Sarah — an introvert and a law student in England, struggling to stay true as a Muslim.
Things started to go wrong when Sarah crossed paths with Linda. Everything about Sarah irked Linda, especially her outdated and devout lifestyle. Whilst Sarah endured the backlash from her peers, Jonah – the ‘Romeo’, came into her life and attempted to woo her like the other women he had charmed.
While Sarah endured the nightmare of vicious rumours and being ostracized, Linda was surprised to find herself to be in a somewhat similar situation.
Pained and confused, Sarah poured all her grief and sorrow into her letters she wrote to God. Will Sarah find solace through her writings?
In this novel, the author brings readers on a journey of rediscovering genuine love and friendship; as well as finding true meaning of serenity in life.
Norhafsah Hamid was born in 1973 and received primary and secondary education in Malaysia. She then proceeded to pursue her studies in United Kingdom until she graduated with a law degree from Reading University, United Kingdom. She completer her Bar in Malaysia and went back to United Kingdom to work for a year. She then came back to Malaysia to commence her practice as an Advocate and Solicitor, specializing in civil litigation matters. She completed her Diploma in Syariah & Legal Practise and has been handling various Syariah matters.
Currently she has taken a break from civil practise and co-founded an NGO called 'Nadi Anissa Muslim Women Organisation. she now dedicates her time to her family and Islam.
‼️ WARNING ‼️ IF YOU DON'T LIKE NEGATIVE AND ROASTING KIND OF CRITICISM- YOU CAN LEAVE THIS REVIEW IN PEACE MANNERISM (ps: im just being dramatic LOL)
▪️ Genre : literary fiction; islamic romance; young adult; contemporary ▪️ Tropes : forbidden romance; different religion; stranger to lover; enemies to lover; different status class (ada dua cerita yang berbeza MC) ▪️ Content Warning : the grammatical error; the style of writing that probably make you irk ▪️ Theme : self-growth; self-love; journey; friendship; family; divinity ▪️ Movie/Drama Rec : Pride & Prejudice
First Book ➙ Letters To God⭐️ Soalan pertama yang muncul dalam fikiran aku masa baca buku ni >> Wajar ke buku 1 ni diterbitkan at the very first place?? Bila aku baca kesemua buku dalam volume 1 ni- aku tak nampak SIGNIFIKASI kewujudan buku pertama. To be honest, buku pertama very less important. Tak membantu jalan cerita. I hate to say this buuuttttt i dont really care about it. Tapi, on contrary side, it was an EASY read. Sebabnya, format penceritaan adalah dalam bentuk surat. Jadi, untuk someone yang dah baca lebih daripada 100+ buku- i don't think EASY READ can be considerable as good book. I mean the word easy is not a bad word pun, but the execution of this is waaayyyy toooo easy sampai aku rasa macam baca essay sekolah. The writing style is soo immature and juvenile. Katakanlah aku guna warna sebagai analogi untuk gambarkan buku, aku akan bagi kelabu. The entire time i read this, i felt dull; mundane.
Second Book ➙ Heaven Sent⭐️.5 Selepas aku dikecewakan dengan buku 1, aku sebenarnya mengharapkan sesuatu daripada buku 2- tapi tak sangka yang buku 2 jugak mengecewakan. Malangnya, buku 2 jugak lebih kurang sama. Watak dan kateristik Sarah sangat plain dan kosong. Takde naik dan turun just mendatar. And aku rasa buku ni paling aku rasa geram sekali because of- there's a ton of dialog and description that made me mad which is bila dorang cakap pasal appearance Sarah yang rendah; petite; need to be protected cause she a smooll little girl euww arghh *frustrated*. Thatss a pet peeved. Every. Single. Time. aku jumpa ayat tu > aku tutup buku. Banyak sebenarnya yang aku tak suka dengan the way author painted her picture > she's such a boring girl who-only-spent-her-entire-day-at-Reading-only-reading-a-book, stayed at the library and thats it. Macam mana aku nak rasa watak dia alive kalau aku tak rasa her humanization. Aku rasa buku ni boleh pergi jauh; boleh tackle a few topic and issue as a part of the storytelling tapi dari caranya aku nampak yang buku ni takde tujuan dan perancangan yang bagus, kemas, teratur dan teliti. Tapi, on a turning point, aku really interested to get to know more about Jonah. I want to know his journey. I want to know the depth of it. Jonah literally save a piece of it from a catastrophe. One last point, i. hate. the. ending. Aku tak faham kenapa ending dia macam drama pukul 7 walhal tak salah pun rasanya buat ending yang lebih konklusif. Ok kalau ada sambungan, aku akan faham tapi kalau takde i will judge.
Second Book ➙ Heaven Sent⭐️⭐️ AKU SUKA LINDA AS A CHARACTER. Aku nampak character growth dalam diri Linda berbanding Sarah yang aku rasa a little bit inconsistent dan tak releven dengan realiti (too good too be true). Linda yang pada awalnya very social person, yang amalkan budaya barat dalam hidup dia turn 360 jadi Linda yang baru, yang matang, yang sedar kesilapan yang lalu dan cuba melakukan perubahan. I love the journey. Dalam aku tengah dalam keadaan mood baik, tiba-tiba muncul satu watak ni yang bernama Rasyid and guess what?? I HATE !!! Aku sangat tak setuju dengan cara Rasyid ni on whatever he doing. Honestly, kalau aku ni jadi Linda > aku pun akan pilih Jaws 😂. Linda, you did the right thing.
Walaupun buku ni dikatakan ada subgenre romance tapi bagi aku is not really strong. Dia ada tapi tak banyak and kadang-kadang kau lupa yang these two main interest ni suppose to be lovers. They barely talk about their feeling. Apa yang aku nak katakan ialah berkenaan klau korang rasa nak ada chemistry lovey-dovey > buku ni tak mampu nak tunjukkan. I get it why it done like this. Tapi, the most important thing yang buat aku rasa turned off is because of the writing. And yah, thats all from me. thank you for reading this messy review sampai habis 🤣
The concept is just like a diary, in which there are certain things about which we want to talk but don’t want to share with other people. It's a place where we've felt at ease expressing our thoughts and opinions on topics ranging from trivial to serious. I like how she is miserable at the start of each letter and always remembers God after all is said and done. Balance. It’s better to express our feelings than keep them to ourselves. The beauty of expressing our thoughts and feelings to God is that God doesn’t judge us. He lets us talk the way a kid talks to their parents. We can become vulnerable towards Him because we know He wouldn’t judge. Maybe we too could send our letters to God. Probably five years from now, we will laugh at our own confession when we read it back hahaha.
Part 2 — Heaven Sent
The continuation of Sarah’s story in university. Some are similar to her stories in the Letters to God. One part that I found hilarious was when Jaws taught Jonah to speak Kelantan as if he wanted to tackle Sarah. He doesn’t know that Sarah is not a Kelantanese—she’s from KL. I’ve been laughing for the entire story about how Jonah approached Sarah and directly spoke Kelantan to win her heart. So naughty Jaws. This story is about how Sarah was persistent and stayed firm in her choice of not dating any guy before marriage. The explanation per se should be done by Muslim women and men. The obligation towards what God has ordained, we must follow. As Sarah’s dad (John) says, if we take care of our relationship with God—safeguard the prayers and obey God’s commands—then Allah will give us the best of this world and the hereafter.
Part 3 — Rough Diamond
Among the three, I would say I particularly like this story. It’s about Linda. I mean, from the previous story, you would know how nasty and mean Linda was. But in this story, it’ll open your eyes to the fact that nobody should judge anyone's mistakes. I'm grateful to Mat Bond and Jaws for assisting Linda in regaining control of her life. They are truly a Muslim gem. No judging; keep advising and assisting without charging fees. I mean, the continuation of good deeds they've done. Imagine the rewards they’ll get from Allah :’) Probably, Linda’s timeline to find God might be similar to ours. We do sin but don't forget to go back to our Creator. With His Blessings and Mercy, we will get the best among the best. Our sincere repentance and efforts—all of them, Allah sees them. Don’t give up okay?
Abridged version just nice as I can relate to each stories. MashaAllah as expected I loved it, dari jalan cerita, characters & relationship di antara keluarga, kawan & pasangan. Thank you author for the wonderful stories.
i believe it's a nice book but maybe not for my age? but the life lessons in it was really nice to read, the quran references, everything is just so perfect. but if we were to talk about the character development....hm...but its a quick read yep. love the setting so much!
♡ Letters to God by Norhafsah Hamid ( Abridged Version)
📖 Letters to God volume I 1. Letters To God 2. Heaven Sent 3. Rough Diamond
💭 Review
Actually, I have finish reading this book a week ago. Okay this time I will review this book in Bahasa Melayu Baku. Because why not ?
📖Letters To God
Apabila saya membaca ‘letters to God’ , saya seolah-olah sedang membaca diari seseorang . Sarah , menghamburkan segala rasanya kepada Allah swt melalui tulisan . Daripada sekecil-kecil perkara sehingga perkara yang besar , Segala-galanya diceritakan kepada Allah swt. Sarah menceritakan segala yang terjadi kepada dirinya, Sama ada suka atau duka .
Selain itu , saya jatuh cinta kepada gaya penulisan Madam Norhafsah Hamid yang tak pernah lekang untuk menyelitkan peringatan berkaitan islam . Cara penulis menyampaikan nasihat melalui penceritaan menjadikan saya tidak sabar untuk sampai ke penghujung cerita .
📖 Heaven Sent
Heaven Sent merupakan Sambungan Kepada Kisah Sarah . Sejujurnya, Heaven sent membawa saya terbang ke ‘Reading University’. Pengalaman Sarah sepanjang di sana membawa saya kepada pengambaraan seorang pelajar undang-undang .
Fitnah yang dilemparkan kepada Sarah sangat tidak berasas dan menjadikan saya marah . Saya turut merasai kesakitan yang dirasai Sarah . Walau bagaimanapun, Sarah berjaya mengawal tingkah lakunya dan bersikap professional terhadap fitnah yang telah dilemparkan kepadanya.
Disebalik kisah Sarah ini , penulis berjaya menyampaikan nasihat dan cara ajaran islam kepada perwatakan seseorang ,Cara untuk berdepan dengan masalah , dan cara untuk mengawal perasaan walaupun sedang diuji.
📖 Rough Diamond
Rough Diamond merupakan kisah hidup Linda. Pada awalnya , Linda merupakan watak yang paling saya benci . Sikap buruknya kepada Sarah , perwatakannya kepada orang sekeliling dan gaya hidupnya . Segala-galanya tentang Linda saya benci .
Namun begitu , apabila sudah mendalami kisah sebenar kehidupan Linda , saya mula kasihan dengannya. Betullah pepatah yang mengatakan janganlah kita menilai seseorang terlalu awal. Kisah kehidupan Linda yang bagi saya Sangat dahsyat. Dilahirkan sebagai orang islam , tetapi tidak pernah tahu mengenai agama Islam . Namun begitu , hidayah milik Allah , Allah mengizikan sesiapa yang mencari keredaannya untuk berubah ke arah kebaikan.
Kecekalan Linda mengharungi rintangan kehidupan yang penuh dengan onak duri dan berliku-liku, ketabahan berdepan dengan keluarga yang tidak menyokong perubahannya bagi saya bukanlah suatu perkara yang mudah . Namun , Linda berjaya mengatasinya. SubhanAllah.
Tidak lupa juga kisah cinta nya , yang dahulunya seperti anjing dan kucing namun menjadi pasangan romantis pada akhirnya. Kepada pasangan Linda , dia menerima Linda dengan hati yang terbuka, tidak kisah akan kisah silam Linda , tidak pernah mengungkit dan menerima seadanya diri Linda sangat menyentuh hati saya .
The book has a very good message. However I couldn't bring myself to like the book as much as I wanted. The writing is putting me off. It's not a matter of good or bad because the writing is understandable and digestible, I believe it's a matter of preference. The early part of the book where it's written in a diary/letter format, I dreaded reading every page of it. I do not hate the content, just the execution, the writing. However, once the writing shifted to be in a storytelling style, I actually quite enjoyed the story. But I probably won't pick up Vol ll.
this book is a combination of 3 books / titles. first, it is like a diary from Sarah. second, the story of Sarah and third, the story of Linda. I’ve already read the story of Linda’s book which called, ‘Rough Diamond’. so I just read the first two story in this book. I like the book, it was an easy read. Sarah’s character is like a very good character that it makes me question: ‘do we actually have people like this character in real life?’
anyway, as I read Rough Diamond as my first book, so I can relate to everyone’s character and yeah, it’s like I read Sarah’s POV
AMAZING the first story to the whole universe and the stories, the link to islam at its core, the pure reality? It's just so amazing. I've reread this a lot of time and I always love it.
I love that everyone including the villain gets happy endings unlike other usual stories where they make the villain face bad ending💞
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
took me a lot of time to finish the first part of the book ‘Letters to God’ because didn’t really like the diary-style writing. The second part was fine but the ending should’ve been longer imo they deserve more liness. But the third part was my favourite. Cant wait to read the second volume 🤩
Romantic buku ni , sangat2 comel lagi2 bila 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗵 speak kelantan for the sake of 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗵 and boy..he’s so proud of it, grinning like a baby padahal 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗵 paham lgsg loghat Kelantan 🤣 comel tau dak, comel ♥️
He learned about Islam because of her, stopped from being buaya to masya-Allah man, haha. But as he learned further about Islam the more he respected her and wanted to protected her even from himself, now.. this is a real gentleman 😏♥️👍🏻 Part ni aku dh mcm “ala 𝗝𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗵, jgn lah putus asa tackle 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗵 🥺” nak cari mne eh omputih with blond hair charming smile and respectful, kecek kelate 🤣♥️👍🏻 __________________________________
Dia ada 3 part kot tak silap, the reason i rate this book 3.8 sebab mmg romantik, mmg sengih mcm org tak betul dh aku haha. Selain mesej2 yg sgt indah, buku islamic romance plg realistic aku baca. Karakter Sarah pn okay, cuma my spirit animal is Amy 👍🏻🤣
Suka sgt dgn persahabatan Sarah dan kawan2 non-muslim dia, comel and penuh gelak ketawa lagi2 bila depa cuba puasa and mcm mayat hidup dh jd , haha. Also very protective and respectful to Sarah yg kecik molek tu,
𝗣𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻 buku ni mmg mcm surat Sarah menceritakan tentang hidup nya dalam bentuk Diary kpd Allah ﷻ . So, mmg fast paced lah 👍🏻
Unfortunately i only love 70% of the book, the other 30% mcm boring. Sebab pd aku, dkt part POV berlainan tu agak repetitive 😅 i’ve been put on and off this book numerous times, once i stop i cannot continue but once i read i cannot stop. Haha, still.. do read this romance book guys. I can’t wait to continue the sequel 🥰♥️ __________________________________
Basically this is my cup of tea in romance novel 🤌🏻 no cringe romance, just how a lover influenced their partner to be a better person 🥹 there is romance but the main theme is how one find her/his way back to God, how one could find their love by putting faith in Allah, and loving Allah first. No need to date, if He wants you to fall in love and find marriage, then it will happened, with full blessings.
This Abridged version is so good.. the detailed written story about both Sarah and Linda is what I love the most.. but halfway I am shocked at how Rasyid's character annoys me because he's hitting on every possible girl he met 😑
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.