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Showing posts from February, 2022

Neverdark by C.S. Einfeld

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Neverdark By C.S. Einfeld 259 pages Published in 2011 This YA fantasy novel was set in the land of Doru – in our eyes, a very old oak tree – which consisted of four faerie kingdoms, namely The Kingdom of Northbark, The Kingdom of the Western Leaves, The Kingdom of the Eastern Branches, and The Kingdom of Southnut. The story began when the King of Northbark’s right-hand man, Minister Birchwood Darkwater, took over the administration of the kingdom and became the steward. The King Huckleberry had been dysfunctional for some time following his heartbreak over the banishment of his son from the land. The king was then advised to go into a deep sleep until his son returns, lest he dies of heartbreak and despair. And thus all Northbark administrative matters were handed over to Lord Darkwater. Lord Darkwater proved to be a very intelligent and capable leader, and he brought much development and prosperity to the kingdom, most notably from his policy of extracting the valuable Oak syrup from

Do You Want To Start A Scandal by Tessa Dare

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Do You Want To Start A Scandal By Tessa Dare 376 pages Published by Avon Books (2016) Miss Charlotte Highwood was embarrassed by her mother’s desperation to find her a husband from the nobility. Mrs Highwood actually meant well – to get her youngest daughter securely married, like her other daughters – but her actions had been too over-the-top. As a result, gossip pages had labelled Charlotte as ‘The Desperate Debutante’. When they attended Sir Vernon Parkhurst’s ball, Charlotte knew at once that her mother would stop at nothing to match her with the most eligible bachelor in attendance, namely Piers Brandon, the Marquess of Granville. In order to save herself and Lord Granville from embarrassment, Charlotte thought warning the unsuspecting marquess was a good idea. She intended to advise Lord Granville to avoid her at all costs during the fortnight-long ball. At first, the plan seemed to go smoothly when Charlotte found the Lord Granville alone in the Parkhursts’ library. But as soon

Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

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Hana Khan Carries On By Uzma Jalaluddin 358 pages Published by Corvus (2021) After finishing with the dark and emotionally exhausting Shadows On The Moon , I felt the need to switch to a more hearty read – and my best bet would be a rom-com. Or so I thought Hana Khan Carries On to be. Well, this novel IS a rom-com, though the comic part was not that LMAO-level: I don’t laugh too much throughout my reading. I believe the author had been careful to avoid putting lame jokes just because. But rather, the writer had concocted a story that could actually make its readers pause and think (with some sprinkles of humour here and there). Hanaan “Hana” Khan was a 24-year-old Muslim girl living in Toronto, Canada. Her parents had been immigrants from India, but she was born in Canada. Although Hana practiced Islam and also some Indian traditions, she was a Canadian at heart. Hana’s mother operated an Indian cuisine restaurant – the Three Sisters Biryani Poutine – in the heart of their multicultur

Shadows On The Moon by Zoë Marriott

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Shadows On The Moon By Zoë Marriott 454 pages Published by Walker Books Ltd. (2011) Love comes like storm clouds Fleeing from the wind, and casts Shadows on the moon “The true meaning (of the poem) was this: that love, when it came, was powerful enough to transform everything.” (page 400) No matter how beautiful and lyrical were the love sayings in this novel, I could not help but feel ironic that the main character of this novel, for the most part, had to be consumed with so much hatred. * sigh * NOTE: Although the character names, cultures and physical setting depicted in this novel seemed to indicate Japan, the author has made clear that Shadows On The Moon by no means represent any real country at all. The novel was a product of the author’s own creative invention, and was set in a fantasy place called Tsuki no Hikari no Kuni (“Moonlit Land”). The people in this land worshipped and prayed to the moon, and they were ruled over by the Moon Prince, whose (official) wife would acquir

Kasih Yang Suci oleh Meen Zulaikha

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Kasih Yang Suci Oleh Meen Zulaikha 562 halaman Diterbitkan oleh Alaf 21 Sdn. Bhd. (2007) Para aktivis dan pejuang hak wanita pastinya berasa agak kurang senang terhadap novel ini. Masakan tidak, novel Kasih Yang Suci memaparkan kisah seorang wanita yang pernah menjadi mangsa rogol sehingga mengakibatkannya kehilangan peluang membina sebuah rumahtangga bersama lelaki yang dicintainya. Nora Elena telah dirogol ketika berusia 15 tahun oleh seorang lelaki yang tidak dapat dikenalpasti kerana perogol tersebut memakai topeng ski ketika melakukan jenayah tersebut. Oleh kerana berasa takut, keliru dan malu, Elena langsung tidak melaporkan peristiwa tersebut kepada sesiapa pun, hatta ibu bapanya sendiri. Sedangkan bapanya Encik Nordin adalah seorang anggota polis. Tidak lama selepas itu, Elena sekeluarga berpindah dari Kampung Jaya Sepakat kerana mengikuti Encik Nordin yang ditugaskan ke tempat lain. Seiring perpindahan itu, Elena langsung menguburkan segala memorinya terhadap kampung tersebut

Sacred Sins by Nora Roberts

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Sacred Sins By Nora Roberts 293 pages Published by Bantam Books (2010 edition) I felt a sort of mild satisfaction when my hunch about who was the serial killer in this novel turned out to be right from the very beginning 😌. Sacred Sins is a romance thriller centred around the mysterious killings of several women in Washington, D.C. by a murderer nicknamed The Priest. The victims all died of strangulation with a priest’s amice cloth, and the bodies were all found with a note saying that her sins had been forgiven. None of the victims were sexually assaulted or robbed, and their backgrounds had nothing in common to indicate any pattern or why they were chosen by the same killer. All in all, the killer had obviously treated all his victims with respect for he had also took the pains to arrange the body neatly as if in a ritual, and also ensure that her clothes look tidy. Eventually the press had decided to call the serial killer “The Priest”. Detective Ben Paris had been involved in the