Revenge In Violent Hues

This book was the talk of the town when it was first released at last year’s PBAKL. I haven’t been to the event for maybe close to 10 years now and for these past years, I’ve been scrolling social media to get the updates and vibes of the event. And of course, what books that were on the bestseller list. Been eyeing this book for so long and one fine day I got it during my visit to a random pasar malam/uptown at Bandar Perda haha. Fantasy is totally not my genre at all to begin with. I’m totally bad at imagining things and what more if it’s not real. The story succeeded in hooking me at the first few chapters on how Amalia (almost the same as my name hee) or Mia (her short/nickname) has been experiencing traumatising incidents related to her family. She was given the ability to see and communicate with spirits. The building of the story gets interesting after the world of Gemerlapan and the Citra Buana school were introduced. I also loved it when the author used a lot of malay terms for that world. I lost it after reading halfway through, as I said before, I’m so bad at reading fantasy. Giving myself a break for a few weeks before resuming the journey at Gemerlapan. I’ve been imagining Gemerlapan as similar to Dream Forest, Langkawi. Dark but full of colours. After a while, the story gets dark and darker, if you know what I mean. Didn’t see that coming at all. Enjoyed it so much more after the second half. My experience with this book varies. From being able to relate with that angry oldest daughter feeling to being so lonely and vulnerable at the same time. At one point, I didn't even understand Mia’s character because of so many things happening that were not clearly explained (as the story wants the readers to connect the dots). However, kudos to the author for her ability to describe things so thorough and dreamy. Her writing skills and english vocabulary was top notch. I need to find the meaning of so many English words. Anyway, just realised that the author is my junior at Uni yayy but didnt get a chance to meet her because I graduated way earlier haha. Tua mode alert. Congratulations to @NadiahZakaria and keep on writing ok. Can’t wait to read your next gems !