In Response To Zahid: “Suamiku Tak Romantik Tapi Autistik”

WHILE trawling through comments in response to Zahid Hamidi‘s Nobel fantasy, we came across this local novel with a gem of a title: Suamiku Tak Romantik Tapi Autistik.

Proposed by Facebook user Shanuja Chandran in a suggested reading list to help Zahid gauge the standard of local literature, Farisha Imani‘s breakout hit from 2012 is simply unbelievable. But don’t say that to its reader base on Goodreads — 90% liked the novel.

In Suamiku Tak Romantik Tapi Autistik, Nura Alia falls in love with Syed Azmi, who eventually attempts to rape her. In her revenge against Syed Azmi, she gets the job as a caretaker to Syed Azmi’s autistic brother, Boboy.

Boboy is depicted as “tak cukup seringgit” throughout much of the book, but he saves Alia from being raped by this other guy named Syam. As a result, Boboy is caught in a compromising situation with Alia and they kena tangkap basah.

Alia and Boboy are forced to marry. Eventually, Boboy confesses it was all an act: he pretended to be autistic for the past seven years to the dismay of his poor parents.

A quick read through all twenty-seven of its user reviews reveal highly-positive comments in regards to Farisha Imani’s writing.

Some readers were ecstatic.

Some however, had their doubts.

Suamiku Tak Romantik Tapi Autistik currently holds a rating of 3.95 on the site, with 69% of readers giving it a 4 or 5-star rating. The book was added to 585 Goodreads accounts and is on the to-read list of 234 users.

Farisha Imani has released four titles to date, namely Suamiku Tak Romantik Tapi Autistik, Akankah Bahagia Itu Milik Kita? (2013), Suri Dihatiku (as Zubaidah Ibrahim, 2014), and Mencari Si Pelengkap Hati (2015).

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Suamiku Tak Romantik Tapi Autistik was published in July 2012 by Penerbitan Karyaseni.