The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I am so proud for having read this! An Asian writer to be applaud and be proud of! The moment it started with “If this will hurt you, please don’t read my book,” in the author’s note…i’m hooked. I mean, i have not read any book with its author stating that don’t read my book if its going hurt you. Risky and….caring..at the same time?!

A story that managed to grip and grab my attention with just being frustrated of the protagonist, i mean i am really frustrated with her and wished i could say “Girl! Snap out of it already!” but at the same time, wished that we could just, “come on, help her already!!”

This book has so many things going on without feeling overwhelmed or ‘messy’. It’s about friendship in hard times, regardless of your differences. It’s about a daughter and mother’s love and frantic search for one another in dangerous times. It’s about history and there’s snippets of violence delicately described so as not to put off readers like me (i don’t really read anything related to war, terrorism, strikes, bloodshed, etc) but realistically enough that i could pretty much have a picture of the events in my mind.

Most importantly, it’s about one’s struggling with a mental disability, tastefully shadowed as ‘exorcism’, as per our ‘culture.’

I can feel her exhaustion and frustration. that deep struggle to be okay when it’s easier said than done because it was not something she can control, no matter how much she wanted to control them. that need. sigh….my mind almost feel as tired as her while reading this.

I definitely loved the climax of when she finally found her mother, my heart dropped too! i was like, finally!!! like we could finally breathe now, like all this while, our mother is alive!! all those worries and fears!! and we could let our guards drop for a short while because our mother is here in front of us. just here.(see how i use ‘we’ and ‘our’ here, coz i’m so immersed with her).

I think this book should be read by all Malaysian students, even as part of their literature (language or historical) subject.



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I read this as an ebook borrowed from the NLB app and really, I didn’t expect to be blown away by it. It was also my first full fledged ebook reading. i must say it was a good start. the storyline caught my attention so much that i ‘open’ it up every time i was on the bus to find out how the story goes.

I can say I enjoy e-book reading now. but need to be very selective on what ebooks i borrowed. it had to be something i can enjoy… am so glad of this NLB- ebook borrowing…why didn’t i find this joy much earlier??!!

so anyway, this is a good read for something ‘light’ and quick. the storyline is no way that light. what i meant by light is, it isn’t a thick epic fantasy book.

should any child or teen read this? a definite yes. so many learning points that you can find. sigh…i can almost imagine the flood of discussion you can have if you are a literature or history teacher.

friendship, hardship, love, parent-child relationship, loss, death, racism, interfaith, harmony, violence, right and wrong, truth, politics, mental health, confidence, self-esteem, self-identity, religion, national pride, national identity, patriotism….the list can go on and on.

so yea…read it…