My Book Reviews

Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I swear I don't mean any insult and disrespect when I say that I did not expect to love this book as much as I do. The synopsis at the back of the book, frankly, does not do the story justice.

To be honest, I was expecting a sort of run-of-the-mill story about racism and Islamophobia. But the book was such an easy read, the chapters not too long, and the story so relatable. I may not be Muslim, and Islamophobia might not be prominent here (seeing as Malaysia is a Muslim-dominated country after all), but Maya's struggles with her closed-minded parents very much resembles the life of some of my Indian friends (yes, even in this day and age).

I've been very fortunate that my parents were always open minded and understanding, but I've had friends lament about the mentality of their parents to me. Maya's life sort of felt familiar to me in a way, because it felt like I was reading excerpts of the life of some of my friends.

Yes, there are some cliches, but so does real life anyway. Major kudos to Samira!

View all my reviews

Conversations with Heaven by Theresa Cheung
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

WARNING: This review will have me relate some of my own experiences to what I've read. I won't go into great detail of course, but just a heads up to let you know that there will be instances where I relate something I've read in this book with a bit of my own personal experience.

I have to say, first of all, that I normally don't read books like these. No offense whatsoever of course, but it's just not something I'd sit down for hours at. However, that day at the bookstore, I felt compelled to get it, and it didn't take much thought.

The main reason, I can confidently say, was influenced by the fact that I lost my grandfather not too long ago (it's been over 6 months now, but it still feels fresh). Something about this book just drew me in.

I liked it because it contained many short stories from readers who've had experiences 'communicating' with or visions of deceased loved ones. A few days after the passing of my grandfather, whom I loved very dearly, I did dream about him. And in that dream, I felt like there was some sort of closure in it, but at that time I wasn't so sure what it meant and I hadn't want to get my hopes too high up. After reading this though, I am ecstatic to know that it really had been one of the ways that my grandfather had sent me a message.

He has appeared in my dreams several times after that, and those are the 'vivid' kind that I still remember to this day. And in each of the dreams, the message that he wanted to send was very clear; I am very sure of that now.

In a nutshell, this book has somewhat helped me get the closure I need that my grandfather really is communicating to me through my dreams, and he has, on more than one occasion, told me (indirectly) that he's doing fine up there, and that he loves me.

Thank you, Theresa. I needed that.

View all my reviews