents. After her mother’s death, Yannie travels to Sydney to become enmeshed in her psychopathic brother’s new life, which she seeks to undermine from within …
This is a novel that rages against capitalism, hetero-supremacy, mothers, fathers, families – the whole damn thing. It’s about what happens when you want to make art but are born in the wrong time and place.
S. L. Lim brings to vivid life the frustrations of a talented daughter and vengeful sister in a nuanced and riveting novel that ends in the most unexpected way. It will not be easily forgotten.
240 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
April 24, 2021
Shortlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize
Is Revenge, Murder in Three Parts a pacy thriller as its title might imply? Not at all—it is a family drama dealing with the lie of meritocracy, thwarted dreams, and how deeply unfair life can be. It’s about the way unearned privilege can manifest, even within families, and create impossible rifts.
This novel is a slow, barely contained seethe. Protagonist Yannie has led a life of accumulated injustices; meanwhile her abusive, malignant brother Shan receives one leg-up after another, on his way to becoming the successful ‘self made’ man. The unfairness of it all, combined with the promise of the titular murder, is an effective fishhook to keep you reading.
I absolutely ate this book up, although I’m not a fan of antagonists who are 100% rotten—Shan’s despicableness makes it much too easy to side with Yannie the whole way, to see her as entirely blameless, her moral choices as justified.
Lim takes some welcome risks in the writing here. The prologue and epilogue are exaggeratedly long (it’s quite something to become completely absorbed, forget you’re reading a prologue, get a third of the way through the book, and then see the words ‘Chapter One’ like a slap in the face); Lim breaks the fourth wall at one point towards the final pages; a few other literary tricks are sprinkled here and there. But it’s not overdone—most of the novel is told in a straightforward, direct way, letting the situations carry the drama.
I think what impressed me most about this novel is how confident it is. Lim’s writing is unapologetic and this novel is so much its own thing, never quite delivering what you expect it to. Terrific stuff.
Is Revenge, Murder in Three Parts a pacy thriller as its title might imply? Not at all—it is a family drama dealing with the lie of meritocracy, thwarted dreams, and how deeply unfair life can be. It’s about the way unearned privilege can manifest, even within families, and create impossible rifts.
This novel is a slow, barely contained seethe. Protagonist Yannie has led a life of accumulated injustices; meanwhile her abusive, malignant brother Shan receives one leg-up after another, on his way to becoming the successful ‘self made’ man. The unfairness of it all, combined with the promise of the titular murder, is an effective fishhook to keep you reading.
I absolutely ate this book up, although I’m not a fan of antagonists who are 100% rotten—Shan’s despicableness makes it much too easy to side with Yannie the whole way, to see her as entirely blameless, her moral choices as justified.
Lim takes some welcome risks in the writing here. The prologue and epilogue are exaggeratedly long (it’s quite something to become completely absorbed, forget you’re reading a prologue, get a third of the way through the book, and then see the words ‘Chapter One’ like a slap in the face); Lim breaks the fourth wall at one point towards the final pages; a few other literary tricks are sprinkled here and there. But it’s not overdone—most of the novel is told in a straightforward, direct way, letting the situations carry the drama.
I think what impressed me most about this novel is how confident it is. Lim’s writing is unapologetic and this novel is so much its own thing, never quite delivering what you expect it to. Terrific stuff.
April 14, 2021
Revenge and Murder. Both are found in this short novel, but they are not what drives this story. This is a story about family dynamics within a culture that is skewed towards male children. A narrative about how a male child is given almost a free ride through life, while his sister is not even offered a seat on the bus.
Yannie is sent flying through the air, thrown by Shan, her fourteen-year-old brother. She is not quite sure what she did to warrant this attack but hates the feeling of helplessness that comes with it. But what can she do, he is three years older and twice her weight? Yannie is ok; this is not the first and won’t be the last time physical violence has erupted between the siblings. Acceptance of this behaviour. and its lack of punishment, instilled long ago.
Yannie carries around a paper cutter with her at all times. But she would never use it would she? But why not? She imagines what it would be like to use it. Could she use it?
It is not only her brother that makes Yannie’s world unbearable. Her mother abuses her not only physically but verbally as well. Her father, with all his attention focussed on his son, seems to forget he even has a daughter.
Yannie is an exceptional student, top of her class. And yet, when it comes time for her to move on to university, her family has no money left, all of it gone to her brother Shan. The money that was for Yannie used for Shan to continue his studies at Oxford. Is this neglect towards Yannie because she is the second child, or the fact that she is a girl? Is it the parent’s fault for actions that are ingrained in the culture? An awful thought that geography, the place of your birth, can determine your education and life.
Skip ahead to the future and Shan has moved to Australia and is living a lucrative life, while Yannie is left at home working in the family’s little shop and ironically looking after her parents. And yet it’s not ironical. This is the culture; daughters have been staying home and looking after the parents for generations. Yannie is the anomaly.
The narrative moves at speed, perhaps a little too much speed. I believe that this book would have benefitted from a few more pages and more time devoted to the middle of the book. Shan is an integral character and yet I felt that I knew next to nothing about him. His history, his relationship with his wife and daughter who are also vital to the story.
Some interesting questions are posed towards the end of the book. If somebody in your family is committing illegal acts, what is your familial duty to that person? Do you do the right thing, the morally correct action and expose your sibling? How far would you be prepared to go to keep the secret? Without giving anything away, the ending of this book is a bit of a moral quagmire. Relationships between parent and child, brother and sister, are strained to breaking point, and you find yourself thinking what would I do in this situation? Revenge, Murder, well it is the title of the book.
3.5 Stars.
Yannie is sent flying through the air, thrown by Shan, her fourteen-year-old brother. She is not quite sure what she did to warrant this attack but hates the feeling of helplessness that comes with it. But what can she do, he is three years older and twice her weight? Yannie is ok; this is not the first and won’t be the last time physical violence has erupted between the siblings. Acceptance of this behaviour. and its lack of punishment, instilled long ago.
Yannie carries around a paper cutter with her at all times. But she would never use it would she? But why not? She imagines what it would be like to use it. Could she use it?
It is not only her brother that makes Yannie’s world unbearable. Her mother abuses her not only physically but verbally as well. Her father, with all his attention focussed on his son, seems to forget he even has a daughter.
Yannie is an exceptional student, top of her class. And yet, when it comes time for her to move on to university, her family has no money left, all of it gone to her brother Shan. The money that was for Yannie used for Shan to continue his studies at Oxford. Is this neglect towards Yannie because she is the second child, or the fact that she is a girl? Is it the parent’s fault for actions that are ingrained in the culture? An awful thought that geography, the place of your birth, can determine your education and life.
Skip ahead to the future and Shan has moved to Australia and is living a lucrative life, while Yannie is left at home working in the family’s little shop and ironically looking after her parents. And yet it’s not ironical. This is the culture; daughters have been staying home and looking after the parents for generations. Yannie is the anomaly.
The narrative moves at speed, perhaps a little too much speed. I believe that this book would have benefitted from a few more pages and more time devoted to the middle of the book. Shan is an integral character and yet I felt that I knew next to nothing about him. His history, his relationship with his wife and daughter who are also vital to the story.
Some interesting questions are posed towards the end of the book. If somebody in your family is committing illegal acts, what is your familial duty to that person? Do you do the right thing, the morally correct action and expose your sibling? How far would you be prepared to go to keep the secret? Without giving anything away, the ending of this book is a bit of a moral quagmire. Relationships between parent and child, brother and sister, are strained to breaking point, and you find yourself thinking what would I do in this situation? Revenge, Murder, well it is the title of the book.
3.5 Stars.
April 24, 2021
Wow this was good. Revenge is not the crime narrative that the title suggests. Instead, it’s a story about unearned privilege and the damage it can wreck in both small and big ways, in families, in business, in friendships, and in the world. The threat to our just desire for a meritocracy is very real in this world. Lim aligns her reader expertly with the rage of her narrator and the threat of violence and injustice lingers just below the surface of every interaction. Alongside this, there is some really thoughtful analysis about the relationship between and priorities of different generations, and the gaps in understanding which inevitably open up in this space. Lim balances the experimental elements of her narrative effectively with extremely compelling storytelling. I genuinely found this one difficult to put down.
March 17, 2021
Sadly I couldn't get this title in a physical copy. It was only available ton me on Scribd in audiobook. all in all I liked this book but I wasn't wowed by it. The strong mysterious voice of Yannie accompanies us throughout the story. Her mother is unkind, her father manipulative, and her brother is violent and unfeeling. Yannie is subjected to everything her family puts onto her back. This being said the author allows Yannie to grow and to harden a shell around her. The writing and strong voice are the best bits about this novel, however things start to to disperse too much for me and the story has one too many twists and turns. It starts to feel repetitive in places and by the end it feels like there are things that have not been very well explained. I'd definitely reread something else by this author. She has some interesting ideas for a story. I don't think this tittle will win the Stella Prize. I don't think it will be shortlisted either.
January 1, 2021
I love feminist books that come from a place of female rage. Queer and poor and female, Yannie is overlooked by her family and society at every turn and denied earned and deserved opportunities. She absorbs her anger at the unfairness in this world and hustles her way through until it simply can no longer live inside her. Any child of immigrants will relate to so much of what is here.
December 10, 2020
Revenge was sitting in the 'crime' section of my local bookshop, but it's not the story of a murder in the way that might make you imagine. It's a jagged and strange book, a rejection of family as the fundamental organisation principle of someone's life. The politics sometimes overwhelms the story-telling, but it's a stinging attack on sexism and power structures and a bracingly sharp portrait of a fascinating main character.
April 16, 2021
Oh man, this was boring.
#StellaPrize Shortlist 2021.
#StellaPrize Shortlist 2021.
August 19, 2020
Revenge: Murder in Three Parts (Transit Lounge 2020) is the second novel by S.L. Lim. Set in two countries, as with her first book, Real Differences, Revenge examines the cultural norms and expectations of a diverse family, but while the societal and class privilege themes are prevalent, it is the exploration of family dynamics that drives this novel’s narrative.
Yannie is expected to stay at home and care for her aging parents while her brother Shan is sent overseas, eventually to Australia, to study and make his fortune. Her brother was an atrocious bully to her when they were growing up – a vicious, violent and threatening presence. And when Yannie visits Australia as an adult, after her parents’ deaths, she finds that her brother has not changed. Her childhood claim: ‘Before I go into my grave, I will kill that man’ hangs like a portent over the many stages of her life. The depictions of Shan’s violence during childhood are truly terrible and although many years pass, it is fascinating to watch the dynamics unfold as the siblings reconnect – between each other, between Shan and his wife and daughter, between Shan and his employees.
The narrative moved too quickly for me from Yannie’s childhood to her adolescence to her life as an older person, merely skimming over much in the middle. But I can see what the author is doing – connecting those early abusive experiences with the circumstances in which she finds herself in later life. Never was there a more appropriate truism, that ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’.
Despite the slightly unsettling speed of the story, I believe this is a much more sophisticated novel than the author’s first book, and the development of her themes and her writing is apparent. It will be very interesting to see how S.L. Lim’s craft is honed in future work.
The strength of Revenge is in the characterisations and the thought that has gone into the dynamics of relationships and power, the case of capitalism versus art, and the nuanced complexities of sexuality. There are a couple of completely unexpected plot twists that really surprised me, and the ending is strangely different to the rest of the narrative, with an unearthly, poetic and dreamlike quality.
Yannie is not necessarily always likeable but she is definitely a character that is continually evolving, and someone who demonstrates courage, persistence and fortitude in the face of many disadvantages. This is very much a book about the expectations upon daughters and sisters and wives, and about what happens when you don’t meet those expectations, or when you deny your own desires in the service of familial duty and responsibility.
Occasionally I discovered a lyrical line or passage that shows what this writer is capable of and which encapsulated the themes explored in this story, for example: ‘It is possible to love a person, a place, a time, without wanting to remain there’. Simple, poignant and true.
Yannie is expected to stay at home and care for her aging parents while her brother Shan is sent overseas, eventually to Australia, to study and make his fortune. Her brother was an atrocious bully to her when they were growing up – a vicious, violent and threatening presence. And when Yannie visits Australia as an adult, after her parents’ deaths, she finds that her brother has not changed. Her childhood claim: ‘Before I go into my grave, I will kill that man’ hangs like a portent over the many stages of her life. The depictions of Shan’s violence during childhood are truly terrible and although many years pass, it is fascinating to watch the dynamics unfold as the siblings reconnect – between each other, between Shan and his wife and daughter, between Shan and his employees.
The narrative moved too quickly for me from Yannie’s childhood to her adolescence to her life as an older person, merely skimming over much in the middle. But I can see what the author is doing – connecting those early abusive experiences with the circumstances in which she finds herself in later life. Never was there a more appropriate truism, that ‘revenge is a dish best served cold’.
Despite the slightly unsettling speed of the story, I believe this is a much more sophisticated novel than the author’s first book, and the development of her themes and her writing is apparent. It will be very interesting to see how S.L. Lim’s craft is honed in future work.
The strength of Revenge is in the characterisations and the thought that has gone into the dynamics of relationships and power, the case of capitalism versus art, and the nuanced complexities of sexuality. There are a couple of completely unexpected plot twists that really surprised me, and the ending is strangely different to the rest of the narrative, with an unearthly, poetic and dreamlike quality.
Yannie is not necessarily always likeable but she is definitely a character that is continually evolving, and someone who demonstrates courage, persistence and fortitude in the face of many disadvantages. This is very much a book about the expectations upon daughters and sisters and wives, and about what happens when you don’t meet those expectations, or when you deny your own desires in the service of familial duty and responsibility.
Occasionally I discovered a lyrical line or passage that shows what this writer is capable of and which encapsulated the themes explored in this story, for example: ‘It is possible to love a person, a place, a time, without wanting to remain there’. Simple, poignant and true.
July 1, 2022
I like how S.L Lim wrote this book and the words that she chose to use 😊 And like any other books that I love. I didn't want it to end. I am looking forward to reading Lim's next book.
The characterisation of each personality was excellent, and yes, many truths about Asian families and their preferences. However, this also varies between generations and neighbourhoods.
The 4-stars is because the conclusion, I felt, was quite abrupt. There are some bits that I think need to be deciphered more or expanded, just like the book's preface. Going into it, I didn't know when the prologue would end, but it was satisfying.
The characterisation of each personality was excellent, and yes, many truths about Asian families and their preferences. However, this also varies between generations and neighbourhoods.
The 4-stars is because the conclusion, I felt, was quite abrupt. There are some bits that I think need to be deciphered more or expanded, just like the book's preface. Going into it, I didn't know when the prologue would end, but it was satisfying.
July 15, 2021
Revenge, Murder in Three Parts is an intriguing tale that follows Malaysian-Chinese woman Yannie Chin through her adolescence, adulthood and into her later years. Despite the title, the book doesn't actually fit within the crime or mystery genres.
Part 1, a lengthy prologue, opens in the mid-20th century with Yannie, who lives with her father, mother and older brother Shan in Malaysia. The family live a working-class existence, running the local grocery shop. Yannie is frequently physically, verbally and emotionally abused by Shan, who to me shows many signs of being a functioning psychopath. Yannie is more intelligent and performs better at school, but the family choose to spend all the available funds, even subjecting the business to crippling debt, to enable Shan to pursue a top-notch tertiary education. Her resentment is palpable and understandable, a predicament shared by many women in both the western and developing worlds up to the present time. Meanwhile, Yannie must moulder at home, running the shop and caring for her aging parents. She never marries, but hides a continuing and apparently unconditional adoration of her (female) schoolfriend, Shuying.
In Part 2, we catch up with Yannie in middle age. Her parents have died and Shan has shamelessly claimed the entirety of any estate they left, despite his own wealth. Yannie lives in a small flat and supports herself by tutoring high school students. A family wedding in Sydney, Australia, gives Yannie the opportunity to view the lifestyle Shan enjoys with his family and as CEO of a successful financial services firm. She's intent on seeking revenge for the way he's profited at her expense. Her resolve is tested when she bonds with Shan's wife and 16-year-old daughter, and discovers that Shan is still a volatile bully within his own household.
This is the first of S.L. Lim's books that I've had the pleasure to read, and it won't be the last. Her portrayal of Yannie is intelligent and insightful. She also captures cultural conflict with a well-trained eye. Yannie's niece Kat provides a valuable counterpoint to Yannie's own experience. Brought up in Australia, in a household of comparable wealth, she's blessed by a multitude of resources and opportunities. Yet still there is conflict surrounding her parents' expectations and significant stress in the family. The relationship Yannie develops with Kat carries through into the final, more reflective Part 3 of the book, which brings the story full circle.
I'd thoroughly recommend Revenge, Murder in Three Parts to readers of contemporary fiction, particularly those with an interest in gendered experience and family dysfunction. This is a book that will keep me thinking for some time.
Part 1, a lengthy prologue, opens in the mid-20th century with Yannie, who lives with her father, mother and older brother Shan in Malaysia. The family live a working-class existence, running the local grocery shop. Yannie is frequently physically, verbally and emotionally abused by Shan, who to me shows many signs of being a functioning psychopath. Yannie is more intelligent and performs better at school, but the family choose to spend all the available funds, even subjecting the business to crippling debt, to enable Shan to pursue a top-notch tertiary education. Her resentment is palpable and understandable, a predicament shared by many women in both the western and developing worlds up to the present time. Meanwhile, Yannie must moulder at home, running the shop and caring for her aging parents. She never marries, but hides a continuing and apparently unconditional adoration of her (female) schoolfriend, Shuying.
In Part 2, we catch up with Yannie in middle age. Her parents have died and Shan has shamelessly claimed the entirety of any estate they left, despite his own wealth. Yannie lives in a small flat and supports herself by tutoring high school students. A family wedding in Sydney, Australia, gives Yannie the opportunity to view the lifestyle Shan enjoys with his family and as CEO of a successful financial services firm. She's intent on seeking revenge for the way he's profited at her expense. Her resolve is tested when she bonds with Shan's wife and 16-year-old daughter, and discovers that Shan is still a volatile bully within his own household.
This is the first of S.L. Lim's books that I've had the pleasure to read, and it won't be the last. Her portrayal of Yannie is intelligent and insightful. She also captures cultural conflict with a well-trained eye. Yannie's niece Kat provides a valuable counterpoint to Yannie's own experience. Brought up in Australia, in a household of comparable wealth, she's blessed by a multitude of resources and opportunities. Yet still there is conflict surrounding her parents' expectations and significant stress in the family. The relationship Yannie develops with Kat carries through into the final, more reflective Part 3 of the book, which brings the story full circle.
I'd thoroughly recommend Revenge, Murder in Three Parts to readers of contemporary fiction, particularly those with an interest in gendered experience and family dysfunction. This is a book that will keep me thinking for some time.
Read
June 9, 2021the first part was incredibly strong and compelling, but it tapered off a bit for me afterwards :'(
April 3, 2023
2.75/5.
I read a few reviews from others after finishing this book and I feel as if I missed the meaning behind it. Like always, I went in relatively blindly, with very little knowledge about what it was going to be about. From the beginning, I was a bit shocked by it, as it started off with abuse and domestic violence. I wasn’t expecting that!
I will be honest and say that I didn’t like any of the characters here. While I think the dreary setting was intentional, it just didn’t cut it for me. Even Yannie, the main character, I found to be boring, annoying and I found myself not even rooting for her, perhaps when I should have. And let’s not talk about her brother, Shan, or his wife, Evelyn, or Shu Yin. The only mildly interesting character in this book was Shan and Evelyn’s teenage daughter, Cat. She had some spark, some personality, and I appreciated that about her.
I feel bad saying that about this book, because it was actually well written. I found Lim’s writing style to be fluent and relatively easy to understand. I get the feeling that the cultural aspects within the book are based off personal experiences, which I always love to see in a book. It makes me think that that aspect is accurate, and I appreciate that and find it educative! I believe this book was set partly in Singapore and partly in Australia, though the Singapore part is never truly emphasised.
I think part of my unenjoyment of this book was my disengagement from the characters. From what I can gather through a little research of the book and author, this is a book about rage and culture, and I just couldn’t relate. That is terrible, but the truth. I could not gel with any of the characters, their emotions and what they were going through in my apparently priveleged life. I just… didn’t like them.
I didn’t understand the purpose of this book either. It went over my head, I think, and that obviously affected my enjoyment of it. I think maybe one day, if I feel inclined, I need to go back and read this again and think about it a little more. Perhaps as a physical book or ebook, so the narrator’s voice was not influencing it either. Some narrators are just easier to listen to than others.
The epilogue, in my opinion, also dragged a little too much for my liking. I actually liked the way the book ended prior to the epilogue, and whilst I can see the purpose of it, I thought a lot of it unnecessary. In my opinion, it felt a lot like unnecessary info dumping and is the reason I didn’t give this book a full three stars.
This was a well-written book, but sadly, I do not think I was the target audience for it.
I read a few reviews from others after finishing this book and I feel as if I missed the meaning behind it. Like always, I went in relatively blindly, with very little knowledge about what it was going to be about. From the beginning, I was a bit shocked by it, as it started off with abuse and domestic violence. I wasn’t expecting that!
I will be honest and say that I didn’t like any of the characters here. While I think the dreary setting was intentional, it just didn’t cut it for me. Even Yannie, the main character, I found to be boring, annoying and I found myself not even rooting for her, perhaps when I should have. And let’s not talk about her brother, Shan, or his wife, Evelyn, or Shu Yin. The only mildly interesting character in this book was Shan and Evelyn’s teenage daughter, Cat. She had some spark, some personality, and I appreciated that about her.
I feel bad saying that about this book, because it was actually well written. I found Lim’s writing style to be fluent and relatively easy to understand. I get the feeling that the cultural aspects within the book are based off personal experiences, which I always love to see in a book. It makes me think that that aspect is accurate, and I appreciate that and find it educative! I believe this book was set partly in Singapore and partly in Australia, though the Singapore part is never truly emphasised.
I think part of my unenjoyment of this book was my disengagement from the characters. From what I can gather through a little research of the book and author, this is a book about rage and culture, and I just couldn’t relate. That is terrible, but the truth. I could not gel with any of the characters, their emotions and what they were going through in my apparently priveleged life. I just… didn’t like them.
I didn’t understand the purpose of this book either. It went over my head, I think, and that obviously affected my enjoyment of it. I think maybe one day, if I feel inclined, I need to go back and read this again and think about it a little more. Perhaps as a physical book or ebook, so the narrator’s voice was not influencing it either. Some narrators are just easier to listen to than others.
The epilogue, in my opinion, also dragged a little too much for my liking. I actually liked the way the book ended prior to the epilogue, and whilst I can see the purpose of it, I thought a lot of it unnecessary. In my opinion, it felt a lot like unnecessary info dumping and is the reason I didn’t give this book a full three stars.
This was a well-written book, but sadly, I do not think I was the target audience for it.
September 7, 2021
This was an amazing novel that I read in one sitting. I have been seeing social media buzz and was wondering what it was about and now I understand. S. L. Lim's Revenge in Three Parts is about Yannie whose parents favour her brother who is her intellectual inferior. Constantly sidelined Yannie dreams of being a writer, but is consumed with surviving while her brother's star shines. This is a novel about a woman born in the wrong time and wrong place. It was absolutely riveting and unputdownable. Lim is an amazing writer who creates such a sense of mood and an immersive world. This is a novel that should win a swath of prizes. Absolutely loved it and will be reading anything Lim writes in future.
December 12, 2020
Bit of a strange one. We follow main character Yannie from her childhood in Singapore through to later life in Sydney for a while. Her family life is the focus, older brother Shan bullies her atrociously. The title tells you the rest. Yannie’s voice is remarkably clear and compelling but there are lots of gaps, jumps, events briefly referred to, I was both drawn in and left a bit unsatisfied. It’s a short energetic read, with a grim view of family.
March 29, 2021
I particularly enjoyed the rage that seethes out of Yannie towards the unfairness she experiences, the gendered favouritism, the hypocrisy of the wealthy. I also loved seeing a book that moved so effortlessly between Malaysia and Australia. This is a quiet, shrewdly observed case study of a family via the perspective of one woman, and how her friendships, her love life, her education opportunities and her subsequent work are all dictated by her familial obligations. So far none of the books I have read on the Stella long list seem to be the same calibre as past years. Although I think this author will go on to win many awards. Her writing is very good.
April 13, 2021
‘I’m the one who’s in charge around here.’
Shan and Yannie, brother and sister, both aspire to attend university. But only Shan is able to. Yannie is required, as a dutiful daughter, to stay home to help in the family store, to look after her parents. Shan attends university. He finds success in the UK and then in Australia.
Her parents have gone into debt to support Shan’s pursuit of education. Yannie has two friends: Jun (who is unable to share his feelings) and Shuying, who distances herself after marrying. Yannie takes on work as a tutor. Yannie looks after her parents until they die. Her life is one of duty, carried out with barely suppressed rage.
With Jun’s help, Yannie travels to Sydney where her brother, his wife Evelyn and daughter Kat live. She and Evelyn become friendly. And Yannie quickly realises that Shan is (still) a bully. He controls his wife and daughter and aims to take over the company he works for. Shan is a perfect one-dimensional villain.
Yannie is a more complex character. She encourages her niece and longs for a relationship with Shuying. She wants Evelyn to recognise the price she is paying for the lifestyle Shan provides. She wants revenge on Shan. What form will it take, and what will the consequences be?
‘This is the point where fiction and reality must diverge. In real life, to disagree violently is usually a metaphor. Most human beings are lazy, conflict-averse and not especially imaginative. They stay out of trouble, defer to authority, and hope any anomalous situation will resolve without much intervention on their part. By contrast, characters in novels murder each other left and right for fairly trivial reasons.’
Ms Lim identifies so many issues in this novel including conformity with family expectations and roles regardless of the cost to the individual, the disregard for others exhibited by those who grow up without boundaries, the pain of lost opportunity, and the non-acceptance of same-sex relationships. I finished the novel wondering about the relative unfairness of life for Yannie and so many others.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Shan and Yannie, brother and sister, both aspire to attend university. But only Shan is able to. Yannie is required, as a dutiful daughter, to stay home to help in the family store, to look after her parents. Shan attends university. He finds success in the UK and then in Australia.
Her parents have gone into debt to support Shan’s pursuit of education. Yannie has two friends: Jun (who is unable to share his feelings) and Shuying, who distances herself after marrying. Yannie takes on work as a tutor. Yannie looks after her parents until they die. Her life is one of duty, carried out with barely suppressed rage.
With Jun’s help, Yannie travels to Sydney where her brother, his wife Evelyn and daughter Kat live. She and Evelyn become friendly. And Yannie quickly realises that Shan is (still) a bully. He controls his wife and daughter and aims to take over the company he works for. Shan is a perfect one-dimensional villain.
Yannie is a more complex character. She encourages her niece and longs for a relationship with Shuying. She wants Evelyn to recognise the price she is paying for the lifestyle Shan provides. She wants revenge on Shan. What form will it take, and what will the consequences be?
‘This is the point where fiction and reality must diverge. In real life, to disagree violently is usually a metaphor. Most human beings are lazy, conflict-averse and not especially imaginative. They stay out of trouble, defer to authority, and hope any anomalous situation will resolve without much intervention on their part. By contrast, characters in novels murder each other left and right for fairly trivial reasons.’
Ms Lim identifies so many issues in this novel including conformity with family expectations and roles regardless of the cost to the individual, the disregard for others exhibited by those who grow up without boundaries, the pain of lost opportunity, and the non-acceptance of same-sex relationships. I finished the novel wondering about the relative unfairness of life for Yannie and so many others.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
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April 19, 2021Well this was not at all what I expected it to be when I went in!
Revenge is tense, dark and yet strangely hopeful at times. Depicting what it means to be a woman under the oppression of men, tradition and patriarchy, the book opens with a graphic and startlingly violent scene.
From the opening line the reader is not permitted to relax, the protagonist, Yannie, endures unpredictable episodes of physical brutality at the hands of her brother, and verbal brutality at the hands of her mother. She is yelled at for laughing too loudly and “breathing too much, taking up too much space”. Her father is distant and cold. There is no tenderness or gentle love in this family. Yannie is always left behind, forever the brunt of her family's disappointments in life.
Lim has a way with language that feels hypnotic and powerfully disarming. Her descriptions of bodies, how they harm and disarm, guides the narrative and through these descriptions we glimpse Yannie's repressed longings.
This is ultimately a well paced, brilliantly told story and I can't wait to get more of S.L. Lim in my life.
Triggers: Graphic violence and abuse, suicide.
Revenge is tense, dark and yet strangely hopeful at times. Depicting what it means to be a woman under the oppression of men, tradition and patriarchy, the book opens with a graphic and startlingly violent scene.
From the opening line the reader is not permitted to relax, the protagonist, Yannie, endures unpredictable episodes of physical brutality at the hands of her brother, and verbal brutality at the hands of her mother. She is yelled at for laughing too loudly and “breathing too much, taking up too much space”. Her father is distant and cold. There is no tenderness or gentle love in this family. Yannie is always left behind, forever the brunt of her family's disappointments in life.
Lim has a way with language that feels hypnotic and powerfully disarming. Her descriptions of bodies, how they harm and disarm, guides the narrative and through these descriptions we glimpse Yannie's repressed longings.
This is ultimately a well paced, brilliantly told story and I can't wait to get more of S.L. Lim in my life.
Triggers: Graphic violence and abuse, suicide.
April 13, 2021
I loved this—sharp, devastating and full of a wry wisdom that gets at the truth of gender-based educational and financial inequality. It highlights the gap that affords the privileged the option to follow their dreams, and keeps those less so in an endless cycle of survival. Parts of this shocked me with their clarity, like the passage where Yannie is trying to explain to her niece Kat exactly what it feels like to worry about money: ‘How to convey in the abstract what it means to live with deprivation? Easier to explain colours to a blind person... “The thing you have to try and understand is, it isn’t dramatic. It’s not this big tragedy that hits you all at once, and then it’s all over… There are lots of smaller aspects, every single day. They sort of crowd in on you, and don’t leave room for anything else.” A conveyor belt of constant minor indignities… Your mind yearns towards the beautiful, the complex and intangible, but is drawn ceaselessly down towards the pedestrian and mundane.’
December 28, 2020
I loved this deliciously wicked tale about disharmony and estrangement within the context of an Asian family, something we don't often see depicted in fiction. Revenge rails against heteronormativity, patriarchy, neoliberalism, and the “hermetically sealed-off worlds” of marriage and the nuclear family unit, viewing each of these things with suspicion and outright hostility. Lim's writing about the “constant nervous effort” of being poor and how it’s like “a conveyor belt of constant minor indignities” is some of the best fictional writing about class and wealth I've read. Lim is a master at inhabiting voices of different ages – Yannie's old parents, the middle-aged Yannie herself, the young Kat. Through Yannie and Jun’s relationship, she expertly shows how a victim of cruelty can also be a perpetrator of cruelty.
October 4, 2021
It started off very promising - the glorification of the older brother in sacrifice for the younger one, the physical abuse of the younger sister by the psychopath brother, the mental abuse and callousness of the relatives.
Then it all went downhill from there and the ending was anticlimactic.
Also, little things like spelling mistakes and some editorial mistakes like Yannie (the main character who’s never been to Australia before) suddenly adept at using advanced Australian slang like ‘carking it’ twice. Little things that should’ve been picked up before print…
Then it all went downhill from there and the ending was anticlimactic.
Also, little things like spelling mistakes and some editorial mistakes like Yannie (the main character who’s never been to Australia before) suddenly adept at using advanced Australian slang like ‘carking it’ twice. Little things that should’ve been picked up before print…
April 6, 2021
I actually found this book maybe a bit disappointing - I think it does start off well with its premise, but it’s almost like the set up out did the later narrative. I was perhaps grateful that it didn’t take more than a day and night to get through.
There’s some parts of the book that I found relatable as the story features an Asian protagonist, but most of the characters felt quite two dimensional.
There’s some parts of the book that I found relatable as the story features an Asian protagonist, but most of the characters felt quite two dimensional.
April 19, 2021
'Feeling isn't enough, no matter how sincere. If that was all you needed to make beautiful things, this world would be made of diamonds. Time truly was the enemy. '
This book is a fantastic character study of Yannie, a young, intelligent, gay Malaysian woman who is constrained by her patriarchal culture, were her older brother dominants in every area of her life.
Despite getting excellent grades in school, Yannie has to forsake her academic dream to forfeit the cost of her education in favour of her brothers'. She is also expected to nurse her parents and maintain the family business.
Yannie's life has been one of forsaking her own desires and putting others first. Her brother however has got everything he wanted, without showing support or respect for his family. Yannie seizes an opportunity to go to Australia and visit him and becomes part of his family, tutoring his daughter and building a close relationship with his wife.
Has Yannie's brother changed? Is their more than one psychopath in the family? Will Yannie allow the present to redeem the past or will it always be corrupted by it?
This book is a fantastic character study of Yannie, a young, intelligent, gay Malaysian woman who is constrained by her patriarchal culture, were her older brother dominants in every area of her life.
Despite getting excellent grades in school, Yannie has to forsake her academic dream to forfeit the cost of her education in favour of her brothers'. She is also expected to nurse her parents and maintain the family business.
Yannie's life has been one of forsaking her own desires and putting others first. Her brother however has got everything he wanted, without showing support or respect for his family. Yannie seizes an opportunity to go to Australia and visit him and becomes part of his family, tutoring his daughter and building a close relationship with his wife.
Has Yannie's brother changed? Is their more than one psychopath in the family? Will Yannie allow the present to redeem the past or will it always be corrupted by it?
April 26, 2021
Wow, this was quirky and challenging, totally unexpected, and a deep reflection on families, gender roles, and seeking your power.
It opens with unapologetic violence from Yannie's brother. A bully all the way through, he intimidates and dominates because he can. An unforgettable opening.
Yannie is the younger sibling, the girl, denied opportunities and led to a point of servitude to her parents, in running the business, to being their carers as they aged. Her brother, however, has gone abroad, studied via great sacrifice from the family, and created his life far away.
There are many threads here, with Yannie exploring her desires, contemplating her chances in life pitted against her brother, the expectations that she'll marry, and then a beautiful relationship with her niece.
Many surprising moments, gorgeous writing, and Yannie is an endearing, contemplative character, one not to be forgotten in a hurry.
It opens with unapologetic violence from Yannie's brother. A bully all the way through, he intimidates and dominates because he can. An unforgettable opening.
Yannie is the younger sibling, the girl, denied opportunities and led to a point of servitude to her parents, in running the business, to being their carers as they aged. Her brother, however, has gone abroad, studied via great sacrifice from the family, and created his life far away.
There are many threads here, with Yannie exploring her desires, contemplating her chances in life pitted against her brother, the expectations that she'll marry, and then a beautiful relationship with her niece.
Many surprising moments, gorgeous writing, and Yannie is an endearing, contemplative character, one not to be forgotten in a hurry.
April 6, 2021
Short listed for the Stella Prize 2021. The focus of this book is Malaysian born Yannie and her lifelong need/ambition to revenge the bullying she received from, and the parental favoritism given to, her older brother Shan. Located in both Asia and Australia, Revenge explores a number of subjects including familial, friend and romantic relationships, and the different expectations placed on male and female children within Malayan culture, or at least within this family. Because this short book covers a long period of Yannie's life I felt there was a lack of depth in places, in particular a skimming of the years between childhood and adult hood. Nevertheless an interesting and enjoyable read, although for me it is not quite of the caliber needed to win the Stella.
October 24, 2024
S L Lim’s writing style was so fluid that you find yourself immersed in the story, with the quiet rage building right before you. I loved the fact the prologue was so long, showing how long Yannie also had to defer her desires before she could finally be the main character. The ending though, or specifically, the epilogue I wasn’t convinced. It felt like it was trying to do too much and voice all the questions the book had already asked over the course of events.
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March 29, 2021DNF at page 27
2021 Stella Prize Shortlist
Really not liking the third person narration about the awful things that a young girl's psychopathic brother and unsympathetic family are putting her through. Don't have the head space for this at the moment.
back to the library with it.
2021 Stella Prize Shortlist
Really not liking the third person narration about the awful things that a young girl's psychopathic brother and unsympathetic family are putting her through. Don't have the head space for this at the moment.
back to the library with it.
April 24, 2022
"Stop feeding dreams
to this awful machine
of unrequited love -"
Recognition of, and ultimate realisation of how to overcome, one of the consistent themes of this novel: unrequited love.
S.L.Lim - thank you for this great read.
I would love to enjoy a pot of tea with you when you are next in Byron Bay.
to this awful machine
of unrequited love -"
Recognition of, and ultimate realisation of how to overcome, one of the consistent themes of this novel: unrequited love.
S.L.Lim - thank you for this great read.
I would love to enjoy a pot of tea with you when you are next in Byron Bay.
January 7, 2021
3.5 stars. I liked there start, but it drifted a little for me. Unbelievable? But perhaps that’s a white, middle-class, straight, male observation. Clearly a talent.
July 4, 2024
not bad! i don’t see where the three parts were. but an interesting story for sure
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