A Very Yuppy Wedding - Ika Natassa

Sinopsis

The life of a business banker is 24/7, dan bagi Andrea, banker muda yang tengah meniti tangga karier di salah satu bank terbesar di Indonesia, rasanya ada 8 hari dalam seminggu. Power lunch, designer suit, golf di Bintan, dinner dengan nasabah, kunjungan ke proyek debitur, sampai tumpukan analisis feasibility calon nasabah, she eats them all. Namun di usianya yang meninjak 29 tahun, Andrea mungkin harus mengubah prioritasnya, karena sekarang ada Adjie, the most eligible bachelor in banking yang akan segera menikahinya. So she should be smiling, right?

Not really. Tidak di saat ia harus memilih antara jabatan baru dan pernikahan, menghadapi wedding planner yang demanding, calon mertua yang perfeksionis, target bank yang mencekik, dan ancaman denda 500 juta jika ia melanggar kontrak kerjanya. Dan tidak ada Manolo Blahnik atau Zara atau Braun Buffel yang bisa memaksanya tersenyum di saat ia mulai mempertanyakan apakah semua pengorbanan karier yang telah ia berikan untuk Adjie tidak sia-sia, ketika ia menghadapi kenyataan bahwa tunangan sempurnanya mungkin berselingkuh dengan rekan kerjanya sendiri.

Welcome to the world of Andrea Siregar, the woman with the most rational job on the planet as she is making the most irrational decisions in her own personal life.

Do I love this book?

Hell yes! Hahaha, sebenarnya saya udah baca buku ini sejak beberapa tahun yang lalu, bersamaan dengan saya membaca Divortiare, buku karangan novelis yang sama. Makanya waktu Ulang Tahun GPU kemaren, dan box set-nya Ika Natassa dijual dengan diskon 40%, saya nggak mau ketinggalan dong buat beli, hehehe..

Alasan pertama kenapa saya suka buku ini karena tokoh utamanya banker! Dangkal? Yes. Hehe, pekerjaan Andrea sebagai relationship manager (baca: tukang kredit) salah satu bank di Indonesia benar-benar membuat saya bisa memahami segala keribetan dia dalam mengelola debitur, walaupun segmen dia korporasi sementara saya usaha kecil, tapi so far job desc-nya sama lah, jadi sering banget tuh saya lagi baca satu halaman dan bilang, "Iya, bener gila.. itu gue banget.", "Emang tuh debitur banyak maunya.." "Bos reseeek.." :))))) Dan nggak bisa nikah sama temen sekantor? Beuh. (not that I'm intrigued ya, I've already married with temen sekantor yang dulu, hahaha..)

Setiap novel Ika Natassa punya satu ciri khas yang sangat menonjol. Tokoh cowok yang bikin kita jatuh cinta setengah mati sama dia. Cakep, perhatian, rajin salat, karir bagus. Dan tanpa sadar, itu bikin kita (baca: cewek-cewek pembaca yang manis dan budiman) root for him. Dan ngenye-ngenyein tokoh ceweknya. Sekarang siapa sih yang nggak kesel, udah dikasi calon suami yang perfect-nya alaihim gambreng, si Andrea masih bikin segalanya jadi complicated, nuduh Adjie selingkuh, sok-sokan demi kerjaan boong sama calon suaminya beberapa minggu sebelum mereka nikah. Duh, big big mistakes.

Tapi segala konflik dan drama itu emang dibutuhkan dalam suatu novel kan, biar kita gregetan dan pingin nyekek si Andreanya? :)) Nggak ding, walaupun kadang dialog yang disajikan berlebihan (menurut saya), karakter yang ditampilkan juga terlalu berlebihan sih, irritating much, dan (serasa) bikin perkawinan itu hal yang tidak menyenangkan (it needs hard work indeed, tapi si Andrea ini sebenarnya cinta nggak sih sama Adjie sampe pengorbanan dikit aja nggak bisa dilakukan, grrr..), tapi mungkin itu biar emosinya bisa ketangkap kali ya. Trus emang ada ya karakter yang flawless kayak Adjie gitu? Terus scene terakhir yang fast forward membuat saya "Eh, udah nih, segitu aja? Baekan ni jadinya?". Ada blank page aja rasanya.

Over all, I'm enjoying this book like I'm enjoying all chicklits I've ever read, buktinya baca buku ini sekali jalan beres. Buat analis kredit slash relationship manager semua bank di Indonesia, coba deh baca buku ini! :D

PS. I know for sure, Adjie is supposed to be Jawa tulen, but why oh why I keep thinking of Aiden Mathis while reading about him?

Antologi Rasa by Ika Natassa

Disclaimer

I felt very woman when I read this book, so this review maybe had very woman-vibe in it. Try to read it from perspective of a woman.

I've read this book for a while, forgot about that, and re-read it yesterday night, while accompanied by some mellow songs. Suits the book very well. Probably you'll sob out loud, so never, never try to do both things (read the book and listen those kind of broken heart music) while you're sad. Or broken heart of course.

I saw a new cover, did they really change its cover? But I prefer this one actually.

Summary

Three best friends. A Question. What if in the person that you love, you find a best friend instead of a lover?

Keara

We're both just people who worry about the breaths we take, not how we breathe.

How can we be so different and feel so much alike, Rul?

And tonight, three years after the night that made me fall in love with you, my dear, and here I lay staring at the stars in the Singapore sky, and I still love you. And you may never know.

Ruly

What I'm not telling you Keara, until now, the only moment I could be happier and relieved is when someday I enter the hospital room and Denise is holding our new baby she gave birth. What I am not telling you is a feeling of warmth I felt in the chest when the nurse woke me up at dawn and said, "Sir, your wife was conscious," and that I was not even having slightest intention of correcting the statement. Dream on, Rul.

Harris

Happiness in my version: see you laughing. In your version: Maybe I'll never know. Because every time I try to do sweet things that I do with other women throughout history who never fails to make them falling for me, all I heard for you is, "Harris darling, please, keep your sweet things. Go back being the chauvinistic jerk that I love. "

That's probably as close as I can get to hearing that she loves me.

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This story is written from everyone's perspective, but I love Keara's most. She's typical urban working woman, working as an account officer in an international bank, thinking that her job is something that helps her to get those Kate Spades for her closet, and something she does between the weekend. Love photography. She loves her best friend, Ruly. Too bad, Ruly is in love with their best friend, Denise. And Harris, who also happen to be their best friend too, falls into Keara.

Typical love square story huh?

But, it's not.

From the very beginning, Ika Natassa has already brought me into her world. She told romantically how airport means for everyone, what travel should teach you about. She is a romantic story-teller. I love how Keara (yes, my favorite character) being told to have such as photographic memory, when she's able to remember all the details from everything she love, the first time she felt in love with photography, first time she met Ruly, what clothes he wear exactly, and their first conversation who made her fall'n love with him. Keara, while she has similar and not very similar background with me (I also happen to be a banker, but I am not a bitch like her, of course!), with her charm and tempting figure, turns out to be like every ordinary girl who is falling in love. Remember when you feel that everywhere you go, when you close your eyes, and you'll see only him? And every time you listen a song, you'll think it's about you and him. Ika perfectly creates an universe when we feels we are Keara. Hopelessly want that every thing would be fall perfectly into places we want.

Love every details Ika put at Keara's travel, F1 show in Singapore, business trip to Bali, getaway with Ruli in Ubud, John Meyer's concert in Manila. I feel like Ika is really putting herself in Keara's shoes, since I was reading somewhere that she loves traveling and photography too. Keara's life style is too metropolis for me, but I still be able to enjoy it as well.

I thought, people will be torn into two team, good guy Ruly, and bad boy, Harris. As much as I love bad boy, but Ruly takes special position in my heart, because from the beginning, he was the one who always closed himself, an introvert one, so we had no idea about his feeling. I know he has special feeling for Denise, but I can't resist from all magical moment which happened between him and Keara. As a hopelessly romantic person, I really want a happy ending though. For everyone.

Meanwhile, Harris, has his own persona. Of course, he's a jerk, and I don't like what he did to Keara at the early chapter, but step by step, he proves that he's a good friend. And he deserves Keara.

So in the end, the maturity will bring everyone into a decision. It maybe not a happy ending, but surely it's the best for everyone. And the best ending is who gives you an open probability to keep the future changing to follow its nature. Find happiness.

PS. I created a playlist to company me reading this book, because Ika inserted many songs inside her book, so it's really appropriate to compile both of them. Try "Edge of Desire" by John Meyer. It works perfectly!