Book Reviews

Book Reviews, Commentary, Raffles Reviews

Raffles Reads: Chronicles of a Village
Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Anamika Ragu (23A01A)


What is history to you?


To Nguyễn Thanh Hiền, it is a river of thought, ebbing and flowing through moments and deeply rooted in chronicling the world through the individual’s eyes. Chronicles of a Village opens with the charge of “sightless humans”, when our unnamed narrator’s village is ambushed and ravaged by colonisers. At first glance, then, this is a tragedy of a peaceful, faraway and tucked-away community interrupted by outward cruelty; a classic recount of injustice.

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Book Reviews, Opinion, Raffles Reviews

Raffles Reads: The Macanese Pro-Wrestler’s Cookbook
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Natalie Tan (23A01B) 

Raffles Reads is a collaboration between Raffles Press and Times Reads which aims to promote a reading culture among Singaporean students.

Rating: 4/5

After his parents’ death, former pro-wrestler Zeke Oliveira returns to Macau from America and spends his days running their restaurant by the beach, purposeless but for cooking good food. 

When someone rigs Zeke’s best friend’s car to explode, killing him right outside his restaurant, Zeke throws himself headlong into hunting down his murderers through the alleyways and hotel rooms of the city, eventually stumbling upon an organ harvesting conspiracy that threatens both his life and his understanding of his own cultural identity.  

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Book Reviews, Commentary, Opinion, Raffles Reviews

Raffles Reads: Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Reading Time: 4 minutes

By Nicolle Yeo (23A01D)

Rating: 3/5 stars

Walking past the local bookstore, one might be easily tempted to pick up a copy of “Daughter of the Moon Goddess” just from a quick glimpse of its spectacular cover illustration. Upon flipping through the pages, readers will be transported into a fantastical world which combines ancient Chinese mythology and modern thriller. 

This debut novel by Sue Lynn Tan made waves in the Young Adult literature community, even earning a coveted place on Goodreads’ list of “Can’t Wait Books of 2022” before its publication in early January. 

But readers should be warned not to judge a book by its cover (literally). While the book does have its merits, it fails to live up to its alluring packaging and stellar reviews.

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Book Reviews, Raffles Reviews

Raffles Reads: The Unvisible
Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Venkatesan Ranjana (23A01D)

Raffles Reads is a collaboration between Raffles Press and Times Reads which aims to promote a reading culture among Singaporean students.

Rating: 3/5 

In his breakaway novel about an aspiring journalist discovering the secrets of an invisible human race, Fredrik Haren explores humanity’s unwillingness (or perhaps inability) to acknowledge a world beyond our presumed realm of possibility. 

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Book Reviews, Commentary, Opinion, Raffles Reviews

Raffles Reads: A Terrible Kindness
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Raffles Reads is a collaboration between Raffles Press and Times Reads which aims to promote a reading culture among Singaporean students.

By Jolene Yee Xin Yi (23S03A) 

Rating: 4.5/5 

“When we go through impossible things, someone, or something, will help us, if we let them.”

A Terrible Kindness is a simultaneously heart-wrenching and heart-warming tale of a volunteer embalmer’s road to redemption and reconciliation. As a literary fiction novel, this book appeals to those interested in unique storylines, gripping narratives and fresh story settings.

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