you know what? i’m like in between liking AND disliking the pace of this book. it’s actually crazy how ‘slow’ the narrative is, because while it makes me yawn a bit, it’s also reflective of the environment this novel is set in: space!

to those who’ve read this, what do yall think??

God, there are parts of this novel that irks me like absolute hell, and oftentimes feels infuriating, but—

I do think it’s because we’re reading this novel from an unreliable, third-person’s perspective. You can tell from the way she encounters “pity”. She is more lenient and emotional towards “pity” that’s directed upon herself, but harsh and distant when she has to “pity” other people.

Interesting narrative, but not too eye-catching for me.

Anyone else?

This isn’t so much a review, but I just wanted to know (generally) how people felt about this book?

Not that I don’t like the book—in fact, I did enjoy it. However, there is this recurring trope of “go to this place, you’ll find yourself” that has become a bit bland for me.

I read Before the Coffee Gets Cold when it first came out, and I thought that was really inspiring to me, but over time, there are just more and more books that have re/used this idea; with some working, some don’t.

Lowkey afraid I’m being harsh or delusional, but what do y’all think?

personally, i had to re-evaluate my thoughts on this book and rework my ratings a bit because i realised:

we are very privileged people living in a world that has been created for our ease, if anything.

we didn’t have to bear the physical nightmares our grand/parents did, and because of that, we are able to live in peace (to some extent).

that said, having to read this book, it’s such a devastating experience to try and relive this book’s narrative because the treatment, discrimination, and abuse that these indigenous people (or Orang Asli, in Malaysian language) went through.

if anyone ever picks up this book, let me know what you think!