My Sassy & Hilarious Review For Umie Nadzimah's Si Baju Kurung Kasut Kanvas

Eiyo dearies,

I'm back with another novel review. Last week, I just finished reading a novel titled Si Baju Kurung Kasut Kanvas (SBKKK) by Umie Nadzimah. So today, I'm going to share a review of the novel with you guys. Now let's begin with the author's bio...

ABOUT UMIE NADZIMAH

Umie Nadzimah and me during Umie Nadzimah's Creative Writing Course last year

Umie Nadzimah is one of Malaysia's top and award-winning novelists. Most of her novels have won awards and been adapted into dramas/movies. Before she became an author, Umie Nadzimah used to work as a nutritionist at the National University of Malaysia (UKM). She is also one of my creative writing mentors.

ABOUT SI BAJU KURUNG KASUT KANVAS

Suria Rihana (the female protagonist) not a stunner and not even a fashionista. Suria is a happy-go-lucky go-getter girl who loves being herself. She doesn't care about what other people think of her especially when it comes to her fashion style. Even tho Suria isn't a fashionista, she has her own unique fashion style. Suria loves dressing up in baju kurung and Converse sneakers. Most people think that Suria's fashion style is obviously hideous and not elegant at all. Girls usually don't mix-and-match baju kurung with Converse sneakers. And not many girls nowadays like to wear baju kurung.

The way Suria dresses also makes most of the Malay-kampungs think that she can't get a good husband. In fact, most of them think that Suria can't get a husband at all. No guy wants to marry a girl who dresses in baju kurung and Converse sneakers. That's what they thought.

Even Suria's mother, Cik Pah also disagrees with the way Suria dresses. Cik Pah wishes Suria to be more like Ratnasari (the antagonist). Ratnasari is Suria's cousin and also her nemesis. Ratnasari is very pretty, fashionable, feminine, but also very bitchy, selfish, and a gold-digger.

One day, Suria meets a hunk named Gary Rahmah. Gary is good-looking, smart, cool, and kind-hearted. Gary is the almost perfect hunk. Surprisingly, Gary falls in love with Suria. This brings a big shock to Ratnasari, Cik Pah, and those who discriminate against Suria. Gary is such a hunk. But Suria is not a stunner at all. What is so special about Suria that makes Gary falls for her? To Gary, Suria is adorable just the way she is. Suria's cool attitude always makes Gary happy and smiling.

MY REVIEW ON SI BAJU KURUNG KASUT KANVAS

My illustration of the characters in SBKKK. From left: Gary Rahman (the male protagonist), Suria Rihana (the female protagonist), and Ratnasari (the antagonist)

SBKKK is a romantic comedy with parody. The author criticized the Malay-kampungs' stereotypical way of thinking that is a girl has to be beautiful, feminine, and dresses-well to get a good husband. The author also criticized Malay-kampungs' negative attitude that is gossiping, discriminating, and bad-talking others.

The moral message in this novel is a girl can't make a guy simply falls in love with her just by using her outer beauty. Inner beauty is still the winner. I also like the way Umie Nadzimah uses her knowledge of nutrition for her writing in this novel. I learned a few things about nutrition from reading SBKKK.

I also like the way Umie Nadzimah portrays her characters in this novel. Suria Rihana is an amazing female protagonist. I think she is the best female protagonist in all Bahasa Malaysia novels I've read. I can relate her to some strong female protagonists in classic literature novels like Anne Shirley, Jane Eyre, and Jo March. Suria is sassy, strong, brave, courageous, smart, intelligent, knows what she wants, and also sticks to her values. To me, Suria is a symbol of an alpha millennial Asian female. 

The male protagonist, Gary Rahmah is also an awesome character. Gary reminds me of Gilbert Blythe in Anne Of Green Gables. He is a cool smart dude who goes for smart girls. I also like Ratnasari's character. Ratnasari is a villain I love to hate. But yet she is also a villain I hate to love. Ratnasari is a hilarious gold-digging villain. I believe Ratnasari can be an iconic character like Kitty Pong from Crazy Rich Asians.

Overall, I rate this novel 10/10. I really enjoyed reading this novel. It's sassy and very hilarious. Reading this novel makes me happy.  I highly recommend my bookworm pals to read this novel. Trust me, you'll enjoy Si Baju Kurung Kasut Kanvas once you read it. Plus, the storyline is very intriguing. 

Ok, that's all for now. Before I end this post, I want to ask my readers three questions. Has anyone read Si Baju Kurung Kasut Kanvas? If yes, what are your opinions on this novel? And did you enjoy reading it?

Thank you for reading my review. Hope to see you guys again soon. Take care.

*Baju Kurung - a Malay traditional costume worn by women and girls

* Malay-kampungs - Malay people who live in the countryside and adopt the country lifestyle

XoXo,

Fadima Mooneira ^_^

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