#sixty-eight

Choose 4 things within 4 feet of you and write for 4 minutes. One sentence each. <><><><><> The world is covered in a thick white blanket as we experience the first “severe winter storm” of 2024. ❄️ A small boy and two big dogs are my companions since I have a snow day and my young friend needs adult supervision until the end of the work day. 👱🐕‍🦺🦮 Disney+ will be our background noise as we…

6 Word Poetry #68

I will share new six-word poems with you each Monday AND if you leave one in the comments, I will share it the following week & tag your blog. Enjoy this week’s offerings. ~~~~~~ School’s out for the summer, YES! What adventures await me this summer? How much coffee is too much? Summer reading list – so much adventure! ~~~~~~ Lord, help my sons with “adulting.”. – davidsdailydose Father…

Judul Buku    : Bad Boys

Pengarang    : Nathalia Theodora

Penerbit    : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama

WARNING! SPOILERS ALERT!!!

Suka banget sama bukunya!  Jalan cerita, penggambaran tokoh, plot twist, semuanya seru abis!  Memang plot nya terkesan agak cliché.  Jalan cerita dengan setting suasana perselisihan geng dua sekolah memang bukan plot yang orisinil.  A bad boy, the leader of gangster A, has a little sister, and she fell in love with the leader of the enemies, gangster B, and at the end, they decided to end their little rivalry for the sake of the girl. Tapi tetep aja bukunya seru banget !

Memang saya baru membaca buku yang pertama dan belum pernah menyentuh yang kedua dan yang ketiga, tapi buku yang pertama saja sudah seru banget, apalagi yang kedua dan ketiga?

Novel ini cukup enak dinikmati karena narasinya yang mengalir.  Penulis begitu pandai menuliskan karakter tokoh dan suasana cerita sehingga pembaca seakan-akan benar-benar mengenal tokoh, berada di TKP, dan melihat kejadian-kejadian yang ada dengan mata kepala mereka sendiri.

Selain itu, tokoh-tokoh pendamping yang ada di sini semuanya mendapat porsi yang sesuai seimbang, tidak ada yang terlalu sering atau terlalu jarang muncul. Cerita ‘pendamping’ dalam novel ini juga menarik, membuat pembaca tidak hanya penasaran dengan kelanjutan Austin-Ivy dan Troy-Sophie, tapi juga dengan kelanjutan cerita Troy-Natasha.

Seperti yang saya tulis di atas, penulis sungguh pandai dalam menuliskan ceritanya.  Jujur saja, saat membaca bagian Ivy yang minta maaf ke Austin di rumah Austin, mata saya sampai berkaca-kaca.  Saya juga sempat menggertakan gigi saat Troy dan geng nya mengeroyok Austin, rasanya ingin saya membantu Austin, kan kasihan dikeroyok gitu ☹.  Selain itu, masih banyak lagi scenes yang bikin baper.

Saya juga sangat suka dengan karakter-karakter tokoh dalam novel ini, mulai dari Troy, Austin, Ivy, Sophie, dll.

Membaca sikap Troy yang sangat protektif terhadap Ivy dan bahkan sampai rela mempermalukan dirinya sendiri demi adik perempuannya membuktikan bahwa Troy benar-benar peduli kepada Ivy.  Sikap galaknya bukan hanya untuk menjaga nama baik geng semata, tapi juga untuk melindungi Ivy dari para lelaki yang berpotensi menyakiti hati Ivy.  Di sisi lain, sikap Austin yang sangat lembut terhadap Natasha, adiknya, juga membuktikan bahwa Austin tidak sepenuhnya dingin, kasar, dan bossy seperti yang biasa ia tunjukkan kepada dunia.  

Membaca segala bentuk perhatian Troy dan Austin terhadap adiknya mengajarkan bahwa seorang yang terkesan kasar, dingin, menyeramkan, atau orang orang yang dicap sebagai orang yang tidak baik karena dia ketua gangster sekalipun masih memiliki sifaat dan hati yang lembut.

Pelajaran lain yang saya dapatkan dari novel ini adalah tidak baik untuk menjaga permusuhan atau dendam, apalagi yang melibatkan banyak orang, (walaupun memang, Austin punya alasan tersendiri untuk membenci Troy). Jika ada masalah, sebaiknya diselesaikan secepat mungkin, jangan berkelanjutan, apalagi sampai turun-temurun ke generasi-generasi selanjutnya.

Pokoknya, bukunya seru, recommended banget, deh!  Kalau ingin tahu lebih banyak, baca saja bukunya! ;)

“How’d that happen to your eye?”

She startled, looking up from the map. Blinking up at the intruder, she shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“Well, obviously something cut it. I want to know who, and why if there was a reason.” The second sat down across from her, legs folding underneath them. “There’s gotta be a story behind that.”

Another shrug as she shifted slightly, her gaze going back to the map for a second. Shaking her head and leaning back, she took her dagger out and started fiddling with it—stalling while she thought of what else could have done this to her face.

“C’mon, Eiren. I can see the wheels in your head turning like mad. The truth, please. I won’t tell anyone else, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Finally looking at the other for more than a couple seconds, Eiren nodded. “Alright. You asked for it though.” She took a deep breath, trying to figure out where to start, how to word it all. “My mother died a few hours after I was born. My father spent pretty much my entire life as far from me as he could, all the while grieving. My sister, who was six at the time, was left to take care of me.”

“What’s this gotta do with—“

“I’m getting to that.” Eiren looked down at her dagger, running her finger lightly over its blade. “She grew to detest me. Blamed me for our mother’s death and our father’s almost complete desertion. When I was eight, she was fourteen. We were in the kitchen. She was making herself lunch, I was attempting my schoolwork.” A bitter laugh; she put the dagger away. “Even when I was in school I was far from the best in class. I made the mistake of trying to get her to help me. I can’t even remember what it was now. All I know’s that it made her snap—if she hadn’t snapped weeks or even months before.”

The second in the room was quiet, openmouthed in shock.

“She had this big knife in her hand.” Eiren took her dagger out again, mimicking the way her sister had held the weapon years before. “She whirled around and started hurtling accusations. How it was my fault her mother had died, how it was because of me her father wasn’t around anymore.” How she’d never forgive me for any of it. “Before I really had any idea what was going on, there was a knife in my eye, dragging down my face.” A pause, her gaze focused on the blade in her hand. “She looked so scared afterwards. She looked like the six-year-old that had to grow up way too fast, had to take on responsibility she didn’t even want.” The smile on her lips when she looked up was inimical.

“I don’t blame her for that. For not wanting to take care of me. She wasn’t even ten yet, nowhere near grown but made to take on the responsibilities of an adult. I don’t even blame her for blaming me for it all.” She shrugged again, putting the dagger on top of the map without looking at either. “She would have made an amazing actress,” she mused quietly. “I almost believed her when she apologized that day, while the blood ran down my face and the vision in my eye was going. I almost let her take me to the town doctor, and would have gone home with her afterward—maybe I would’ve died the next week. Cut in the throat, or a dreadful accident on our way home from school. But I’d lived with her too long; I knew how good her acts could be. So I ran. The doctor fixed me up well as he could, let me stay there until dusk. Then I ran to the next town, and the town after that.”

Finally closing their mouth with a click, the other gave her a searching look. “I’d accuse you of lying, but—“

“I’m not. There aren’t any signs—in my body language, my gaze, any of that—that I was doing so.” Eiren smirked before turning back to the map. “Unsettling, isn’t it? Knowing that sometimes you can’t even trust family?”

DAY 68: RESULTS

DAY 68: UPDATE 2