Wednesday 31 March 2021

Dendam Bersulam Cinta by Sara Aisha

March 31, 2021 10 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! This review sepatutnya post hujung minggu haritu tapi aku terlupa. Sooo, here it is! 





Tajuk : Dendam Bersulam Cinta
Penulis : Sara Aisha
Mukasurat : 639 pages
Penerbit : Karyaseni
Terbitan : Julai 2020  
ISBN : 9789674691646
Blurb : 

NURUL JANNAH.

Kata orang, cintu itu manis. Perkahwinan itu indah. Tetapi aku? Manisnya cinta aku menemui penamat kala aku menikahi dia. Dua tahun menyulam kasih, rupa-rupanya itu sekadar pentas ciptaan Amsyar untuk mengikat aku dalam perkahwinan penuh derita.

"Aku kahwin dengan kau sebab aku nak hancurkan kau." - AMSYAR

"Aku bukanlah perempuan yang kau boleh pijak-pijak begitu saja." - JANNAH

Lalu, aku bersumpah. Takkan semudah itu untuk Amsyar menghancurkan aku. Walau sedalam mana pun cinta aku kepadanya, aku tetap seorang wanita yang akan mempertahankan diri. Akan aku hadap semuanya tanpa tergugat. Biar dia tahu bahawa seorang Nurul Jannah bukan semudah itu untuk dihancurkan. Malangnya, bila kebenaran akhirnya terbongkar, aku jadi sangsi. Patutkah aku melawan atau biarkan sahaja Amsyar menuntut dendamnya?

AMSYAR MIKAEL.

Ini jalan yang sudah aku ambil dan aku akan benar-benar memastikan perempuan itu hancur tidak mampu bangkit semula. Dia harus membayar harga bagi setiap titik air mataku yang menitis, setiap laungan penuh derita dan setiap  nyawa yang sudah direnggut. Namun, semakin aku melukai dia, semakin jiwaku sendiri yang terhiris. Air mata yang dia titiskan, bahkan umpama racun yang membunuhku dari dalam.

Tidak! Aku harus bertahan. Walau apa pun yang berlaku, dendam ini harus berbalas. Dua nyawa yang sudah terkorban itu perlu dibela. Perasaan dalam hati? Huh, aku lemparkan jauh-jauh! Tetapi persoalannya sekarang, sampai bila aku mampu bertahan? Bila melihat dia sahaja, membuatkan aku ingin merangkulnya erat dan mengatakan...

"Abang cintakan Ana." - AMSYAR

"Aku mencintai dia. Tapi sekarang, aku mahukan cintaku kepadanya mati, tidak boleh hidup semula." - JANNAH

Selepas beberapa tahun menyepi daripada dunia 'romance, melodrama' dalam dunia penlisan, tahun 2020 saksikan comeback Sara Aisha untuk genre ni. Dan, sangat tidak mengecewakan saya sebagai seorang pembaca. Daripada blurb pun dah berjaya menarik perhatian aku. Btw, sebelum aku baca novel ni, aku banyak baca reviews yang Cik SA rajin kongsikan dekat IG beliau, so, aku ada gambaran apa yang akan berlaku.

Aku suka cara penulis mulakan kisah Jannah-Amsyar dengan pengkhianatan Amsyar waktu malam pertama mereka sebagai suami isteri. Buatkan aku tertanya sangat apa yang jadi sepanjang perkenalan diorang sampaikan Jannah setuju nak bernikah dengan Amsyar sedangkan watak Amsyar yang diperkenalkan, seorang yang kejam. 

Fair warning, aku rasa sepanjang aku baca perjalanan tempoh perkahwinan Jannah-Amsyar, tak pernah sekali pun aku rasa tak sedih. Yeah, novel ni sangattttt melodrama, sangat bermain dengan emosi. Kisah honeymoon mereka dekat New Zealand buatkan aku  benci watak Amsyar yang teramat sangat (yes, saya guna double kata penguat kat situ menunjukkan saya serious tak suka watak Amsyar yang kejam). But then bila kisah disebalik siapa Amsyar terbuka, aku jadi kesian dengan dia. Tapi! Itu bukan bermaksud aku setuju dengan tindakan dia, I mean, he is a grown man so dia patut tahu apa yang dia buat tu salah, dan dia tahu tapi dia tetap degil untuk teruskan niat dia kerana sebuah dendam. Saya sedih untuk Amsyar sebab tak dapat nak lepaskan diri daripada dendam tu.

Watak Jannah bagi aku, sangat kuat. Memang padanlah dia dengan Amsyar. Awalnya, dia melawan, walaupun verbal abuse Amsyar selalu menyakitkan hati dia. Tapi, bila dia dapat tahu kenapa Amsyar berdendam, dia mula relakan, walaupun apa yang jadi, bukan salah dia langsung! Walaupun dia patut marahkan ayah dia, sebab mulakan segalanya, walaupun dia patut benci Amsyar sebab libatkan dia, Jannah tetap sayangkan diorang. She loves them too much that it hurts her. 

Despite having a very great plot and strong story flow, aku cuma dapat habiskan novel ni dalam masa seminggu, which can be considered lama bagi aku. Sebabkan aku guna novel ni as an escape from my heavy schedule back in Nov-Dec, jadinya, lambatla aku dapat habiskan. Tapi, aku memang akan immersed immediately setiap kali aku baca novel ni. 

Aku sangat-sangat setuju dengan keputusan yang Jannah buat after everything. At least, she get the time for herself to heal. Amsyar get to build himself. Win-win. Twist sikit sebab aku ingatkan Jannah akan pergi jauh dari Malaysia hahaha, tapi jauh la jugak daripada Amsyar kalau dia dapat elak sampai tiga tahun(ke salah tahun hahah tak ingat tapi bertahun la). 

Penutup kata, welcome back to melodrama world, Cik SA! Karya SA genre ni aku actually pernah baca satu novel je, 'Jodoh Itu Milik Kita' (best gilaa novel ni, drama pun best jugak!) so nak komen banyak pun macam tak patut haha.





-thes

Monday 22 March 2021

Giveaway Raya Bersama Shida Radzuan Blog

March 22, 2021 18 Comments
 Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! Tengah-tengah scroll reading list nampak pulak GA ni, menarik tau! Semua yang join dapat kad raya andddd 10 orang bertuah dapat hadiah misteri... Jom join reramai untuk support sis Shida kita ni.


Kita ada lebih kurang tiga minggu lagi nak menyambut Ramadan. Ramadan and Syawal last year memang lain suasananya, dengan norma baharu. Tahun ni, pihak kerajaan dah announce yang Ramadan tahun ni, tarawih di masjid, bazaar Ramadan dibenarkan mengikut SOP. Alhamdulillah syukur nikmat. Memang rasa sangat penantian tu, rindu rasanya nak pergi bazaar ramadan juga tarawih di masjid. Tapi, rasanya unlike tahun lepas (tarawih penuh tau last year, sebab buat jemaah dengan family), sulit sikit untuk aku join, lagi-lagi masa tu dah pertengah semester di mana lecturer-lecturer menuntut segala assignments dan juga progress. 

Ramadan Su kalini mungkin tak semeriah last year. Sebab masa PKP awal-awal dulu, kakngah dengan family terkandas disini (tak dapat balik rumah di Melaka) so macam-macam resepi dicuba untuk juadah berbuka. Tahun ni yang ada cuma Su, mak dan family kakteh. Yang dapat balik iftar bersama pun mungkin family kaklong dengan bangde je (sebab senegeri, yang lain duk negeri lain jadi kalau rentas negeri tak dibenarkan memang tak jumpala).

But still, I am excited for this Ramadan and Syawal. Like, siapa je tak suka raya kan. Hahaha, plus, time raya je dapat cuti hukhuk me is sedih.

Last, Su nak tag sis Farhana Jafri and abam kie untuk join giveaway ni.

-thes

Flower Of Evil

March 22, 2021 13 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! So, this is the last k-drama that I able to watch during my semester break, so after this I may or may not update about k-drama. However, I will try to update movie reviews weekly to keep this blog active.

not mine; credited to the rightful owner

Title : Flower Of Evil
Episodes : 16 episodes
Genre : Thriller, Romance
Director : Kim Cheol Kyu
Writer : Yoo Jung Hee
Network : tvN
Cast : Lee Joon Gi, Moon Chae Won
Plot : 

Baek Hee Sung is a metal craftman. He is married to Cha Ji Won, a detective and they had a daughter together. After a copycat case of a serial murder that happened 18 years ago, Do Hyun Soo, son of the murderer that went missing after killing the head villager suddenly appear. While Cha Ji Won and her team members trying to catch Do Hyun Soo, Baek Hee Sung is on edge, trying to unveiled the real accomplice of the case to save his marriage.
Lee Joon Gi and Moon Chae Won worked for the same time for this drama as they both featured on 'Criminal Minds' back in 2017.

SPOILER ALERT

This drama starts all sunny and rainbows all over, it is a happy marriage between Ji Won and Hee Sung. Except for the cold shoulder by Hee Sung's parents, there wasn't any fault in their marriage. After the case of serial murder involving Do Hyun Soo, the son of the serial murder, once again went viral, Ji Won started to learn secret after secret of the real Baek Hee Sung. And of course, the curiosity on how the hell Hyun Su became Hee Sung make dive right into the drama. 

The storyline, is filled with twist after twist. I love how they arrange the flow of the drama. It's making it easier for me to digest all the information. And of course, the biggest plot twist on the accomplice. I honestly thought those rumors of Do Hyun Soo being the accomplice for his father is true. But nope, it was all the society. 

Even though the plot have a touch of heaviness, they balanced it out with some extra characters like Moo Jin, the reporter who once friend with Do Hyun Soo and Do Hae Su (Hyun Soo's older sister). I love his character's awkwardness after meeting Hyun Soo again. And it was even more awkward when he met with Hae Su again (they were lovers and he still had feelings for her). Also, the scenes with that child actor (Hee Sung and Ji Won's daughter) were all sooooo cute. She was so bubbly in most of her scenes.

I love how they would include a scene from 18 years ago where everything begin at the beginning of each episode (doesn't really remember but I think every episode had the flashback scenes). Even though they weren't really connected from the previous episode, it still gave us insight on what happened in the past.

The journey to the truth were never easy in dramas and movies and this drama is no exception. With few misunderstandings between Hee Sung/Hyun Soo and Ji Won, more near death scenes for Hee Sung and of course Hee Sung's inner battle they finally identified the accomplice and it was shocking. Really is. However, oh, I strong dislike the ending for that accomplice. Like whyyyyyyy?????? And Hyun Soo too. Oh my gosh, it annoys me so much. Why can't he finally got the real happiness and freedom that he deserve? The writer really love to mess up with his character, apparently. Even though he finally learnt to accept Ji Won again, it still doesn't give him the justice.

This drama make me, once again realize that Lee Joon Gi is an amazing actor. He really plays his character really well. From someone who had an antisocial personality disorder, to the great husband, to someone who found his own true self, to someone who wanted to be the best of himself for someone he love. Damn, he really plays my emotion with this character.

For more k-drama reviews, please visit 'K-drama review' on the menu tab !

-thes

Monday 15 March 2021

It's Okay To Not Be Okay

March 15, 2021 5 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! I finally got to watch this drama and yeah, it's sooo great!

not mine; credited to the rightful owner

Title : It's Okay To Not Be Okay / Psycho But It's Okay
Episodes : 16 episodes
Genre : Romance, Drama
Director : Park Shi Woo
Writer : Ju Young
Network : tvN, Netflix
Cast : Kim Soo Hyun, Seo Ye Ji, Oh Jung Se
Plot : 

Moon Gang Tae worked as a caregiver in the psychiatric ward. However, he never works in a hospital for more than one year. The only family he had is his older brother, Moon Sang Tae who is an autistic. Ever since their mother was killed 20 years ago, they had been on the run from the 'butterfly'. Sang Tae loves a children book author named Ko Moon Young. An incident brought Ko Moon Young and Gang Tae to know one another. They soon realized that they knew each other briefly during their childhood.

SPOILER ALERT

Another drama that cause quite a talk between the k-drama lovers and of course the fan of Kim Soo Hyun. I have been missing to see him in drama again after the cameo in 'Crash Landing On You' and 'Hotel Del Luna'. 

As this drama centered in the psychiatric ward, the earlier episode does mention few psychological condition that the patient at the OK Psychiatric Hospital suffered from. My favorite one was the one that the youngest son of an assembly man suffers from. That one stuck in my mind the most because of what Moon Young did. It was a bit emotional but very much satisfying scene. 

I love how Moon Young and Gang Tae's relationship grows. While Gang Tae aware of his feeling for Moon Young, he was scared that he will put his brother behind. That feeling had him pushed her away and boy, I am sad for them. But then, I kind of understand why he did that. I was so curious of their childhood and how can they knew one another back then. However, they kind of like to tease me on that one. Every time it feels like they will tell us the story of their childhood, it will end before we get the full story. It really frustrated me. 

Beside those two, Sang Tae's growing up throughout the story was so heartwarming. He was so dependent on Gang Tae that he feels unsafe without him. I guess those feeling is the same for all people. When we keep living in the comfort zone, we will be uncomfortable and unsure once things started to change. From an older brother who always need his younger brother, he starts to grow into the older brother that he should and get out of his comfort zone. I was really proud of him, like really really proud.

What makes this drama more fun was the side characters. I love how there's Nam Juri, an old friend of Moon Young who also had a crush on Gang Tae, also there's Jae So, a friend of 10 years of the two brothers. His loyalty to follow them everywhere was really touching and I love how his character was always there for Gang Tae for him to vent out whenever he is down. And not to forgot Lee Sang In, the CEO of the publishing company that represent Moon Young and also Yoo Seung Jae, the dense employee of the publishing company. And also the director of OK Hospital, sorryIforgothisnamehehe, he really crack me at times. Oh, also the mother of Nam Juri. She's like the mother bird of all characters.

The overall plot was great except for one thing, I am really curious how Moon Young's mother escape from 'the haunted castle' after suffering that very heavy injury. I mean, she did fall from the second story of the house and crack her head on the stairs. Also, based on the blood loss that they shows during Moon Young's childhood, she's likely to be dead in just few hours. But how? can? she? leave? the? house? perfectly? fine??????? I was hoping that they will tell me but till the end, there's none of the backstory on how she is able to escape. Unless Moon Young's memory is exaggerated due to her witnessing something awful, she can't be alive. Doesn't make sense to me.

Another thing that I really love was  the way they changed the actor to their child-self on some scene. This makes it like they're confronting their childhood fear and finally grows out of that fear. Brilliant, I would say.

This review feels a little longer than I usually did so for the final paragraph, I love the OSTs. They are all so gorgeous and really nice to listen to. My favorite would be the one sung by Heize. I'll leave a full OSTs down below. Peace out!






For more k-drama reviews, please visit 'K-drama review' on the menu tab !

-thes

Saturday 13 March 2021

Salju Kyoto by Sara Aisha

March 13, 2021 5 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! Entry ni dah diperam agak lama (been in draft since December 2020),dan mujur, harini aku ingat (sebab aku baru je nak pre-order The Shadow series and also Salju Kyoto yang re-print under SA Publication). Hehe. 



Tajuk : Salju Kyoto
Penulis : Sara Aisha
Mukasurat : 746 pages
Penerbit : Karyaseni
Terbitan : 2016
ISBN : 9789670890968
Blurb : 

'When a man truly loves a woman, she becomes his weakness. When a woman truly loves a man, he becomes her strength. This is called Exchange of Power.'

Musim dingin 2015. Kyoto.

Semuanya bermula pada malam itu. Aku cuma seorang wanita biasa yang ingin mencari sahabat yang hilang. Namun, malam itu mengubah segala-galanya. Dia muncul umpama samurai dalam persalinan kimono hitam dan sebilah pedang.

A.K, dia sang jejaka misteri. Bermata helang, beraura garang. Bersamanya, terselit amaran.

"Stay away from him."

Tetapi, bagaimana aku mungkin lari daripadanya bila dia tiba-tiba mengumumkan bahawa aku miliknya? 

"She's my woman. You touch her... and you die." - A.K

Hakikat bahawa Badri sudah menjadi yakuza mengeruhkan keadaan. Dia sahabat baik yang tulus, jadi kenapa dia menghumban diri ke jalan ini?

"If you feed an evil soul, he'll become a devil." - BADRI

Bila dua pilihan terhampar depan mata, aku akhirnya aku membuat keputusan muktamad. Tinggal di Kyoto dan berjuang... dengan status sebagai isteri kepada Arjuna Kaede.

Dari awal, aku sedar bahawa menjadi isteri kepada lelaki itu bukan mudah. Nyawa sentiasa di hujung tanduk. Namun, aku ialah Nailah Farafisha. Seperti agungnya cinta Nailah al-Farafishah, srikandi Islam buat suaminya, Khalifah Uthman Ibn Affan, seperti itu juga tingginya darjat Arjuna Kaede di mataku. Mereka boleh datang menyerang, tetapi bukan semudah itu untuk aku menyerah kalah. Pantang maut sebelum ajal!

"Masanya sudah tiba untuk aku jadi singa betina." - NAILAH

Tetapi mampukah aku terus bertahan dihimpit dunia gelap yakuza? Mampukah aku menjadi penyelamat tatkala Arjuna hampir tersungkur antara prinsip dan nyawa? Apa pula yang akan terjadi kepada Badri?

Ini bukan kisah cinta semata-mata. Ini tentang pilihan, pengorbanan dan akibat. Ini... kisah aku.
Finally, aku berpeluang jugak untuk baca Salju Kyoto. Well, aku rasa this novel kind of SA's fan favorite kot sebab aku nampak banyak kali novel ni dipuji and even berulang kali disebut-sebut (based on pemerhatian aku di cik penulis punya story IG, tapi mungkin juga time aku buka memang post pasal Salju Kyoto). And now aku dah baca and habiskan, aku boleh faham kenapa. Bagi aku, watak utama, Arjuna Kaede ni ada aura dia yang tersendiri. Bak kata Nailah, he's cold and beautiful, like the snow. Arjuna hampir-hampir nak dapat no.1 place in my heart but sorry Alexander Aryan still berjaya pertahankan (sorry, melalut kejap).

Dulu aku ingatkan Nailah ni Malaysian student yang further study dekat Japan rupanya tak. Dia ke Jepun atas sebab memenuhi kehendak ibu kepada kawan baik dia, Badri. Kenapa? Well, Badri yang sambung belajar tiba-tiba berhenti dan menghilangkan diri. Tak pernah pun contact mak dia dekat Malaysia walaupun tiap bulan dia masukkan duit dalam akaun mak dia. Dan disebabkan dia mencari Badri lah Nailah bertemu dengan Arjuna. 

Penglibatan Badri dalam yakuza taklah mengejutkan sebab dari blurb lagi memang dah diberitahu. Yang jadi persoalan sekarang, siapa Arjuna? Nama dia saja dah buatkan orang ramai gerun. Lagi-lagi bila dia muncul sebagai penyelamat masa Nailah kena culik dengan ahli yakuza yang berdendam dengan Badri. Peliknya, semua orang just biarkan Arjuna ambil Nailah, tanpa perlu Arjuna berlawan pun. With that, aku jadi semakin tertanya pasal Arjuna. Apatah lagi bila novel ni ditulis dalam Nailah's point of view. Memang misteri habis la Arjuna ni.

Novel ni is a story of love, friendship, sacrifice, familyhood. It is everything.  Aku suka cara penulis ceritakan persahabatan Nailah dengan Badri. How Nailah sanggup ke negara asing untuk cari kawan dia yang hilang entah kemana. How Badri buat keputusan yang mungkin membunuh nyawa dia untuk selamatkan nyawa Nailah. Friendship diorang, bagi aku jarang digambarkan dalam novel. Lagi-lagi bila sorang laki, sorang perempuan. Selalunya novel akan ketengahkan persahabatan antara sejantina and kalau ada lain jantina mesti akan jadi hero-heroin takpun second hero/heroin. 

Nailah dengan Arjuna, both had a scarred past. And, dua-dua punya masa silam yang berjaya buatkan aku emotional. Romance antara Nailah dengan Arjuna pun comel juga. Aku suka gilaaaa bila Arjuna address Nailah as young lady. Nampak biasa but it feels special. Arjuna still kekalkan aku-kau even lepas kahwin dengan Nailah. It was so Arjuna. Aura seorang Arjuna Kaede ni memang kuat agaknya sebab aku haihhhhh suka gila watak diaa!

Oh, one more thing, disebabkan aku dah baca 'I'm Not A Monster' so aku memang tahu watak Ryu-Maya akan muncul dalam novel ni. What I'm not expecting is, Karn-Dian from 'Chan Rak Ter... Aku Cinta Kamu' pun ada! Ter-excited gila kot masa baca part diorang. Aduhai, kita ni memang pantang la jumpa watak dari novel lain dalam novel lain. Tersengih sentiasa time baca babak yang melibatkan Dian-Karn walaupun babak tu sepatutnya mendebarkan hahaha.

Aku akhiri dengan quote arts (ada dua design pastu tak sanggup nak guna satu je so jadilah dua design),













-thes

Tuesday 9 March 2021

Oh My Baby

March 09, 2021 8 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest!

not mine; credited to the rightful owner


Title : Oh My Baby
Episodes : 16 
Genre : Romantic Comedy
Director : Nam Ki Hoon 
Writer : No Sun Jae
Network : tvN
Cast : Jang Nara, Go Joon, Park Byung Eun, Jung Gun Joo
Plot : 

Jang Hari is a 39 years old workaholic single woman who works at a magazine company called 'The Baby'. For the past 10 years, Hari hadn't date any men. Hari had a dream to have a normal family; a family with a husband at her side and child of her own. Nearing the age of 40s with no man to call her own, she decided to give up on finding love and marriage but she still wanted to have a baby of her own.  Hari came up with three potential sperm donor; (1) Yoon Jae Young. A lifelong friend of Hari who left her just because his ex-wife didn't approve of their friendship. Now divorced with almost one year old daughter, he stay at Hari's mother house as she insisted. He and Hari then rekindled their friendship (2) Han Yi Sang. A freelancer photographer. Three years ago, he met Hari for the first time at an event. An acquaintance of them tried to match them up but Yi Sang isn't interested. (3) Choi Kang Eu Ddeum. A rookie employee at the advertising department of 'The Baby'. He had a bright, cheerful and positive personality. Eu Ddeum adored Hari and ended up liking her.

SPOILER ALERT

First of all, I really enjoyed this drama. The theme of rom-com is conveyed perfectly. At first I was expecting Hari to have a hard time choosing between those three and I really didn't expect the romance to bloom really quick. Even for the first three or four episodes, I can guess who will be her hero and the father of her future child. It is that obvious with the screen time of those actors and also because of the connection that Hari and that person had.

I was surprise at how fast Hari and that person grow fond to each other because then the story will lose their plot. What I didn't expect was the serious issue of male infertility and also Hari's endometriosis. With these issues came up, Hari's dream to have a baby seems impossible. Hari was aware of her situation with endometriosis but decided to pushed back the surgery as it can reduced her chance of getting pregnant. But then, after knowing the infertility issues with her partner, she crumbled even more. When her situation worsen and she had the surgery, she abandon the idea of having her own baby. This situation made me a little baffled because Hari knew her situation from the start but she is the one who pushed back the surgery. Plus, it wasn't like she can't ever get pregnant. 

After that point, the story gets a little draggy and that unnecessary time skip really annoyed me. I personally think it will make more sense if they keep up with the positive attitude to have baby while attending treatment session for male infertility together instead of just him alone. Plus, she worked with an infertile couple who finally managed to conceived a baby so shouldn't she be more in uplifting mood? Sure, it is okay to be a little down and sad that the plan got pushed back but to give up entirely? That's a big no for me.

For the first time ever, or at least I think this is the first time I really really hate the second male lead which is Hari's friend, Yoon Jae Young. I hate the fact that he is back in her life shamelessly after cutting her out of his life just because his ex-wife didn't approve of their friendship. I hate the fact that he, shamelessly fall in love with her and tried to meddle in Hari's relationship. It really is annoying. It probably will not annoyed me so much if he pursued her when she is not in relationship but Hari is already in relationship and happy. If he really was a good friend, he will respect her decision and support her. Glad that he realize that he is being greedy.

Despite all the seriousness, I love the humor that they put in between. It makes this drama lighter. My favorite was the little sound effect that they put here and there to enhance the emotion more. It gets a little funnier with the sound effect, it gets a little cheesy with sound effect, it gets a little awkward with the sound effect and it definitely gets a little more joy with the sound effect. I guess, it really completes this drama.

The ending however, get me a little disappointed. It didn't give much satisfaction to me even though when it is obvious that Hari is in labor. Maybe all the time skip take my satisfaction away. Who knows? Overall, it is still a great drama to enjoy after a full day of working. Plus, I enjoyed learning others perspectives of having a child.

For more k-drama reviews, please visit 'K-drama review' on the menu tab !

-thes

Sunday 7 March 2021

Saturday 6 March 2021

Winners of thes's Love Giveaway!

March 06, 2021 24 Comments
 Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! It is finally here! First of all, thank you to all participants for joining my small giveaway. The supports that I had received are way than what I expected. Second off, I am aware that most blogger are way senior(in term of age) than me so here, I would like to apologize to any of you if you're uncomfortable with the way I addressed you. Some blogger like, Kaksha, I used the 'kak' salutation while leaving my comments but to some, I just used your name on your blog which might offend some. 

Moving on to the highlight of this entry, the winners!  Okay, so, I decided to choose two winners! If the participant is more than 33 people, then I will choose three people, and I have decided on that when I reached 15 participants. But, we don't manage to reach 33 (we only need one more person btw) . It's okay. Maybe it's for another time. Since this first week is not as hectic as I thought it will be, I decided to make a video (well, this is to distract me from watching another k-drama because I can't stop once I started). Check out the winner below!


Congratulations to the lucky one! Please e-mail me (itsthesuraya@gmail.com) or DM me through my instagram (itsthesuraya) your shipping details and also the alphabets of your choice(2). To those who was not lucky, sulks not, I definitely will try to hold another segment! 

And as I said before, my friend will make those gifts. She just started her business but still afraid to go online so this is my way to support her. If you guys are curious about the gifts, feel free to contact me (IG dm will be the faster way)!

-thes

Tuesday 2 March 2021

Graceful Friends

March 02, 2021 9 Comments
Assalamualaikum, good day dearest! I still feels like I'm in a holiday still and it's nott good. Anyway, let's get to the review.

not mine; credited to the rightful owner


Title : Graceful Friends / Elegant Friends
Episodes : 17
Genre : Drama, Mystery, Friendship
Director : Song Hyun Wook
Writer : Park Hyo Yeon, Kim Kyung Sun
Network : JTBC
Cast : Yoo Jun Sang, Song Yoon A, Bae Soo Bin, Kim Sung Oh, Kim Hye Eun, Jung Suk Yong, Lee In Hye,  Kim Eun Hae, Han Da Gam, Kim Ji Young
Plot : 

For the past 20 years, a group of five friends; Ahn Goong Chul, Jung Jae Hoon, Jo Hyung Woo, Park Chon Bok, and Cheon Man Sik had form a strong bond. At their 40s, they lived in the same neighborhood with their own family. One evening, their dear friend, Man Sik died because of heart attack on a bus. From that day on, their lives meet a mess. When their first love, Baek Hae Sook suddenly came into the picture, the relationship of Ahn Goong Chul and his wife, Nam Jeong Hae begin to shake. Just like 20 years ago, the four friends discover a dead body of a man that somehow relate to each of them in one way.

SPOILER ALERT

First of all, I'm sorry for the bad plot because this drama had so many casts and the plot is like really crazy. This drama kicks off with how the four of them, Goong Chul, Jae Hoon, Hyung Woo, Chun Book discover a dead body of their professor in his room. And that of course grab my attention immediately.

The story then starts off from the beginning, how the five of them being friends and what they do for a living and also their married life (or lack of because Jae Hoon is divorced). At first, the plot focused more on Goong Chul and Jeong Hae's life as Goong Chul being the center of the friend and also the main focused on this story. As the plot developed, the story of every couple in this drama were told slowly. 

When the murder happened, Goong Chul is suspected to be the killer because of his relation to the dead man. There was so much question about the death man. Especially when he is a scammer and he knew three of five friends. I found it crazy how the writer relate each person to that man. It became more tense when Baek Hae Sook, the beauty and everyone first love came back in their life. Unlike the other couple, Goong Chul and Jeong Hae's relationship became shakier with her present due to the fact that Jeong Hae knew her from middle school.

I love how they keep relating the present scene to the past scene where they're still in collage and in the 20s. The past scene were made with the quality of 20 years ago which is really smart. The color scheme, the screen ratio, it really was like the drama from 20 years ago (quality of Korean drama from 20 years ago I mean.) 

The last few episodes were made to make me cry, I guess. I think there was one episode where I cried like from the start to the end. Especially when their friendship of 20 years are on verge to crumble down. The ending, at first had me questioned the whole drama but then it makes sense of everything that happened. This drama is great but it is a heavy watch. There still some funny scenes to laugh to but the overall plot was heavy with the betrayal, the secrets, the emotions. It seriously almost drained me out. Plus point, the whole OST is a great listen!

OST Part 1-5

<Raindrops> cover by Han Da Gam
Original by Shim Eun Kyung



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-thes