196 Books: Brunei

Written in Black by KH Lim

Here's Brunei:

And, per usual, the summary:
A darkly humorous coming-of-age novel set in Brunei on the island of Borneo, Written in Black offers a snapshot of a few days in the life of ten-year-old Jonathan Lee, attending the funeral of his Ah Kong, or grandfather, and still reeling from the drama of his mother leaving for Australia and his brother getting kicked out of the house and joining a rock band. Annoyed at being the brunt of his father’s pent-up anger, Jonathan escapes his grandfather’s wake in an empty coffin and embarks on a journey through the backwaters of Brunei to bring his disowned brother back for the funeral and to learn the truth about his absent mother. On a quest that takes him across the little-known Sultanate, past gangs of glue-sniffing poklans (Brunei’s teenage delinquents), cursed houses and weird shopkeepers, Jonathan discovers adventure, courage, friendship and, finally, himself.

Ok. Let me start out by saying I know this is out of order; Brazil was supposed to be up. See, I apparently waited too long to order the new books, so I finished the last one and didn't have Brazil yet. I waited for quite a while, but it still didn't show up...so I started on Brunei. I think Brazil ended up getting here like 2 weeks after it was supposed to. Anyway now I'm out of order it and it makes my poor little type A brain hurt. 

Anyway, onto the book. I felt really bad for Jonathan throughout the whole thing. Poor guy was getting shit from everyone. But I was proud of him when he went on his journey. Plus he had some pretty crazy adventures that kept me on the edge of my seat. It was a real easy read too, which was nice. (Honestly I'm like 3 pages into Brazil and it is not going to be an easy one.) 

I also really liked the ending. It wasn't terribly happy, but it was hopeful. Umm...what else can I say about this one? Man I'm so bad at writing reviews. Oh! I did really like the description of all the funeral rituals, it was really interesting. 

Unfortunately it'll probably be a while before I get the next one up; so far it seems like a bit of a chore to read. 

But here's something else noteworthy...we're getting out of Alaska! Turns out it actually is ridiculous for me to have to fly to another state for RA treatment, so Soldier is being transferred back to the Midwest. We're happy, and I'm actually glad we get one last summer here. We shall adventure appropriately.