Top Ten Favorite Books Cover of Books I've Read :D

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by the awesome girls over at The Broke & The Brookish. This week's topic is:

TOP TEN FAVORITE BOOKS COVERS OF BOOKS I'VE READ

There are lots and loooots of book covers that I adore (whether the storyline is actually good or not), both local and international books, so it's a bit hard to pick only ten, and only from the books that I've read. I might or might not have cheated a little on this topic... :p

And by the way, YES book cover is a crucial part of the book. I'm sure there are many of us who often get interested in reading a book just by looking at the cover. That's why I often feel disappointed when an Indonesian publisher translated a good book (that has an awesome original cover) but changed and used their own version of the cover. The cover usually turns out to be ugly :(

 

1. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

2. Incarnate by Jodi Meadow

 (both books were included in my list of Top 5 Favorite Book Covers in Book Kaleidoscope 2012)

3. Divergent by Veronica Roth. It looks powerful.

4. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Indonesian edition. 

No matter how much I love the original US covers of the series (Yes, they're gorgeous for me!), I love this one even better. Gramedia did a good job, yay! It attracts your eyes immediately when they're wandering over other hundreds of books in the bookstore.

5. Four Season Series by Ilana Tan. 

Local author. I love all four covers of the books! Sweet, dreamy and beautiful.

6. Origin by Jessica Khoury

7. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi. 

I didn't fancy the first version of the cover, but this one is just lovely.

8. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. 

It may seems mediocre for you in pictures, but believe me, the cover looks so cute & adorable in prints. And the story is so, soo good. I think more people should definitely read this book.

9. Seluas Langit Biru by Sitta Karina. 

Local author. I actually love almost all of her books' cover (she illustrated most of her own books) but this one is definitely my fave.

10. Dash & Lily's Book of Dares. 

I love how the cover precisely captivated not only the festivities of Christmas time but also what's inside the book.

What does my choices say about me? Heheh

To read other entries' awesome choices of favorite covers, go here.

Until next Tuesday! ;)

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Origin

Title: Origin
Author: Jessica Khoury
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 394 pg
Website: http://origin-book.com

***

Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home--and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

"The jungle hides a girl who cannot die."

I love Origin! 

The story takes a special place in my heart merely because the setting: in a deep forest of Amazon. Just by imagining the setting is already enough to make my heart flutters with excitement :-D

But thankfully, it's also accompanied by a good, interesting plot.

For seventeen years Pia had been locked out in Little Cam, a big laboratory located in the Amazon jungle. The scientists have created Pia as perfect as a human could be: stunningly beautiful, intelligent, flawless memory, strengthened hearing, vision and all. Nothing can hurt or pierce her skin. And more importantly: Pia's immortal. She cannot die. And this is the actual goal of the Little Cam's project: to create a race of immortals.

Pia, being the first successful trial of immortal, is given a lot of knowledge as a scientist. Mention her a name of plant and she could tell you everything about it: its biological name, its family, kingdom, species, and all that. But she's isolated from the real world. She doesn't know any names of cities, places, how to get out of Little Cam, where it's located, or what's outside the Little Cam. Now already seventeen, she's of course has a lot of curiosities.

The plot thickens upon the arrival of Dr Harriett Field and Pia finding a hole in her room that could connects her to the outside. Guess what did she find on the first time she's there? Of course, a jungle boy. Eio, a boy from the Aio'ans that live in the Amazon. After that first time, just like any other teenagers her age, Pia tries to find a way to sneak out into the jungle everytime she can. This also involved some help from Dr Harriett (seriously, I love this quirky Dr Harriett!). From those 'outings', Pia discovers a lot of secrets. Secrets of Eio, of the Aio'ans, of the Little Cam projects, which somehow are connected together.

Soon Pia has an internal battle between herself: to believe the scientist in Little Cam, stay there and keep going on making the race of immortals, or to break out into the real world?

“No one should live forever," I whisper. "Isn't that how it goes? There must be a balance. No birth without death. No life without tears. What is taken from the world must be given back. No one should live forever, but should give his blood to the river when the time comes so that tomorrow another may live. And so it goes."

Top Ten Books Dealing with Tough Subject

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by The Broke & The Brookish. This week's topic is:

TOP TEN BOOKS DEALING WITH TOUGH SUBJECTS

One Child by Torey Hayden

Personality/Mental Disorder

Believe it or not, I read this book when I was still in elementary school. It was kinda hard for me to grasp what's the problem with Sheila is, but once I understand, it touched me deeply. Sheila suffered a kind of personality & mentality disorder caused of her bad childhood and harsh treatment from her dad. Torey's struggle, affection and unending patience to treat not only Sheila, but also other kids (with the same condition as Sheila, although they were not that complex) in her class was admirable. I was glad that Torey finally found a way to make Sheila ease up to her and at the end, succeeded at having a normal life for her ownself (ending of book two: Sheila, The Tiger's Child.)

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Death/Suicide Attempt

When Lou Clark was hired to be a caregiver for Will, she knew that man was a quadriplegic who needed 24 hours supervision. What she didn't know is that Will had applied himself to Dignitas, an organization that helps people who wish to die in a monitored situation. It was kinda shocking for me to know that there's such organization like Dignitas. Will had tried to kill himself once, but failed. With his condition (paralyzed from neck down) it's understandable how depressing Will's situation was, and Lou's actual task was to change his mind before the day came.
 

The Truth about Forever by Orizuka

 HIV/AIDS

Local book written by one of my favorite authors. Yogas, the main character, is an ODHA (Orang Dengan HIV-AIDS/person with HIV-AIDS) and wish to find the person who had given him the needles that caused the virus to live in his body. His wish is to get a revenge. But then he met Kana, a carefree girl who wants to be an author. They fell in love, but Yogas didn't want to admit it nor to be in a relationship with her. He didn't want to be the cause for Kana's grief when he died later. The book actually taught me to not treat any person with this disease differently.

Top Ten Books When You Need Something Light & Fun

Tuesday is not over yet, right? Right? Hehehehe

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by The Broke & The Brookish. This is my first time participating! And here I present you my list (in no particular order, of course) of this week's topic, that is:

TOP TEN BOOKS WHEN YOU NEED SOMETHING LIGHT & FUN

I have to be honest, it was hard for me to remember books that are actually light and fun, because lately I've been reading a lot of YA and most of them, even the contemporary ones, deals with some serious problems/situations (such as suicide, heartbreak, rape, parents' divorce, et all) not to mention the dystopian or apocalyptic ones. There were always angst, always. So that's the reason why I put some comics/manga and one traveling themed book in this list.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Sam is a girl who lives with an authoritarian super-busy mother who's rarely home. While next door, live Jase and the Garretts. This family is loaded with kids (there are seven of them), crowded, noisy but full of life and are a real family. I will always be happy to re-read about Sam & Jase anytime. Their romance is fluffy and fills up most of the plot, with only slight drama in the middle and towards the end. And I'm not gonna get tired of saying how Jase would be a really, really, perfect unfictional boyfriend in real life ;-)

Hai!Miiko (the series) by Ono Eriko

Hai!Miiko series is a comic about the daily life of Yamada Miiko, a 5th grader kid who lives in Japan and loves having so much fun times with her lovely friends. It's, by my opinion only, one of the most popular comics in Indonesia (and Japan). Every installment will surely bring laughters to the readers, for most of them are so, so funny, light and enganging. There are 25 volumes already out in public here, but you don't need to read in order to enjoy the stories.

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

I used to worship the life of Mia when I was still in middle high. I love how Meg Cabot tells the story in a quirky way. And isn't the premise of an ordinary girl suddenly challenged to be a princess of a totally unknown country sounds exciting and interesting to us girls? There are lots of romance and humor mixed, a perfect combination. Also, not so much angst.

Fairish by Esti Kinasih

There is a genre called Teenlit here in Indonesia, it's similar to YA, with the characters being in high school and the stories situated in teenager's life. Fairish was actually one of the books that made this genre became big. Opposite attracts, maybe that's the best way to describe the two main characters. Fairish is an easy-going girl, quirky and doesn't care much about her looks or her love-life, until a new boy named Davi comes and asked her to pretend to be his girlfriend while they're at school. And this is not an easy task, with Davi being a cold, tempered, distant person and hard to get along with. The story turns out to be very funny and well-written, but also dig deep to our emotions.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Me Before You

Judul: Me Before You

Penulis: Jojo Moyes

Penerbit: Penguin (Michael Joseph, UK)

Tahun: 2012

Read in Ebook copy

Warning - spoiler ahead! Read at your own risk.

***

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.
What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.
Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.
What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

***

 "Tell me something good, Clark."

Hi. So, yeah, it's been a long time since my last book review, and I'm sorry. I've been caught up with all the national exams preparation and didn't feel like I could make any proper book review (I know, I know, excuses, excuses). Now that it's finally over, I hope to update more often in the future! :)

So I just finished this book titled Me Before You, written by a British author Jojo Moyes. I haven't read any of her works before, I just heard a lot of good things about the book and decided to give it a try. To summarize the book in one word, for me, would be: Heartbreaking. It was a constant tear-festive all along.

Cerita dalam Me Before You dimulai tahun 2009, dua tahun setelah sebuah kecelakaan fatal yang mengakibatkan Will Traynor (saat itu 32), mengalami SCI (spinal cord injuries) dan menjadi seorang quadriplegic. Yang mana berarti Will tidak bisa menggerakkan seluruh badannya mulai dari leher ke bawah, kecuali beberapa gerakan kecil dari jari-jari tangannya, itupun sedikit. He's paralyzed. Padahal sebelum kecelakaan itu terjadi, kita bisa tahu bahwa Will was on the top of his world. Ia punya pekerjaan tetap yang bagus, harta berlimpah, pacar yang cantik, juga merupakan seseorang yang benar-benar tahu bagaimana cara menikmati kesenangan hidup. Will sering pergi berlibur, berpetualang ke berbagai tempat. Dia telah melakukan banyak hal: scuba diving, paragliding, mendaki puncak Kilimanjaro... Singkatnya, he really lived, deh. Kini dalam usia 34 tahun, ia harus terjebak dalam sebuah kursi roda, membutuhkan bantuan & perawatan penuh dari orang lain selama 24 jam sementara kehidupan di sekelilingnya terus berlanjut. Semua yang kita harapkan saat melihat seorang pria berusia 34 tahun tidak ada dalam diri Will.

Saat kita bertemu Louisa Clark (Lou), ia juga dalam keadaan menyedihkan. Di usia dua puluh enam tahun, Lou masih tinggal sama kedua orangtuanya, dan ia baru saja diberhentikan dari pekerjaan yang sangat ia cintai di sebuah cafe bernama The Buttered Bun. Lou adalah tumpuan ekonomi keluarga, dengan ibu yang tidak bekerja dan ayah serta kakak yang hanya mendapat gaji kecil. Dengan putus asa, Lou mendaftarkan diri pada Job Centre, dan ia mencoba beberapa pekerjaan baru, namun tidak ada yang cocok. Hingga kemudian datang sebuah kesempatan untuk jadi seorang caregiver dengan bayaran yang sangat lumayan di rumah keluarga Traynor.

Lou belum pernah berpengalaman dalam menjadi seorang caregiver sebelumnya, tapi hal itu bukan masalah besar bagi Camilla Traynor (Ibu Will), karena yang ia butuhkan adalah seseorang yang bisa berkomunikasi baik dengan Will dan menemani laki-laki itu di rumah. Satu hal yang nggak Lou tahu sebelumnya adalah Will telah mendaftarkan diri pada Dignitas. (Dari Wikipedia: Dignitas is a group that helps those with terminal illness and severe physical and mental illnesses to die assisted by qualified doctors and nurses.) Keluarganya telah menjanjikan 6 bulan lagi sebelum hal itu terjadi. Camilla Traynor berharap, dalam waktu 6 bulan itu Lou bisa merubah dan menghentikan keinginan Will. Itulah tugas Lou yang sesungguhnya.

Tugas Lou bukanlah sebuah tugas yang mudah mengingat kepribadian Will yang kini tertutup, mudah marah dan terkadang kasar terhadap orang lain. Mampukah Lou membuat Will merubah pikirannya dalam waktu 6 bulan?

Cinderella dan Empat Kesatria #1 by Baek Myo

Cinderella dan Empat Kesatria #1

Judul: Cinderella dan Empat Kesatria #1

Penulis: Baek Myo

Penerjemah: Tang Jong Rye & Kukuh Adirizky

Penerbit: Gramedia Pustaka Utama (November 2012)

Tebal: 264 hlm

***

Eun Ha Won benar-benar seperti Cinderella.

Sungguh tak disangka, kakek yang ditolong Ha Won di jalan ternyata Direktur Kang—pengusaha Korea yang sangat kaya. Dan dia bersedia membantu mewujudkan keinginan Ha Won: keluar dari rumah yang ditinggalinya bersama sang ibu tiri. Ha Won pun kemudian tinggal di rumah mewah bersama tiga cucu tampan sang direktur dan pengawal pribadi yang keren.

Tapi menjadi kaya tak berarti kehidupan Ha Won menjadi mulus. Banyak yang iri padanya karena kedekatannya dengan kakak-beradik keluarga Kang. Ditambah lagi entah kenapa Kang Ji Woon—sang cucu ketiga—membencinya sejak pertemuan pertama. Kapankah ia mendapatkan ketenangan yang diinginkannya?

***

Satu hal yang saya amati khas dari novel-novel terjemahan Korea dengan genre sama seperti karya Baek Myo ini adalah: Jalan ceritanya yang persis drama Korea yang sering wara-wiri di televisi.

Eun Ha Won awal mulanya hanyalah seorang gadis SMA berumur 17 tahun yang bersekolah di sekolah biasa, tinggal bersama Ayah yang tidak menyayanginya dan Ibu serta Kakak tiri yang jahat. Ibu kandung Ha Won meninggal saat Ha Won berumur 12 tahun, dan sejak itu hidup Ha Won tidak pernah menyenangkan karena kehadiran dua anggota keluarga barunya. Wajar bila keinginan terbesar Ha Won adalah untuk keluar dari rumah dan tinggal di tempat lain.

Dengan mudahnya, keinginan itu menjadi nyata setelah pada suatu siang hari biasa Ha Won bertemu dan menolong seorang Kakek yang tiba-tiba terjatuh saat menyebrang jalan. Saat sadar, Kakek itu berterima kasih dan menanyakan Ha Won perihal keinginan terbesarnya. Ha Won pun menjawab. Ia tidak menyadari bahwa Kakek itu adalah Direktur Kang, seorang pemilik Sky House dan pemimpin dari Grup Gamseong yang diceritakan sangat berpengaruh di Korea. Group Gamseong memiliki mal, yayasan sekolah, bahkan universitas yang terkenal di Korea. Kakak tiri Ha Won sendiri, Choi Yu Na, bersekolah di SMA Gamseong, yang bayarannya sangat mahal dan membuat Ayah Ha Won harus memeras keringat serta berutang demi menyekolahkan Yu Na disana. Direktur Kang ini kemudian menyuruh pengawal pribadinya, Yoon Seong, untuk menjemput dan membawa Ha Won tinggal di Sky House serta bersekolah di SMA Gamseong.

Di satu sisi, Direktur Kang juga mempunyai tiga cucu laki-laki yang berasal dari orangtua berbeda. Mereka adalah Kang Hyeon Min, Kang Seo Woo, dan Kang Ji Woon. Pertemuan Ha Won dengan ketiga pangeran tampan yang kaya ini tidak bermula di Sky House, melainkan sejak sebelum Ha Won tinggal di rumah itu. Hyeon Min pernah meminta Ha Won untuk berpura-pura menjadi pacarnya semalam saja, demi menghindari seorang gadis yang selama ini selalu mengejar-ngejar Hyeon Min dan membuatnya gerah. Saat mengikuti Hyeon Min masuk ke dalam sebuah klub, ternyata disana juga ada Ji Woon. Entah kenapa Ji Woon langsung menunjukkan perangai tak bersahabat pada Ha Won. Ternyata karena cucu termuda keluarga Kang itu menyukai Yeong Hyeon, gadis yang mengejar-ngejar Hyeon Min. Sementara dengan Seo Woo, Ha Won pertama kali bertemu dengannya saat menolong seekor anjing yang tengah disiksa oleh anak-anak kecil di pinggir jalan.

Setelah memasuki Sky House, bersekolah di SMA Gamseong dan merasakan enaknya hidup menjadi orang kaya, apakah hidup Ha Won jadi benar-benar nyaman? Ternyata tidak juga. Ia kini harus menghadapi serangan dari orang-orang yang tidak menyukainya karena tiba-tiba saja tinggal di Sky House bersama ketiga pangeran Gamseong. Berbagai gosip dan fitnah serta serbuan rasa tidak suka memburu Ha Won dari segala arah, termasuk dari Yu Na, kakak tirinya sendiri, yang susah memercayai keberuntungan yang tiba-tiba menjatuhi kehidupan Ha Won ini.

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

The Geography of Bliss

Judul: The Geography of Bliss

Penulis: Eric Weiner

Penerjemah: M. Rudi Atmoko

Penerbit: Qanita (November 2011)

Tebal: 512 hlm

***

Sungguh mati, Eric Weiner ingin melihat dunia, terutama dengan dana dari pihak lain. Maka ia menjadi jurnalis, membawa tas punggung dan buku catatannya, lalu menjelajahi dunia. Hasilnya adalah buku The Geography of Bliss ini. Ia membawa pembaca melanglangbuana ke berbagai negara, dari Belanda, Swiss, Bhutan, hingga Qatar, Islandia, India, dan Amerika ... untuk mencari tahu apa yang membuat orang-orang di sana bahagia atau murung. Buku ini adalah campuran aneh tulisan perjalanan, psikologi, sains, dan humor.

Apakah orang-orang di Swiss lebih bahagia karena negara mereka paling demokratis di dunia? Apakah penduduk Qatar menemukan kebahagiaan di tengah gelimang dolar dari minyak mereka? Apakah Raja Bhutan seorang pengkhayal karena berinisiatif memakai indikator kebahagiaan rakyat yang disebut Gross National Happiness sebagai prioritas nasional? Kenapa penduduk di Islandia, yang suhunya sangat dingin dan jauh dari mana-mana, termasuk negara yang warganya paling bahagia di dunia? Kenapa di India kebahagiaan dan kesengsaraan bisa hidup berdampingan?

***

Setelah membaca lebih dari 500 halaman, pada akhirnya, saya merasa bahwa sebenarnya inti dari Geography of Bliss bisa digambarkan melalui dua paragraf berikut:

"Extroverts are happier than introverts; optimists are happier than pessimists; married people are happier than singles, though people with children are no happier than childless couples; Republicans are happier than Democrats; people who attend religious services are happier than those who do not; people with college degrees are happier than those without, though people with advanced degrees are less happy than those with just a BA; people with an active sex life are happier than those without; women and men are equally happy, though women have a wider emotional range; having an affair will make you happy but will not compensate for the massive loss of happiness that you will incur when your spouse finds out and leaves you; people are the least happy when they're commuting to work; busy people are happier than those with too little to do; wealthy people are happier than poor ones, but only slightly."
  
“Money matters but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude.” 

Buku ini menarik banget buat saya. :D

The more we get older, the more we wonder about things in life. Sebenarnya agak absurd juga, berusaha mengukur kebahagiaan. Apa benar bahagia itu bisa ditentukan oleh batasan tertentu? Apa iya lokasi geografis negara berperan banyak bagi kebahagiaan masyarakatnya?

Setelah baca, saya punya pendapat sendiri. No, we can't measure happiness. Happiness is totally relative to many other people. Banyak orang bahagia atas hal-hal kecil yang mereka punya, banyak juga orang bahagia atas pencapaian besar yang mereka raih. And no, geographies doesn't really matter in people's happiness, but the relationship between the people does. Hubungan antar masyarakat berperan besar bagi kebahagiaan mereka. Ini terbukti di Islandia, dimana negaranya dinyatakan sebagai salah satu negara paling bahagia, dengan masyarakat yang sangat suka membantu sesama, dan tidak menganggap kegagalan orang lain sebagai suatu hal yang harus ditertawakan atau dipermalukan.

"Hell isn't other people. Seventy percent of our happiness rests on our relationships with other people."

“Our happiness is completely and utterly intertwined with other people: family and friends and neighbors and the woman you hardly notice who cleans your office. Happiness is not a noun or verb. It's a conjunction. Connective tissue.”

Winterlicht (Finnikin of the Rock) by Melina Marchetta

Winterlicht

Judul: Winterlicht (Finnikin of the Rock) - Lumatere Chronicles #1

Penulis: Melina Marchetta

Penerjemah: Leinovar Bahfein & Devi Riana Safitri

Penerbit: Ufuk Fiction

Tebal: 578 hlm

***

Kutukan menyelimuti Lumatere. Tidak ada yang bisa memasuki atau meninggalkan negara itu. Hanya Finnikin yang mampu menemukan pewaris takhta yang hilang dan membawanya kembali ke Lumatere. Pertemuan Finnikin dengan seorang gadis cantik bernama Evanjalin membawanya dalam sebuah misi yang penuh bahaya. Mampukah dia menyelamatkan negerinya? Ataukah pesona dan keangkuhan Evanjalin justru menghalangi rencananya?

***

‘Dark will lead the light, and our resurdus will rise.

And he will hold two hands of the one he pledged to save.

And then the gate will fall, but his pain shall never cease

His seed will issue kings, but he will never reign.'

Seharusnya semua buku Melina Marchetta itu diberi tanda 'Jaminan Keren' di setiap covernya. Dari semua novel beliau yang udah saya baca, nggak ada yang nggak saya suka. Termasuk buku pertama dari Lumatere Chronicles ini. Meskipun sempet ragu sama kemampuan beliau nulis cerita fantasy, this book successfully proved that she's a truly skilled author.

Awalnya Finnikin merasa terganggu dengan kehadiran Evanjalin, biarawati berpakaian lusuh yang kini mengikuti perjalanannya dengan Sir Topher. Evanjalin meyakinkan mereka bahwa Pangeran Balthazar masih hidup, dan ia bisa membawa mereka kepada Sang Pangeran untuk kemudian kembali merebut tanah Lumatere yang terkutuk setelah peristiwa 5 Hari Tak Terperikan yang memilukan terjadi, sepuluh tahun lalu. Peristiwa itu telah memaksa seluruh warga Lumatere terpecah belah, sebagian berhasil melarikan diri pergi ke negara lain, namun harus berkubang dalam kesulitan hidup di tanah pengungsi. Sebagian lagi terkurung dalam Lumatere dan tak bisa kemana-mana akibat kutukan Seranonna, dan harus merasakan kejamnya pemerintahan Raja Gadungan yang telah merebut kekuasaan dan melakukan pembunuhan keji terhadap keluarga kerajaan yang dulu, yang amat dicintai dan dihormati rakyat Lumatere.

Jelas Finnikin tidak bisa memercayai Evanjalin, karena siapalah gadis itu? Namun setelah mereka terlibat dalam runtutan kejadian yang membuat Finnikin dipenjara di sebuah tambang negara Sorel dan berhasil menemui Ayahnya, Kapten Trevanion yang selama ini dikira sudah mati, lalu bergabung kembali dengan Pasukan Keamanan di Yutlind berkat petunjuk Evanjalin, Finnikin menyadari bahwa biarawati itu bukan gadis biasa. Evanjalin mengaku punya kemampuan untuk masuk ke dalam mimpi penduduk Lumatere yang masih hidup, hingga ia dapat mengetahui keberadaan mereka. Ia juga bersikeras agar Finnikin membawa rakyat Lumatere kembali ke tanah mereka dan melakukan pembalasan. Tapi mereka tidak dapat menembus kutukan bila tak ada Pangeran Balthazar. Benarkah Balthazar masih hidup? Dan siapa sebenarnya Evanjalin?

“There are worse things than a lie and there are better things than the truth!”