BOOK OVERVIEW
Title: Refrain - Saat Cinta Selalu Pulang
Genre: Novel
Author: Winna Efendi
Publisher: GagasMedia
Pages: 317
Tidak ada persahabatan yang sempurna di dunia ini. Yang ada hanya orang-orang yang berusaha sebisa mungkin untuk mempertahankannya.
Ini bisa jadi sebuah kisah cinta biasa. Tentang sahabat sejak kecil, yang kemudian jatuh cinta kepada sahabatnya sendiri. Sayangnya, di setiap cerita harus ada yang terluka.
Ini barangkali hanya sebuah kisah cinta sederhana. Tentang tiga sahabat yang merasa saling memiliki meskipun diam-diam saling melukai.
Ini kisah tentang harapan yang hampir hilang. Sebuah kisah tentang cinta yang nyaris sempurna, kecuali rasa sakit karena persahabatan itu sendiri.
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This book was actually recommended to me by my cousin, so as soon as I saw this in the bookshop, I couldn’t help but buy it. I didn’t really like the book cover. Scratch that. I really didn’t like the book cover, I preferred the original one, since mine was the movie version one.When I read the title, I expected it to be a really, really cheesy story. And it kind of was.
There are 3 main characters in this book and my absolute favorite perspective is Annalise’s. She’s this it-girl everyone talks about at school; something that really bothers her, because she’s a shy type of person. The fact that she’s a blaster of Russian, American, and Indonesian makes her look quite different and she catches everyone’s attention. She’s not an antagonist in this story, she’s just a shy, introvert girl who misses a mother figure in her life and has never known what it meant to have real friends.
The other 2 characters are Niki and Nata. They’ve been the best of friends since they can remember. Inseparable. Niki is amazed by how different Annalise is, even though she becomes the new topic of every conversation at school, she stays genuine and doesn’t profit from any of it. It actually only makes her feel strange.
The more Niki and Nata learn to know Annalise, the closer they become.
The story continues when Niki hits her puberty, enters high school, falls in love for the first time, and lots of other things. Nata as well, he notices that his best friend is changing in a way he doesn’t like. People say a guy and a girl can never be best friends without something more, right? Well, this is a story about that.
While reading this, I had this nostalgia for something that never was. I found myself trying to remember how it felt like to be in high school. Oh wait. I am still in high school. I found myself trying to feel the excitement of entering school on the first day as a high school student, supporting basketball teams at school fair, preparing myself for prom… huft. At least, Indonesian high school.
What I like about this story is how it includes not only one theme, but a few other themes such as love, friendship, family, high school, and dreams.
-- “Dia bilang ada tiga jenis orang di dunia ini; orang yang memiliki mimpi lalu memilih untuk mengejarnya sampai dapat, orang yang memiliki mimpi, tapi tidak melakukan apa-apa untuk menjadikannya nyata, dan orang yang sama sekali tidak mempunyai mimpi.”
The cheesy part of this story is when it comes to the ending of the story: the finishing touch of it was just…. not right. I feel like the book was written in a rush when I read the ending. I mean, naaah. All of a sudden there comes this other character that was never spoken about…. and for me, it was a turn off.Oh well, I guess it is just a matter of preference. After all, Refrain was okay.
Refrain was filmed and was in the cinemas in Indonesia, February 2013.So this was my review of Refrain: Saat Cinta Selalu Pulang, and if you decide to read this book, I wish you a pleasant read.
Love,
X
Elizabeth
