Clarissa Goenawan

Rainbirds

duha

Simple, yet full of grief.

To be honest, I expected a good thriller novel when I first picked up the book. But instead of fight scenes and thrilling stakeouts, I was submerged in dream sequences and Goenawan's fictional world of angst and hurt. Not complaining though, I'm an absolute sucker for angsty stories.

The relationship between the main character Ren and his sister, Keiko, was narrated beautifully. The way the author described feelings of sadness, grief, and love, resonated so much with me as I had also lost a loved one to death in the past.

The side characters also had interesting stories to tell, albeit dark ones. Unfathomable when you think that such sinister events happened in a small, sleepy town. But then again, this is a work of fiction after all.

However, this book does come with its flaws. There were a few key moments where Ren's decisions felt rushed and unexplained. I'm not the type of reader who likes to be spoon-fed, but the way Ren jumped to some conclusions left me baffled and confused.

All in all, this was a very pleasant read! It was hard to put this one down, I managed to finish this in one day. Really looking forward into reading Goenawan's other works.

Rainbirds

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