BOOK REVIEW: My Girl, Sunday by Ella Raye Venice

 

Photo c/o Precious Hearts Romances

TITLE: My Girl, Sunday (4372)

AUTHOR: Ella Raye Venice

FROM: Precious Hearts Romances

PAGES: 128

Mga bata pa lang sila ay kinaiinisan na ni Sunday si Luan dahil noon pa man ay paborito na siya nitong asar- asarin. He would always make a way to make her day miserable. Nagtataka rin siya kung paanong maraming nagkakagusto rito. Dahil sa lakas ng sex appeal nito, pati siya ay nadamay sa “panggagayuma” rito ng isa sa mga babaeng nahuhumaling dito. Pakiramdam niya ay end of the world na nang mangyari iyon sa kanila ni Luan.
Pero habang tinutuklas nila ang maaaring maging solusyon sa problema nila, isang bagay ang natuklasan ni Sunday sa sarili niya, something she least expected.
She fell madly in love with Luan…

REVIEW

GENRE

Romance, Comedy, Fantasy

PLOT

It was committed to the romance formula, but I was not satisfied about the climax.

POINT OF VIEW

The point of view was okay, aside from the parts where the story’s “theme” was applied.   

CHARACTERS

SUNDAY

The limitation of having a character named after a day is that it’s awkward to make her go on a date on the day she was named after. It will sound like a bad joke, yes? Anyway, hindi ako naka-relate kay Sunday. Kung hihimay-himayin, wala siyang gaanong lalim. Oo, may personality siya, pero kung hindi dahil kay Luan at sa tema ng librong ito, wala gaanong mahuhugot sa kanya. She did a good job in revealing Luan’s character, though.

LUAN

An effeminate hero and a reference to Edward (Cullen, I assume?)? The latter was almost enough to make me bury this book. But that would be unfair to the author and impractical for me (I did pay for it after all). Surprisingly, Luan’s character was handled well. Nakulangan lang ako sa misteryo at karisma. It was the same case of another interesting character not explored to its fullest. I was even starting to grow fond of him and I understood his feelings and actions. I like that he was “misunderstood”. Sana nahukay `yon or something.

I really wanted to know more about him. Amidst his inconsistencies, he was able to pull his character off. I had a hard time imagining him as the typical hero, but it was an interesting experience. I didn’t know something like this could work. It’s refreshing.

The initial lack of animal attraction bothered me. Thank goodness there wasn’t any mention of Justin Bieber in the novel, or I would have imagined Luan to be him all throughout the novel (if I haven’t shipped the book to the next continent yet, that is). Nakakabawi naman si Luan, but I found myself worried about his manliness all the time. I believed Luan’s feelings, 100%, but I’m not sure I’m convinced about Sunday’s.

MEANING

n/a

COMPARISONS

I have a movie in mind, but I won’t say it to avoid spoilers. 

OTHER DETAILS

Yes, the “theme” was similar to this certain movie. Kaya hindi na ako na-sorpresa sa twist na `yon. What surprised me was seeing this “theme” under the usual PHR cover instead of an imprint. I was like, “Puwede pala `yon?”

Malayo sa realidad `yong kuwento kaya siguro halos lahat na-pull off. But I had this feeling of struggling to come back or connect to reality. There was information thrown in that made me skeptical. I was unsure of where to put myself in it. Deciding about that and reading the book at the same time was troublesome.

When the “theme” was executed, it didn’t work for the dialogues. It got me confused. I had to stop and visualize before I can be sure who was talking. It might have worked on TV or screen, but it was a hassle to read on this book. Maybe due to the limited word count? Using that kind of “theme” in a book needed delicate handling and more word count to avoid confusing the readers.

That flashback in the latter part, I think it shouldn’t have been a flashback at all. Importanteng scene siya, eh.

The moment the conflict was unveiled, I was already expecting what the big lesson was. Kaya lang hindi ko sure kung gumana `yon dito, `yong realization na love was greater than “that”? Hearing it from Nimfa, saying that what she did was useless (ineffective?) because Luan had already fallen in love with someone, contradicted the authenticity of the “theme”. Or siguro hindi lang na-i-voice out ng maayos ang part na `yon. Leading me to remind writers something:  

they don’t have the luxury to explain their side outside of the book. Everything they needed to say and what they wanted the readers to understand should be found in the book, as clear and as exact as they wanted it to come out. That's the writer's job. Kung hindi iyon naisulat ng maayos, ano pa man ang excuse—first novel kasi, new writer kasi, wala kasi sa mood noong sinulat `yon, hindi kasi na-edit (ng author, at na-approved na lang din na ganon), etc.—, ay wala nang silbi. I’ve read it and it gave me that impression already. No excuses can make up for the novel’s failings.

Favorite scene... When Luan was complaining because Sunday was careless about what he worked hard for. I found it cute.

The best dialogues go to Luan.

CONCLUSION

I must admit that the “theme” (read the book if you want to know what I’m talking about) made the book lively. I’m just not sure if it was my cup of tea. It should have been in an imprint or something so I was surprised that it was published under the usual PHR cover. I felt a little tricked. Anyway, I’m not fishing for an explanation/excuse from the author. It was what it was. It’s an okay read.

P.S.

Regarding the “reader’s choice” seal, I was not impressed. It was made to get my attention, right? That’s why it was put there in the first place. But I’m not sure it satisfied me. If this kind of book is what makes it in that category, I’m not sure if I will rely on this seal again. After all, hindi naman ako ang "reader" na nabanggit, but the editorial staff, right?

RATING:  3 STARS  ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆