Underground

by Ika Natassa

Ohaiyooo! I’m back with one more book review. This time I’ll discuss about my favorite writer’s book Ika Natassa,
Underground. Underground is actually her first novel. She wrote it when she was 19 and she wrote it in English!
Yes, this book was fully written in English. Super nice!

Okay back to the Underground itself, this book tells about the biggest music TV station in USA. It is a kind of MTV
in real life. VJs, celebrities, music are easily found here. The plot of this book is easily to be understood, it is all
about friendship and love. Let’s talk about it deeper:

Meet Liv Hunter, one of the Underground’s VJs and one of the Most 50 Beautiful People in the world. She is
Blonde, edgy, chick, beautiful (of course), famous and lovable. Then meet her best friend, Stefan Marciano, her
fellow VJ friend at Underground. Liv and Stefan are a best friend, until they’re tired of searching what-so-called
soulmate and decided to become more than friends at last. Not only them, Underground has some coolest other
VJs like Jared, Heather, Claire and many others. They bring their own unique stories I’m sure you won’t regret
while reading it :)

Nah that’s a bit clue about this story that I wanna tell you. You have to buy this book to know the complete story
:D

Overall this book is really refreshing. Because some characters here are very different with other Ika Natassa’s
books. If her four novels (AVYW, Divortiare, Antologi Rasa, and Twivortiare) tell about a banker’s life, Underground
serves some fresh characters. Even though this is Ika Natassa’s first novel (but came out after AVYW and Divortiare
for some reasons), but this is the last book I read and of course it gives me something new about Ika’s books. This
book flies my times back when I was in primary and secondary school, where MTV was my whole life! Haha true it
is, I couldn’t live my any single day without watching it. So thank God I bought this book and thank you Ika
Natassa for writing it :D
is, I couldn’t live my any single day without watching it. So thank God I bought this book and thank you Ika
Natassa for writing it :D

But there are things that “mengganjal” in my head about some parts of this book like, it is quite impossible for a
popular and pretty lady like Liv who still remains virgin and she doesn’t drink beer? :| Also, this book was written in
1997, but why some VJs in this book mention about Jennifer Lopez’s Play and Nsync’s Girlfriend? Those songs
supposed to be released after 2000s. But I don’t know if then Ika Natassa made some revisions about this story.

Well very good job for the author, and I deeply hope that she will write another English novel soon. :)|Buku ini
menceritakan banyak kisah. Dari banyak kisah aku hanya ingin menjelaskan kisah antara persahabatan dan cinta
antara Liv dan Stefan.
Diawal buku, kita akan melihat bagaimana persahabatan Liv dan stefan, bahkan disaat Liv kesusahan, Stefan yang
akan selalu membantu dirinya.
*berharap punya teman seperti Stefan...:)
Tapi disaat baca ini, aku jadi ingat kisah Keara dengan Harris..:)

Kisah Liv dan Stefan yang diawali dengan persahabatan,sampai akhirnya mereka berdiskusi mengenai soulmate.
Liv : Have you ever worried about not finding your soulmate?
Stefan : Constantly
Stefan : why are you suddenly wondering about this soulmate thing?
Liv : It's Just that,,,I've been dating around these past few years, and...I know you're gonna laugh at this one, but,
I'am just tired of it...
Stefan : I believe that you are not supposed to find your soulmate. You are supposed to find each other, And you
know, someday it will happen, you just don't know when. Meanwhile, you just live life the way it's meant to be...
Keeps on dating until you find the one.

Sampai akhirnya mereka sadar bahwa mereka tidak butuh mencari lagi dikarenakan soulmate mereka ada didepan
mata. Sebelum mereka berpacaran, mereka sudah mencoba untuk berpacaran dengan pasangan mereka masing-
masing. Liv dengan Mark dan Stefan dengan Alisyah, tetapi hubungan mereka tidak berjalan dengan baik dan
memutuskan untuk berpisah.
Dan akhirnya, ada percakapan manis antara Liv dan Stefan, seperti ini

Stefan : Actually, I need to tell you something

Do you still belive in soulmate?
Liv : Yeah, why?
Stefan : Well, I have found my soulmate. I'm just, you know, not sure that I'm hers too
Liv : Really? congratulations, who is she?
Stefa : It's You
I can't believe it took me so long to realize this...I can't think on any other woman I want to be with but you
I'm in love with you, beautiful
Liv :I love you too

Aduh romantis banget,,,,Stefan mengatakan ini semua kepada Liv, disaat hari paling romantis sedunia? What???
Yes, all of you have know about that day, that is 'Valentine Days'

Tapi kalau ceritanya hanya dibuat dengan kisah-kisah romantis,,,

buku ini gak akan menjadi hal yang seru duks..
so pastinya banyak rintangan yang mereka harus hadapi.
Dimulai dari pekerjaan, cara berpikir bahkan sampai kepada teman-teman disekitar mereka.

Sampai akhirnya, kejadian yang paling tidak diinginkan pun terjadi.

Liv yang bertemu dengan sahabat lamanya, bernama Rene
dan Stefan tidak menyukai atas perlakuan Rene yang 'keliatan manis'
dan kata-kata yang tidak romantis harus terungkapkan, seperti ini
(jujur,waktu baca bagian ini, aku seperti merasakan gimana sakitnya hati keduanya...*sorry agak lebay)
Liv : Would you listen to yourself?
This is what i was talking about, Stefan, You being irritatingly jealous
Stefan : I do have a reason, don't I? you're so cought up with Rene, you're asking for a break up right now?
Liv : Stefan, please, you're making it harder for me...
Stefan : Do you think it-s not hard to me to listen to you like this?
God, Liv, after eight months. This is the longest relationship I've ever had, and you just come to me and told me
that we should cool down?
I don't need to sort my feeling. I'm already sure what I'm feeling for you.
Liv, are you doing this because you're not sure if you really love me or not? Is that it?
I'am doing this because I love you. I don-t want to losse you.
We need this clear up all the jealousy between us.
I love you
Liv : I love you too

Aduh, setelah baca ini kata-kata pasti buat orang yang mungkin sudah pernah mengalaminya, jadi ingat kisah-
kisah sedih itu...
*gak nyambung banget ya,,intinya Stefan keren banget kan,,,,dia romantis,,,:D

Tapi tenang saja, buku ini tidak berakhir dengan kegalauan buat para pembacanya.
Karena kisah cinta Stefan dan Liv akhirnya kembali lagi.
Seperti yang Stefan ungkapkan
Stefan : I love you liv, everything about you...

Aduh,,,intinya aku suka Stefan...

Intinya secara keseluruhan buku ini menarik dan tidak membosankan, selain itu buku ini gak akan buat kita
pusing. Karena konfliknya bukan sinetron banget kok. Dan kita gak akan menjumpai orang jahat atau orang baik.
Buku ini hanya menceritakan kisah Liv dan Stefan serta cinta mereka, persahabatan mereka beserta kehidupan
yang mereka jalani selama kerja di Underground.

JAdi buat yang pengen baca buku romantis, buku ini cukup direkomendasikan.

Berharap, dilain waktu mbak penulis mau melanjutkan kisah Liv dan Stefan...:) |i like ika natassa's previous work
way way waaay better (or should i say, her recent works such as 'AVYW' and 'Devortaire', remembering that she
wrote 'Underground' back in her teenage days).

i'm not gonna elaborate much on what i didn't like about this particular book as if i know better (cuz' i don't),
especially since she wrote it in English. which i think is a pretty bold decision to make, since it's not our native
language. although from time to time i, personally, do feel much more comfortable speaking or writing in English
rather than in Bahasa (let's face it, our bahasa can be pretty tricky sometimes).

i am just glad that the author decide to publish this, after she'd release 'AVYW' and 'Devortaire'. Also the fact that
she published this book by herself (which makes this book only available thru ordering online for semi- to
hardcore fans of her previous works) as a very wise decision. i think that if this book was released as her debut
novel, not so many people would want to follow through by purchasing the author's upcoming work, unless she
did release this book either back in the 90's and when she was still a teenage writer. opinions might not be as
harsh, possibly...

even though i may never get -the hours that i already spent reading this book- back and a simple question such
as 'was it a money well-spent for buying this book' (cuz' it is pretty pricey) comes to mind once i finished this
approx. 400 pages novel, i'm still very hopeful for the author's next 'recent days' project... her previous released
books were really good and made quite an impact, that made me somehow still believing that good books are to
approx. 400 pages novel, i'm still very hopeful for the author's next 'recent days' project... her previous released
books were really good and made quite an impact, that made me somehow still believing that good books are to
be expected from her in the future.

|Saya belum pernah ke New York, jadi hampir setiap waktu saya harus googling supaya tahu apa yang sedang
digambarkan oleh Ika. Capek? Tentu tidak, karena saya jadi tahu ini dan itu (plus semakin ingin berkunjung
kesana) :D

Tidak banyak penulis yang berani menulis menggunakan bahasa asing. Jadi, saya salut buat keberaniannya. Saya
sendiri (untungnya) tidak banyak mengalami kesulitan karena menurut saya bahasanya cukup mudah. Dan
mengingat novel ini ditulis sewaktu dia berumur 19 tahun (kalau tidak salah), jujur, saya hanya bisa tercengang.
Alurnya rapi. Walaupun emosinya juga tentu lebih datar, berbeda dengan novel yang sekarang ditulisnya (baca:
AVYW, Divortiare, Antologi Rasa).

Underground juga sukses membawa saya bernostalgia ke masa-masa saya masih selalu menongkrongi MTV
sepulang sekolah (haha..tahun berapa tuh ya? :p). Sukses membuat saya terpesona (lagi) dengan DJ Utt. Sukses
membuat saya harus membongkar ulang koleksi lagu-lagu lama saya di notebook.

Salute for this book!|punya buku ini udah lama, tapi baru dibaca kemarin ini. karena agak ragu, bisa nggak ya saya
ngerti ceritanya. secara buku ini ditulis full dalam bahasa Inggris dan sini kemampuan bahasa inggrisnya agak-
agak gimana gituuu. etapi, setelah mulai baca nggak bisa berhenti loh. bahasa inggrisnya termasuk mudah
dicerna. beneran deh! :)

untuk ceritanya sendiri sih, buku ini tentang cinta dan persahabatan yang terjadi di antara para VJ di stasiun musik
terbesar di Amerika bernama Underground. baca buku ini seperti diajak berkeliling Amerika oleh penulis. selain itu
kita juga diajak bernostalgia bagaimana dulu MTV menjadi hiburan bagi kita. tapi nih ya, ini wawasan saya yang
sempit mengenai musik atau karena beda generasi sama penulis? itu lagu-lagu dan artisnya banyak yang saya
nggak tahu. -___-

tokoh utama di buku ini adalah Liv dan Stefan. dari awal sudah bisa menduga sih bahwa Liv dan Stefan yang
bersahabat akan berakhir sebagai pasangan. meski demikian, saya penasaran bagaimana cara mbak Ika
memberikan konflik ke dalam hubungan mereka berdua. selain Liv dan Stefan, juga ada pasangan Jared-Heather,
Claire-Micha, Shareef-Aaliyah, Gavin-Alisha, Sarah-Will. mereka semua bersahabat. dan mbak Ika mengupas satu
per satu konflik di antara pasangan tersebut dengan baik.

pada mulanya (mungkin 3 bab awal), saya memang merasa bosan dan belum 'klik' sama ceritanya. apalagi
ditambah banyak sekali nama yang bermunculan (ini salah satu kelemahan saya dalam membaca buku). sampai-
sampai saya mencatat nama-nama mereka di kertas serta membuat deskripsi singkat tentang mereka, agar saya
tidak lupa. tapi setelah memasuki sepertiga bagian buku dan konflik mulai bermunculan, saya mulai bisa
mnegingat siapa aja yang ada di dalam buku ini.

jujur saja, saya seperti tidak membaca buku sih, tapi lebih ke baca naskah drama. kenapa? karena 90% isi buku ini
memang terdiri dari percakapan. tapi dari percakapan-percakapan tersebut saya bisa menangkap seperti apa
karakter Liv, Stefan, dan kawan-kawan. misalnya Liv yang saya tangkap adalah dia gadis yang mandiri dan keras
kepala untuk mempertahankan sesuatu yang dia anggap benar. Sedangkan Stefan orangnya cemburuan tapi di
sisi lain dia cowok yang romantis dan kata-katanya yang sweet.

secara emosi, dibanding buku-buku mbak Ika yang lain, mungkin emosi di buku ini agak datar. nggak bikin saya
gregetan yang gimana gitu ketika setiap konflik terjadi. tapi saya sempet terharu sih pas scene Stefan dan Liv
bicara di malam natal. gitu aja sih.

tadinya mau kasih 3 bintang, tapi berhubung mbak Ika udah sukses bikin saya jatuh cinta sama Stefan, saya
tambahin 1 bintang lagi deh. ini menandakan di setiap bukunya mbak Ika mampu membuat pembaca jatuh cinta
dengan tokoh di cerita yang dia buat. padahal mah saya aja yang gampang luluh sama cowok sweet kayak Stefan.
mau tau gimana sweet-mya Stefan, nih ya saya kasih beberapa kutipan perkataan dia.
dengan tokoh di cerita yang dia buat. padahal mah saya aja yang gampang luluh sama cowok sweet kayak Stefan.
mau tau gimana sweet-mya Stefan, nih ya saya kasih beberapa kutipan perkataan dia.

i believe that you are not supposed to find your soulmate. you are supposed to find each other. and you know,
someday it will happen, you just don't know when. meanwhile, you just live life the way it's meant to be...

i can't think of any other woman i want to be but you

Other guys should be jealous that i have you

And I might not be this happy if i'm not with you

I can't imagine not being with you even for one second, Liv. And you want us to stay away from each other? You
can rip out my heart while you're at it, and it's still beating for you.

gimana, udah kesemsem belum sama Stefan??? -)

anyway, buku ini nggak cocok dibaca untuk dalam perjalanan. karena font-nya kecil banget, yang ada malah
pusing pas bacanya.