[Review Buku] Crazy, Busy, Guilty oleh Lauren Sams

Crazy, Busy, Guilty

penulis Lauren Sams

384 halaman, New Adult

Rating: 

Dipublikasikan 3 Januari 2017

“Oh, OK. Ellie, I need you to repeat something after me. You ready?”

She sighed again. “No”

“Ellie—“

“Alright. What?”

“Repeat after me. ‘I, Eleanor Hughes—'“

“I, Eleanor Hughes.”

“Am a good mother.”

Third sigh. “Am a good mother.”

“And I understand—“

“And I understand—“ I could practically hear the eyerolling at this point.

“That it is completely ridiculous—“

“That it is completely ridiculous—“

“To expect a four-year-old—“

“To expect a four-year-old—“

“To read, write, or tie his own shoelaces.”

“To read, write, or tie his own shoelaces.”

 “Much less learn a musical instrument.”

“Much less learn a musical instrument.”

 “Much less two musical instruments.”

“Much less two musical instruments.”

 “Because he is four.”

“Georgie—“

“Ellie! Repeat. ‘Because he is four.'”

“Because he is four.”

[Review Buku] Heartless oleh Marissa Meyer

Heartless

penulis Marissa Meyer

449 halaman, Fantasi/ Fairytale Retelling

Rating: 

Dipublikasikan 8 November 2016 oleh Feiwel & Friends

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.
At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.
Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Heartless merupakan karya standalone dari Marissa Meyer setelah ia merampungkan seri Cinder (yang buku pertamanya busuk tapi sekuelnya BRILIAN). Sebagai salah satu pembaca fanatik Marissa Meyer, saya beruntung bisa membaca Heartless segera setelah terbitnya novel ini. Baru sempat buat reviewnya sekarang aja sih hehehe. Di Indonesia sendiri Heartless belum diterjemahkan ya, jadi silahkan bersabar dulu sambil baca review singkat saya yang bebas spoiler ini.

[Review Buku] Death Among the Doilies oleh Mollie Cox Bryan

Death Among the Doilies (Cora Craft Mystery #1)

penulis Mollie Cox Bryan

320 halaman, NA/ Misteri

Rating: 

Dipublikasikan 30 Agustus 2016 oleh Penguin Random House Publisher

For thirty-something blogger Cora Chevalier, small town Indigo Gap, North Carolina, seems like the perfect place to reinvent her life. Shedding a stressful past as a counselor for women’s shelter, Cora is pouring all her talents—and most of her savings—into a craft retreat business, with help from close pal and resident potter Jane Starr. Between transforming her Victorian estate into a crafter’s paradise and babysitting Jane’s daughter, the new entrepreneur has no time for distractions. Especially rumors of a local school librarian….

But when Jane’s fingerprints match those found at the grisly crime scene, Cora not only worries about her friend, but her own reputation. With angry townsfolk eager for justice and both Jane’s innocence and the retreat at the risk, she must rely on her creative chops to unlace the truth behind the beloved librarian’s disturbing demise. Because if the killer’s patterns aren’t pinned, Cora’s handiwork could end up in stitches…

Death Among the Doilies merupakan novel yang sejak awal sudah mencuri perhatian saya dikarenakan sampulnya yang cantik. Selain itu, premisnya menjanjikan sesuatu yang tidak biasa ditemukan dalam genre misteri: dunia kerajinan tangan! Cora, blogger kerajinan tangan yang juga mantan pegawai shelter untuk perempuan, ingin memulai babak baru dalam hidupnya bersama sahabatnya, Jane. Seluruh tabungan dan bantuan dari investor ia kerahkan untuk membeli dan merenovasi Kildare House di kota kecil Indigo Gap, hingga bisa menjadi sebuah “retreat” bagi para crafter yang ingin mencari kedamaian sembari mengikuti kelas-kelas kerajinan tangan.

Namun, sehari sebelum pembukaan Kildare House, Jane dituduh sebagai dalang atas meninggalnya Sarah Waters, penjaga perpustakaan di sekolah London (putri Jane) yang begitu disayangi masyarakat. Sarah tidak hanya dibunuh, tapi jari-jarinya dipotong dan disebar di sepenjuru rumah. Layaknya kota kecil pada umumnya, berita buruk walaupun masih dalam tahap prasangka merebak cepat dan mulai memberi dampak pada rencana Cora. Satu persatu warga yang sudah memesan tempat di acara pembukaan Kildare House mulai mengundurkan diri. Cora dan Jane pun mendapat pandangan dan reaksi sinis dari masyarakat. Dengan dibantu Cashel, pengacara dan juga putra dari karyawannya, Ruby, Cora berusaha membersihkan nama Jane dan juga menyelamatkan Kildare House—mimpi terbesarnya selama ini.

[Review Buku] Make Up oleh Michelle Phan

Make Up: Your Life Guide  to Beauty, Style, and Success—Online and Off

penulis Michelle Phan

240 halaman, Autobiography/ Beauty & Make Up

Rating: 5 STARRRZZZ

Dipublikasikan 21 Oktober 2014 oleh Harmony

What I do know is that makeup has become the way I express my artistry, my creativity, and my desire to share knowledge with others. But I don’t want to get all super serious about makeup because it’s something that should be fun. I’m always bummed when I meet someone and she tells me she’s intimidated by makeup. There’s no need for that! If you make a mistake or you don’t like what you’ve just applied, you wash it off and start over. Don’t you wish everything in life were like that?

Kalau kamu suka nontonin video-video berbau beauty and make up di Youtube, pasti tidak asing sama nama Michelle Phan. Saya jujur saja baru akhir-akhir ini mulai ngeh sama dunia perlenongan di Youtube. Dan sumpe deh, video-video macem begitu bikin nagih! Mulai dari make up tutorials, monthly favorite products, haul, bahkan sampai video keseharian mereka. Ludes dah jatah kuota bulan ini (dan bulan selanjutnya….. dan selanjutnya).

[Book Review] All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

All the Bright Places

penulis Jennifer Niven

400 halaman, YA-Depression, Suicide

Dipublikasikan 6 Januari 2015 oleh Knopf Book for Young Reader

An exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learn to live from a boy who intends to die.

Theodore Finch is fascinated by death. Every day he thinks of ways he might die, but every day he also searches for—and manage to find—something to keep him here, and alive, and awake.

Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her small Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s death.

Review Singkat All the Bright Places:

Saya suka buku ini. 5-bintang-suka, rela-begadang-sampai-pagi-buat-menamatkannya-suka. Gaya penulisannya sendiri sedikit mengingatkan dengan gaya penulisan John Green. Malahan secara umum si Finch ini bikin agak de javu dengan Miles Halter/ Pudge (Looking for Alaska) dan Quentin “Q” Jacobsen (Paper Towns). Walaupun begitu saya lebih bisa menikmati gaya penulisan Jennifer Niven (sorry Mr. Green!).

“The problem with people is they forget that most of the time it’s small things that count.”

All the Bright Places adalah novel YA pertama dari Jennifer Niven. Beliau aslinya adalah penulis novel-novel New Adult, dan walaupun baru kali pertama dia menjajal ladang YA, tidak ada kesan kaku atau amatir di sini. Sebaliknya, saya merasakan bahwa All the Bright Places adalah suatu karya personal bagi Jennifer (bahkan situs germmagazine.com benar-benar ada dan ter-update sesuai dengan yang disebutkan di novel). Berdasarkan Author’s note di bagian akhir buku, buku ini terinspirasi dari pengalaman masa muda Jennifer (yang menurut saya sungguh tragis karena seseorang di usia sebelia itu harus mengalami begitu banyak kehilangan). TEARS, TEARS EVERYWHERE.

Novel ini baru diterbitkan awal Januari 2015 lalu, namun pengurusan hak cipta untuk adaptasi filmnya sudah selesai sejak pertengahan 2014. Konon katanya, Elle Fanning  akan memerankan Violet. GO VIOLET REMARKEY-ABLE!!!

“…here’s what I think: I think I’ve got a map in my car that wants to be used, and I think there are places we can go that need to be seen. Maybe no one else will ever visit them and appreciate them or take the time to think they’re important, but maybe even the smallest places mean something. And if not, maybe they can mean something to us. At the very least, by the time we leave, we know we will have seen it, this great state of ours. So come on. Let’s go. Let’s count for something. Let’s get off that ledge.”