[MPOV] The Weight of Our Sky

My rating: 4/5

Goodreads rating: 4.23/5

Published: February 5th, 2019

Author: Hanna Alkaf

Genre: Historical Fiction, Asian Literature, Mental Health, Young Adult, Malaysian Literature

A music-loving teen with OCD does everything she can to find her way back to her mother during the historic race riots in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this heart-pounding literary debut.

Melati Ahmad looks like your typical moviegoing, Beatles-obsessed sixteen-year-old. Unlike most other sixteen-year-olds though, Mel also believes that she harbors a djinn inside her, one who threatens her with horrific images of her mother’s death unless she adheres to an elaborate ritual of counting and tapping to keep him satisfied.

But there are things that Melati can't protect her mother from. On the evening of May 13th, 1969, racial tensions in her home city of Kuala Lumpur boil over. The Chinese and Malays are at war, and Mel and her mother become separated by a city in flames.

With a 24-hour curfew in place and all lines of communication down, it will take the help of a Chinese boy named Vincent and all of the courage and grit in Melati’s arsenal to overcome the violence on the streets, her own prejudices, and her djinn’s surging power to make it back to the one person she can’t risk losing.

This book is based on 1 of our darkest days in Malaysian history. Told from Melati’s point of view, from the moment her best friend was killed in the cinema to being saved by a kind Chinese auntie and her family and then reuniting with her mom in the end. A turbulent ride indeed!

"Di mana bumi dipijak, di situ langit dijunjung."

This is my first read from this author and I did like the way she portrays the story which was filled with nail biting incidents. Being a Malaysian, I definitely can imagine and relate to the scenes as harrowing as it maybe. I was brought back to the days of Rex Cinema, Kampung Baru, Batu Road… it was so engaging that I couldn’t put it down!

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I have heard the tales from my parents and uncle when I was young (they had also endured those hard times way back then) so reading this sort of affirmed the ugliness 😅 I know this is a work of fiction but it’s based on the true story hence struck a chord with me.

“Adults rarely like being told that they don’t have all the answers, or worse still, that the answers they do have are all the wrong ones.”

Melati’s mental illness is so raw and real, a taboo not many people will write or read or even own up having. OCD or not, this is real and I’m glad that the author has written it as straightforward and truthfully.

I pray that we will live in peace and harmony forever. I pray that the minor disgruntled humans will dissipate forever. I pray that we will cherish and appreciate our lives until we die. I’ve always preached this to anyone who will hear me - We only live once so live our lives to the fullest!