I'm Mrs. Kertu by Danisyarahmat

I'm Mrs. Kertu by Danisyarahmat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I'm Mrs. Kertu (IMK) merupakan novel pertama Danisyarahmat and the first book by her yang I read. I heard somewhere that novel beliau yang ke-dua is good, so I took the liberty of searching into the detail of the author. I prefer to read her first novel before I baca the second one.

IMK is a decent novel. I don't really like the title (I tend to complain when it comes to title buku yang contrast dengan main bahasa buku)... I know this novel dah lama di pasaran; saw it a lot of times when I pergi bookshop, but I tak tertarik dengan novel ne, if based solely on title... and why ramai yang menggunakan perkataan "kertu", instead of "tua"? If coming from Ainul's own thoughts or dialog, it's kinda okay, but coming from the mother-in-law, I feel it's weird. The first time I dengar perkataan "kertu" ne... I think it was coming from Aznil in "Akademi Fantasia". I'm not even sure if it's a word. For a title, however, memang catchy. I complained about the English bit, not the kertu part. I just wonder...

Anyways, on with isi novel...

Ainul Mardhiah -- semasa zaman remajanya, dia telah kehilangan parents tersayang dan "dipaksa" menamatkan zaman bujangnya... which leads to her happiness, of course. I like her character, however, I didn't really like the fact that dia seakan-akan lupa dengan statusnya as a wife and how much her husband had changed her life; nampak macam ungrateful person when she was confident that their marriage would end. Somehow it's realistic... I might acted the same way kalau terpaksa kahwin dengan orang tua. I did like her towards the end though.

Adam Yusuf -- He was 38 when he married Ainul (I think)... So my image memang image lelaki berumur. It was really unsettling. I should be expecting this just by seeing the title, tapi I still rasa icky. Jodoh memang tak mengenal usia, but still... Anyways, perwatakan Adam Yusuf seemed like a 20+ years old, and the name pun somehow "muda"... but it works. I like tahap kesabaran dia menunggu his wife to accept him, and I love the fact that he's not easily melenting when it comes to Ainul. Serious, I like his character. However, I tend to bayangkan that he's not that old.

The issues yang diketengahkan di dalam novel ini are quite berat, actually, but the writer's writing made it somewhat ringan sebab I tak rasa terbawa-bawa bila membaca. I don't even know if it's a good or bad things...

There were so many plots for a 434-pages-book. For instance, the development in relationship between Ainul and Adam Yusuf. Then there's Ainul's ambition to become a doctor, the rape mystery, etc... The plots were great, tapi penceritaannya seem to be lacking -- macam laju sangat pace cerita ne. Belum sempat I feel the sadness after scene hitam tu, somehow I was brought to a different scene...

I don't know if I read too many books, tapi somehow, I dapat agak every relationship yang bakal menjadi, including Hafiz and his to-be-bride. No element of surprise there, but the story still worked.

Penulisan yang superb, just that penulis seemed to rush things quite a lot. Sometimes, penulis tended to repeat stuff. Not a big problem there... just something to highlight. The story was written in a first person point of view... I accepted this for quite sometime, but I still found it weird when the person described herself, especially when dia described herself which ended up her memuji diri sendiri... and penulis would insert things like, "perasan pulak aku" or something like that. I don't quite like that...

My review pun somehow ada repetition... but luckily, it's not to be printed. :P

Despite the negative thoughts, I still like this novel. 4.5 stars... but since goodreads takde 0.5, round it off to 5 stars. I will definitely read her next novel.

Sinopsis:

Ainul Mardhiah – Keindahan zaman remajanya telah diragut, kehidupannya telah musnah gara-gara malam durjana. Dia hilang segala-galanya termasuk nilai sebuah kesucian. Takdir telah mengikat jodohnya dengan Adam Yusuf. Egonya tidak dapat menerima cinta seorang lelaki tua meski lubuk hatinya ada terdetik sayang.

Adam Yusuf – Cintanya kepada Ainul berputik pada saat pertemuan pertama. Wajah Ainul yang mirip arwah isterinya,telah kembali menggoncangkan jiwa lelakinya.

Jodoh yang ditetapkan oleh Allah sebelum langit dan lautan diciptakan-Nya telah terikat.Takdir telah menemukan mereka meski usia menjadi bandingan.

“Ain tak nak kahwin. Ain nak capai cita-cita dulu. Kalau kahwin pun bukan dengan lelaki...”

“Tua macam saya.”

“Belum cuba belum tahu Ainul. Saya ni macam kelapa tua. Makin berlemak dan manis.”

“Hmmm... lelaki tua memang miang macam ni ke?”

Menyedari getar jiwanya tidak berbalas, Adam Yusuf pergi membawa diri. Terpisah mereka antara benua. Namun pernikahan rahsia itu masih disimpan utuh. Lamaran Hafiz menerbitkan keazaman dalam jiwa Ainul Marhiah untuk menokhtahkan akad yang telah terjalin selama empat tahun.

Namun, pertemuan semula Adam Yusuf dan Ainul Mardhiah seakan-akan memudarkan rasa benci itu. Pertunangan Adam Yusuf dan Mariza membuahkan cemburunya. Adakah itu tanda sayang?

“Ainul menyesal kahwin dengan si kertu ini?”

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Seteguh Fayqa by Hanina Abdullah

Seteguh Fayqa by Hanina Abdullah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Seteguh Fayqa (SF) is the third book by Hanina Abdullah, an author yang rapidly climbing up my favourite authors list. One of her books, the first one to be exact, is one of the books yang I suka baca berulang-kali... and I rasa this new book will be one of those books yang akan I baca lagi, dan lagi, and lagi...

SF menceritakan kisah hidup seorang anak yatim yang menjadi "sebatang kara" setelah ibunya menjadi isteri ketiga seorang Dato. Setelah menyaksikan kejadian hitam yang menimpa kawan baiknya, Fayqa "diarahkan" untuk menumpang dengan keluarga si mangsa untuk memastikan keselamatan dirinya. Di sana, hidup Fayqa started to get more colourful, especially when Dzariff was in the picture.

Jalan cerita yang refreshing in my eyes. I sangat suka how it flowed from start to finish... bermula dari peristiwa dimana Dzahim kena attack. The storyline developed from there; Fayqa mendapat sebuah keluarga yang mengingatkan dia kepada kehidupannya semasa arwah papanya masih ada, they later found out that Fayqa masih ada ibu, then we berkenalan dengan keluarga tirinya yang baik-baik, adik Dzariff, Dzalia pula bertemu jodoh dengan abang tiri Fayqa, then Fayqa dipinang oleh Dzariff... The story developed quite nicely... and I did not expect about Dzureen’s jodoh.

Tema cerita for Hanina Abdullah’s third novel is about pihak ketiga. I really do hate cinta tiga segi, however, that’s not really the case here. Di sini, pihak ketiga merupakan seorang perempuan perfect yang perasan and live in her delusional world. Kadang-kadang terdetik rasa kasihan with this character sebab dia dah menyimpan perasaan kepada lelaki ne for years... however, rasa kasihan bertukar menjadi menyampah bila dia kacau the guy yang sudah menjadi suami orang. Like penulis, kes orang ketiga ne happened di sekeliling hidup I and I really, really hated seeing that! Sometimes, dalam hidup berpasangan ne, the couple kedua-duanya committed to each other, but pihak ketiga yang merosakkan/mencacatkan kebahagiaan tu. Usually, one of these two is not aware of the third person’s bad intentions... So, don’t take things easy even when you rasa confident that your guy/girl and yourself takkan screw your relationship. This novel is very useful untuk panduan benda-benda macam ne.

I suka all watak-watak dalam novel ne... namely kesemua ahli keluarga Haji Dzulqarnain dan Dato Ishaq (except Khairul Izzati).

Dzariff – seorang businessman yang berperwatakan seperti general. Sebagai abang yang sulung dan seorang pemilik perusahaan, Dzariff tended to decide things for others, especially when it comes to adik-adiknya... and when Fayqa came into his life; she shared the "burden". Loved Dzariff’s transition from a cranky single oldest brother of five into a very responsible husband... but sakit hati I dia tak ambil serious about his wife’s instinct. Dzariff was such a workaholic to even notice that another girl sedang cuba mengambil perhatiannya as he only saw her as another workaholic person.

Fayqa – She was probably the youngest in this novel (or Dzahim, I’m not sure) but she seemed to be the matured one of the whole bunch. I liked her strong will in life...

Dzariff and Fayqa – seriously romantic couple! This couple made refrigerator looks sexy. I suka the fact that they started off as a bantering partner, then dalam diam rupanya Dzariff terjatuh cinta dengan kawan si adik. Kawan si adik pun dalam keadaan tak sedar dah fall in love dengan si general. Lepas dah jadi husband and wife, we can see that both Dzariff and Fayqa are actually into each other. Really like this couple!

Dzalia and Khairul Izwan – I was not surprised to see jodoh diantara these two. Dari awal dah I feel the chemistry. I found the cinema scene to be really sweet.

I don’t like the poligami part. I love how the author highlighted the right reason for people to apply it into their life. Keadaan Datin Raudhah, Dato Ishaq dan Puan Hafizah tu yang boleh diterima... but that’s all I’m gonna comment on this.

Novel-novel Hanina Abdullah selalu memaparkan kisah keluarga yang sangat-sangat bahagia and very supportive of each other. I suka whenever Haji Dzulqarnain started to bersuara. Seriously a PLUS whenever we read Miss Hanina Abdullah's books.

Gaya penulisan yang superb, however I rasa macam naskah ne tak diedit dengan sempurna. A lot of time, I perasan bila the penulis meant Dzariff, she typed in Dzahim instead, and vice versa. I guess nama adik-beradik tu yang membuatkan penulis, or editor confused. Dzariff, Dzehan, Dzalia, Dzureen, Dzahim... Confusing kan. Brilliant choice of name, but this can make the writer confused, I guess... and I rasa penulis put in too much panggilan untuk Fayqa Lara Lyana (Faye, Pekah, Apek, Lara, etc) and sometimes I rasa penulis tak consistent dengan panggilan-panggilan ne. I guess these are the only thing I complained when I read this novel

Really want to write more tapi macam dah panjang sangat... All in all, I really, really loved this novel. The ending was brilliant! Definitely one of my favourite novel. 5 stars!!

Sinopsis:

FAYQA LARA LYANA, gadis yang mempunyai latar belakang yang misteri, tersadai di rumah kawan baiknya kerana terlibat dalam peristiwa hitam yang menimpa kawan baiknya, Dzahim. Hidup di bawah satu bumbung dengan keluarga Haji Dzulqarnain yang ceria dan penyayang membuatkan dia terasa kehilangan keluarganya sendiri.

Dzariff, si abang yang sentiasa berprasangka negatif tentang Fayqa menjadikan hidupnya lintang-pukang. Dzariff ataupun digelar sebagai jeneral sengal sering mengganggu hidupnya dengan arahan dan aksi yang tidak masuk akal. Fayqa yang teguh dapat bertahan dengan sikap sengal si abang.

“Why is it that my reproductive part always become your point of attack?” - DZARIFF

“Sorry. Mulut awak tak ada insurans.” - FAYQA

Jodoh datang tanpa dirancang. Fayqa tidak sangka si jeneral sengal rupa-rupanya ada hati terhadapnya. Bercinta? Jauh sekali. Atas nasihat ibunya, Fayqa menerima lamaran yang tiba-tiba hadir. Lalu bermulalah kehidupan yang manis namun tetap­­ tidak dapat lari daripada dugaan yang melanda.

“Saya tak sebut nama sesiapa pun. Saya tak tuduh sesiapa pun. Yang saya nampak, awak yang beria-ia hendak lindungi orang itu. Kenapa?” - FAYQA

“Faye, can you hear what you are saying? Inilah sebabnya abang suruh Faye move on. Sekarang Faye curiga pula dengan abang, tuduh abang nak lindungi orang tu. Faye nampak tak negativity breeds more negativity.” - DZARIFF

Fayqa yang naif, tidak pandai cemburu, tidak pandai bersangka buruk. Namun apabila satu peristiwa hitam menimpanya, dia sedar dia perlu bertindak. Berserah? Tidak sama sekali apabila kebahagiaan rumah tangganya menjadi taruhan. Akal digunakan untuk mengelakkan sebuah kehancuran.

Apabila orang tua berikan nasihat supaya banyak bersabar selepas berkahwin, dia tidak sangka hingga ke tahap ini seorang isteri perlu bersabar. Sejauh mana Fayqa dapat bertahan?

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Saat Hilang Cintamu by Acik Lana

Saat Hilang Cintamu by Acik Lana
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another novel by Acik Lana and I read this shortly after I read "Akadku yang Terakhir"... I gotta say, I like this better.

Dari segi characters dan jalan cerita, somehow, I felt like ada Korean-typical type... I don't really watch Korean drama, tapi the last Korean drama yang I watched was about a group of guys in a popular band, and this girl acted jadi boy. I don't really remember the story tapi I feel the same vibe when I read this novel.

Saat Hilang Cintamu mengisahkan tentang seorang lelaki yang sangat-sangat popular yang terjatuh cinta pada jirannya yang, apparently, didn't even know her neighbour was a famous singer.

Dayyan Idraqi's character ne somewhat macam copy daripada watak yang sering ada pada pelakon Korea. The very few drama yang I watched always ada hero yang sama watak. They're very cold at first sebab nak nampak cool, then bila dah jatuh cinta, he became a very sweet and attentive partner. Though, I like his character after dia ditimpa kemalangan. Typically, kalau seseorang watak yang ditimpa kemalangan hingga jadi "kurang sempurna", they tend to be a grumpy and very sensitive character (and insensitive about other people's feelings). I love what author did with Raqy's character in that situation. I suka dia masih layan isteri dia dengan baik, walaupun he tried to "decide" something di belakang wife dia...

I really like watak Izzara Helina. Tapi I kinda forgot macam mana her character at the beginning. I've read this novel like a month ago... just have the time to write this review. However, I do remember her after dia dah kahwin. I love it when watak perempuan being very loyal to her husband and that's how her character is.

I like this novel sebab terlalu banyak sweetness yang ada. However, with all the gula, I do think that one of the plots tu happened kinda sudden. Like the reveal of Zarra's family yang dia tak tahu wujud...

One major goosebumps I felt semasa membaca novel ne was when I read the proposal. Totally not original and I feel like keluar dari alam pembacaan and masuk ke dalam video online yang I pernah watched ne. Serious I didn't like this part.

Other than those two things, I think everything was kinda perfect. Flow cerita and characters' development are decent and smooth. My favourite moment was when Raqy surprise wife dia masa show amal. Read this part so many times and cried every time! I really like when Zarra and Raqy being very sweet in public, pretending or not.

Despite the negative parts, I seriously love this novel and very much recommended!


Sinopsis:

Izzara Helina – Tujuh tahun hidup di negara orang, kini dia kembali dengan semangat baru. Biarpun hati masih terluka, masih tercalar, namun Izzara tetap cuba untuk berdiri teguh di negara sendiri. Tapi malang kerana ketenangan yang dicari dirosakkan oleh pertemuan dengan seorang lelaki yang tinggal di kondo sebelah. Dan ya, ini bukan jiran mithali atau juga jiran pilihan. Jiran ini jiran hantu. Jiran yang suka membuat bising dan perasan handsome!

“Muzik you adalah muzik paling buruk, paling busuk, paling gila pernah I dengar seumur hidup I. So please stop playing that stupid guitar, I nak tidur!”~ Izzara.

Dayyan Idraqi – Sudah terbiasa hidup dalam kemahsyuran dan populariti yang tinggi menggunung, ego di dada tiba-tiba saja tercalar apabila Izzara langsung tidak mengenali siapa dirinya. Dia adalah Dayyan Idraqi, penyanyi tersohor yang sudah gah mencipta nama di beberapa negara. Mana mungkin ada perempuan di sini tidak mengenali dia! Namun demi menjaga privasi, identiti sebenar disembunyikan daripada pengetahuan Izzara. Dia kini bukan lagi Dayyan Idraqi, dia muncul sebagai lelaki biasa di mata gadis itu.

Perang dingin antara mereka berlanjutan sehinggalah pada satu peringkat hati mula saling jatuh cinta. Meluah kata sayang, melamar dan berkahwin, semua itu dilakukan penuh gaya oleh Dayyan Idraqi demi memiliki Izzara sepenuhnya. Dan menjelang malam perkahwinan, satu kemalangan tidak diduga mengubah perjalanan indah antara mereka. Izzara terluka, Dayyan Idraqi sengsara, tidak ada sesiapa yang mengecap bahagia.


Antara dua pilihan, Dayyan Idraqi memilih untuk berkorban. Tapi benarkah jalan yang dipilih ini tegak dan lurus? Jika benar mengapa hati Izzara masih terluka? Dan mengapa pula jiwa sendiri masih sakit dan menderita?

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Akadku yang Terakhir by Acik Lana

Akadku Yang Terakhir by Acik Lana
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Akadku Yang Terakhir... novel ke-enam daripada one of my favourite authors, Acik Lana. I rate this novel with less stars than Acik's previous novel. It's not that I didn't like the writing... tapi I tak suka novel about duda. I gave 5 stars for "Pelangi Cinta Buat Suami", probably sebab the wife dah passed away. I don't know... but I definitely found it hard to finish this naskah.

AYT menceritakan kisah cinta seorang pakar psikoterapi, Rania Baheera dan Irham Zahri, seorang duda yang telah berkahwin (dan bercerai) sebanyak tiga kali. I guess the kahwin-cerai part was the reason why I feel turn off in the beginning. It took me about a month to continue reading this novel after I found it to be depressing.

I guess the part that I started to really enjoy reading ialah part selepas Rania dan Irham kahwin, though... I found it somewhat weird that Rania tiba-tiba saja boleh accept Irham.

I really like Rania's character. Her watak bukan seperti typical female character. I love that she can be rational about Irham's behavior and I love kesetiaan Rania towards her husband. Her reactions and actions tend to surprise me!

I suka dengan jalan cerita dalam novel ne. Ada some part tu I rasa meleret, but the story cepat back on track.

I found the conclusion for the antagonist tu quite amusing. Senang saja rupanya nak buat dia lari dari hidup Irham.

Really hard to write review on this novel sebab I just don't like the male character for his past story. I do like the transition and development of the character.

Despite my negative thoughts, I applaud Acik Lana for her brilliant effort in creating stories. Each novel memang nampak different. Different dari segi cerita... Characters pun dah berbagai-bagai... Though, satu persamaan yang I nampak is the fact that the male characters tend to act the same after they realised that they love their girl. All those different characters menjadi lelaki yang romantik, attentive and sweet.

With that said, I actually nak bagi 3.5 stars, tapi takde point here, so bagi 4 la. Huhu


Sinopsis:

Tugas sebagai seorang Pakar Psikoterapi telah menemukan Rania Baheera dengan seorang duda yang tiga kali berkahwin, tiga kali bercerai tanpa sebab bernama Irham Zahri. Dan keengganan Irham Zahri untuk bekerjasama dalam setiap sesi terapi yang diatur menambahkan rasa sebal di hati Rania.

Hati yang rimas mula bergetar indah tatkala kehadiran Rania berjaya menghapus bayang-bayang silam dan menyuntik keyakinan buat dirinya. Usaha meraih kepercayaan Rania membuahkan hasil apabila cinta yang dihulur disambut penuh kasih. Dan sekali lagi lafaz akad nikah meniti di bibir Irham Zahri dengan tekad yang perkahwinan ini akan menjadi akadnya yang terakhir. Tiada lagi selepas Rania!

Tatkala dibuai keindahan menikmati alam berumah tangga, hubungan Rania dan Irham Zahri bergoncang dengan kehadiran Zalia yang menaruh dendam dan juga sikap melindungi Fazriq.

Mampukah akad yang dilafaz menjadi akad terakhir yang kekal sehingga ke hujung nyawa?

“Kerana aku mula mengerti betapa indah cintamu, Betapa agung dan tulus kasih sayangmu, Kini aku bersumpah, kau yang terakhir buatku….”

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