Reviews

This is a deeply confusing book and quite what the blurbs promise. It is beautifully written, and the idea of 3 narrators revealing different perspectives on the same person without ever truly knowing him kept me thinking throughout. However, I am not sure what I think about the focus of most of the book being the love SQUARE and how it develops. Still a great book.

dylanthwaits's review against another edition

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informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

ambi_dexter_writes's review against another edition

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4.0

It was a truly compelling read for the first 2/3rd of the book when Jasper and Snow narrated it. But when Peter the nasty Whyte Man became narrator he was so insufferable and dislikable that I had to drag myself to finish the book (and I skimmed through a lot of the ending).

To quote one of the residents at the home, Peter can "fuck off to his own country" instead of being such an entitled racsist coloniser who can't appreciate Bunga Raya, Belachan or Kaya after so many years of living in Malaysia, the very place he says is his place of belonging.

Peter was horrible as a character, but my god can Tash Aw right. Down with the romanticising of our colonisers.

jayelle949290's review against another edition

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1.0

An overrated book. After all the hype, I was so keen to read this book which is set in Malaya. But ugh! factually inaccurate. When I read the part where the protagonist watched Tunku Abdul Rahman declare, "Merdeka!" on TELEVISION, I stopped reading.

mariomenti's review against another edition

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5.0

I couldn't stop reading this. A brilliant, totally captivating story set mostly in 1940s Malaya. It's a mix of fact and fiction (even though I've been to Malaysia and the Batu Caves outside KL, I never knew about the Batu Caves Massacre, where most of the leaders of the communist Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army (MPSJA) were betrayed and killed). But more than anything, it's a story of love and a more personal kind of betrayal - the story of one man told from three very different perspectives.

frhday's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

eleganthedgehogs's review against another edition

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Interesting Malaysia history though book was felt to be just ok.

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