Hanna Alkaf

Scrabble competitions, set in Malaysia, and a murder mystery? Add that cover, and I was over-the-moon when I got my hands on an ARC copy of this one.

Najwa is suffering panic attacks due to the trauma of watching her best friend and Scrabble champion, Trina, suddenly die at the end of a scrabble match right in front of her. Although the death happened a year before, the cause never came to light. A year later, Najwa tries to regain a hold on her life and re-enters the Scrabble scene after a show more long pause. Of course, her first competition is at the same place where her friend died...and exactly a year later. As Najwa tries to come to terms with her own ghosts, she watches all her earlier friends feverishly battle to take Trina's place. But Najwa has set her eyes on that position herself to honor the memory of her best friend and is on the best way to accomplish her goal...until a real ghost takes over Trina's dormant, social media accounts and teases with hints at murder.

This book was as grabbing as I hoped it be and also took a slightly different atmosphere than I expected...and that's great. The first chapter begins with Trina's sudden death in a traumatic way. Najwa then hits the scene with chapter two a year later as she comes across insecure and awkward, and tries to force herself to re-grasp her life. The author has done a very good job at allowing Najwa's emotions, thoughts, and inner-struggles to gain a strong foothold in the first chapters. And while this usually would turn 'action-loving' me slightly away, there is enough going on in the undertones to start building the basis for the mystery and keep it more than interesting.

While Najwa's depth and warm-heart amidst her insecurity make her a wonderful heroine, the side characters can't be overlooked. Each one holds personality, quirks, secrets, and adds the right bite to form a rich atmosphere around Najwa and the intrigue. It makes it impossible to figure out who the true murderer is (and this does hit with complete surprise, at the end), while adding tension at every turn.

Then, there's the unique setting, which delights from all of its nerdiness. Najwa swims in words and understands the world by holding them close. Each chapter begins with a unique word, the point amount it gives in Scrabble, and a definition, which holds meaning at the beginning of the chapter. Her thoughts rotate around complex words, which she defines in her head, as she uses them to base herself and what she experiences or notices around her. It adds an odd and intriguing aspect, which gives this story its own flair.

This one is a treat to read. It does have a couple triggers as there is a death, panic attacks, and a bit of bullying, but these aren't anything harsher than even tween audiences can handle. There were a couple things surrounding the death, which seemed muddled over, and for someone with as much issues with the trauma as Najwa had, the idea of her rejoining everything at the same site on the anniversary raises an eyebrow, but this story more than works. I enjoyed it quite a bit and recommend this one to even tweens and up (although it is a YA read, too), since its such an easy, engaging, and fun read. show less

Two aspects make this a particularly unique read, first that it’s set in 1960’s Malaysia during conflict between Malays and Chinese, a time and place I haven’t read about in fiction before, nor have I read a book where the heroine navigates obsessive compulsive disorder in what is essentially a war zone.

Melati’s obsessive compulsive disorder plays a huge role here, it’s with her on nearly every page, at odds with cultural beliefs that require her to keep her condition hidden and show more worsened by the conflict around her and her fears for her loved ones in danger. Melati’s thoughts frequently spiral to dark places, providing readers with a strong sense of how difficult and draining life must be with a mental health issue.

With war weighing so heavily in our real life news right now understandably the subject matter here might feel like too much for some, however, I did want to mention that the book has some heartening moments where you see characters in crisis come together to help one another, providing shelter, protection, and other forms of aid.

While this book left me wanting to know more about where someone I adored ended up, and there was the occasional moment where characters were conveniently in the right place at the right time, it was easy enough to overlook those minor quibbles when there was so much else to appreciate in this novel, particularly the bonds between characters whether those established prior to the conflict or those that came about in heightened circumstances, the emotion of those connections drove the story as much as the page turning action did. show less

I couldn’t resist this book – a murder mystery at a Scrabble tournament! This is a well-written YA (Young Adult) novel that takes place in a hotel in Johor Bahru, Malaysia during an annual Scrabble tournament. The murder occurred last year when “Queen of the Tiles” Trina Low fell over dead while playing Scrabble during the tournament. Her best friend Najwa Bakri returns to the world of competitive Scrabble after a year of mourning and healing. She hopes to find out what happened to show more Trina, and also hopes to acquire the title “Queen of the Tiles” to honor Trina.

The novel incorporates Najwa’s inner monologue, where the reader learns that she is still traumatized from watching her best friend die suddenly in front of her. The themes of death, grief, and mental health are explored sensitively, as Najwa comes to realize she has trauma-based amnesia from this tragedy, so while interviewing all the suspects she tries to have them describe what they saw before, during, and right after Trina died to help her remember. In this way we learn what happened from various points of view and also meet the other characters, all Malaysian young adults, and some Muslim like Najwa.

At the beginning of the novel, only Najwa believes Trina was murdered, while officially it was declared a natural, health-related death. But when Najwa shares her suspicions with others she trusts during the competition, she gains support for the murder theory as well as help with her sleuthing.

Najwa has on-going relationships with many of the characters, since they return yearly to the tournament. I thought several of the characters were immature, like young high schoolers. Author Hanna Alkaf skillfully portrays this young world with their crushes, gossip, secrecy, and rumors – all against the competitive backdrop of the Scrabble tournament.

I liked the different word-related themes Alkaf incorporates into the novel. For instance, when Najwa realizes what she has missed after taking a break to mourn her best friend: “the words, yes, but also just being around people who are as passionate about the words as I am, who see the invisible threads on which you can hang individual letters and create magic.”

Each chapter begins with a Scrabble word, the points and definition in context to that chapter. Sometimes after reading the chapter I’d go back to the beginning and see what word was highlighted and think about how it fit into that chapter’s action.

At the end of the novel, Najwa says “I’m starting to understand…there’s more to people than you can ever really see, and that once you start seeing more of them, their words can change. Language is a living, evolving thing, after all.”

Even though the revelation of the murderer was a bit of a let-down, this was a great way to incorporate Scrabble – words, spelling, definitions, competitions – into a mystery novel. show less

What a great read this book was. It was set in Kuala Lumpur, 1969, when racial violence broke out between the Malays and Chinese. The author was vivid in her descriptions of the violence and destruction that occurred at this time, and it was a period in history I knew nothing about, so I learnt something.

Don't be fooled by the cartoon-like front cover. "The Weight of Our Sky" was dark and intense but written with compassion so that, despite all the horrors, there were some wonderfully moving show more moments of humanity where people, regardless of race, supported each other in their time of need. Thankfully, the importance of love, tolerance and family shone through.

The main protagonist was Melati. She had a strong, unique voice and I was immediately captivated by her. Caught in the middle of the riots and desperate to find her mother, Melati not only had to struggle with the physical threats that surrounded her, but also with the djinn in her head who constantly threatened the ones she loved if she didn't keep counting. My heart bled for her. Her OCD was handled extremely well. Melati showed feelings of helplessness, grief and guilt, but she continued to draw on her inner strength to get her through.

A big positive for me was the absence of any romance, as there was nothing to detract from the big issues that the book dealt with. Overall, and extremely well-written debut. show less