Imamura’s writing appears to be vanilla, but her monotonous, matter-of-fact storytelling does not sugarcoat the depth of emotion. And as Imamura sets up everyday situations and lets them unfold with turns that can only be described as weird, she hooks the reader as she blurs the lines between reality and illusion.
Walter Sim, The Straits Times
Be it banning red wine from parties because it stains people’s teeth or playing tennis being the way the Stockton women show their love for one another, the book is packed with funny one-liners and well-observed writing that creates a fully realised upper-class family with all its unspoken norms and eccentricities.
Jan Lee, The Straits Times
Rachel Heng’s The Great Reclamation is many things. It is an epic of nation-building. It is a historical fantasy. It might be the next great Singapore novel. It is almost certainly the most gripping tale of land reclamation you will read.
Olivia Ho, The Straits Times
But it is a measure of Smythe’s nuanced touch as a storyteller that there is the clear ring of emotional truth to all the characters, whether they are behaving well or badly. ... Her true Olympian achievement is in creating a lively story that skips lightly, yet respectfully, through its root sources while blooming with a delightful freshness for a new generation of readers.
Ong Sor Fern, The Straits Times
As a whodunnit, Now You See Us delivers twists aplenty and a satisfying ending. As social commentary, it holds up a mirror to Singaporean readers.
Olivia Ho, The Straits Times
It is an important book for anyone who has engaged a migrant worker, or walked past one on the way to work.
Shermaine Ang, The Straits Times
It is the perfect vehicle for Ellis, in sparkling form here, as the observer par excellence of the numbness and dissociation prevalent in those who have had the (mis)fortune to see too much too young.
Clement Yong, The Straits Times
The novel reads easily, resembling young adult fiction though the characters are in their early 20s – it also expertly weaves between commentary about the lives of the Singaporean middle class and name-dropping expensive designers at the best parties.
Charmaine Lim, The Straits Times
Babysitter is yet another example of Oates’ daring to tread where other writers might avoid. Hannah, an essentially uninteresting character, manages to come alive, even if the choices that she makes at different junctures make sympathy for her difficult. This is an in-depth look at the randomness of human evil, and at its effects on the mind of an ordinary woman.
Clement Yong, The Straits Times
It is full of insights into Pratchett’s writing process . . . Through Wilkins’ eyes, one witnesses the genius of Pratchett and how hard he worked.
Olivia Ho, The Straits Times
Babysitter is yet another example of Oates’ daring to tread where other writers might avoid. Hannah, an essentially uninteresting character, manages to come alive, even if the choices that she makes at different junctures make sympathy for her difficult. This is an in-depth look at the randomness of human evil, and at its effects on the mind of an ordinary woman.
Clement Yong, The Straits Times
Without a doubt, though, McEwan’s languid, sensitive prose remains one of the most articulate in modern literature. He writes of youth and old age with equal perspicacity, never allowing sentimentality to compromise how his characters behave.
Clement Yong, The Straits Times
Atkinson’s world teems with sordid colour drawn from scrupulous research. . . . It is a fine read with which to ring in yet another year of these less-than-roaring Twenties.
Olivia Ho, The Straits Times
Babel, the latest to hit the shelves, is a delight to read and a testament to the magic of translation. It will hold particular appeal for readers who love languages, words and their etymologies.
Toh Wen Li, The Straits Times
Hauser builds her life’s inventory out of deconstructed personal narratives, resulting in a reading experience that’s rich like a complicated dessert—not for wolfing down but for savoring in small bites.
Mary Laura Philpott, The New York Times
This is a boy meets girl story that is never a romance – though it is romantic… Zevin blurs the lines between reality and play… Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is an artfully balanced novel – charming but never saccharine. The world Zevin has created is textured, expansive and, just like those built by her characters, playful.
Pippa Bailey, The Guardian
Kohda ends up weaving an unsettling yet moving universal tale that contemplates what it means to be a young woman, a minority and to be alive.
Jan Lee, The Straits Times
Its heroines may be faking it till they make it, but Singaporean Kirstin Chen's third novel is the real deal.
Olivia Ho, The Straits Times
Scenes of the cultural clashes between Meddy and Nathan's family, as well as Nathan's mother's increasingly hostile attitude towards Meddy's aunties, feel painfully real. They highlight the vast differences within the Asian diaspora of the world.
Jan Lee, The Straits Times
Li's prose is unusually lyrical, given the genre. She writes with a painterly eye, with charcoal motion and cadmium yellow flowers, and imbues with beauty "the slow, complicated matter of peeling a museum apart".
Olivia Ho, The Straits Times