My Romantic Review For Aisya Sofea's Sumpah Setia




Eiyo dearies,

How are you guys doing? I hope you guys are doing good and enjoying your stay at home vacation. The Malaysian government has extended our stay at home vacation till the 14th of April 2020. Hmm.........no comment ^_^ 

I just finished reading a Bahasa Malaysia romance novel titled Sumpah Setia. The novel is written by Aisya Sofea. Now I would like to share my review on the novel with you guys. So let's begin.......


Aisya Sofea's Bio

The novelist -Aisya Sofea (Image: babab.net)


Aisya Sofea is one of Malaysia's top romance novelists. She is born in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. Some of her novels have already been adapted to TV drama series. Besides Sumpah Setia, Aisya Sofea's novels are Masih Setia, Sebenarnya, Selagi Ada, Far Away, Buatmu Kekasih, Adam dan Hawa, Gelora Jiwa, Jendela Hati, Jauh, Kau Untukku, Sehangat Asmara, Uda dan Dara, Dekatnya Cinta -Adam dan Hawa. Most of her novels are listed as a best seller.


Sumpah Setia Summary



Sumpah Setia is Aisya Sofea's 18th novel. The story is about an intercultural romance between a Malay-Muslim girl named Anis and a Non-Muslim Eurasian Boy (Dutch + Baba Nyonya Chinese) named Elias Lim Li Jun. Anis and Elias first met each other by coincidence. Elias instantly falls in love with Anis and wants her to be his soulmate. To Elias, Anis is adorable. Elias also believes that Anis is the right woman for him although they are from a different race and religion. 

In Chapter 11, Elias went for a job interview at the organization that Anis is working at. Elias succeeds in the interview and gets hired. He becomes Anis's immediate boss. Anis and Elias get close and they become good friends. At the same time, Anis's first love, Syed Umar enters the scene and tries to win her back. Anis first though that she is still in love with Syed Umar. She accepts him back. Syed Umar isn't a good guy. He is a gold digger and has his own agenda. Anis soon realizes that. Anis and Syed Umar break-off for the second time, and for good.

Elias confesses his feelings for Anis and his desire to revert to Islam. Anis also realizes that she loves Elias so much. Anis's mother, her two elder brothers, and sisters-in-law approve her relationship with Elias. But Anis's father, Dr.Mizan disapprove of their relationship. Dr. Mizan wants Syed Umar to be his son in law. Dr. Mizan doesn't believe in intercultural marriage. The old man believes that only a Malay man can be his son in law. This is the main conflict of the story.

However, I am glad that the story ends with a happy ending. Elias reverts to Islam and he changes his name to Ilyas Lim Abdullah. Dr. Mizan finally approves Anis and Elias's relationship. Anis and Elias get married and they have their happily ever after.


The Three Main Characters

My illustration of Anis and Elias. What do you guys think? (Image: My artist IG @fmooneira_art)


The Female Protagonist: Nur Suria Anissa (Anis)

The female protagonist in this novel is Nur Suria Anissa. Her nickname is Anis. Anis is a very pretty Malay girl. She is also sweet, innocent, humble, and kind. Anis has an adorable personality that makes people attracted to her. She is Dr. Mizan and Puan Yasmin's youngest child and the only daughter. Besides Elias, Anis is also very precious to her father, mother, and two elder brothers.


The Male Protagonist: Elias Lim Li Jun (Ilyas Lim Abdullah)

The male protagonist in this novel is Elias Lim Li Jun (he changes his name to Ilyas Lim Abdullah towards the end of the story). Elias is a Eurasian guy. He's a Dutch mix with Baba Nyonya Chinese. Elias is a gentleman, good looking, bright, intelligent, smart, charismatic, loving, and romantic. Elias has the desire to revert to Islam before he met Anis. Elias's elder brother, Musa Lim married a Malay woman and he reverted to Islam. Musa Lim became a better person after he reverted to Islam. This makes Elias interested to learn Islam too. He soon falls in love with the religion and decides to revert. 


The Antagonist: Syed Umar

The antagonist for this novel is Syed Umar. Syed Umar is Anis's ex-boyfriend and first love. I hate Syed Umar! Of course, he is good looking. But he is a horrible guy. He's a gold digger, materialistic, and only loves money. Money and wealth is the reason why Syed Umar wants to return to Anis. Anis's family is quite wealthy. Her father, Dr. Mizan owns a hospital. Dr. Mizan is also the founder of Hospital Suria. Syed Umar believes that he will be rich and gets everything that he wants by marrying Anis. Such a shit!


My Opinion and Rating For Sumpah Setia

As a reader, there are a few things that I liked in this novel. As a millennial living in this multicultural world, I always believe in intercultural romance. To me, intercultural romance is a beautiful thing. In fact, I always want to have an intercultural romance and maybe marriage for myself. Hehehe (but I'm not having high hopes on it).  I liked the way Aisya Sofea portrays intercultural romance in Sumpah Setia. To me, Anis and Elias are the cutest couples in a Bahasa Malaysia romance novel. However, there are still people who don't believe and disagree with intercultural romance and marriage. In Islam, there is nothing wrong with the intercultural marriage. As long as both lovers are sincere with each other it is ok.

I also liked the way Aisya Sofea portrays the Baba And Nyonya culture in her writing. Baba and Nyonya are also known as the Peranakan Chinese. The Peranakan Chinese people are descendants of Chinese immigrants who came to the Malay archipelago back in the 15th century. Baba refers to Peranakan men, while Nyonya refers to Peranakan women. Peranakan means local born. So these Baba and Nyonya people are Chinese who are born in Malaysia. 

I liked the Chinese traditional hand fan in every chapter of this novel



Besides the intercultural romance, Baba and Nyonya culture, I also liked the author used point of view 1 (POV1) in her writing. It makes me feel like I am communicating directly with Anis and makes me understand the character better. I also would like to credit my former colleague and the graphic designer for this novel - Ms. Syreena Jamil for doing a good job in designing the cover and the interior in this novel. The cover is red in color and it portrays the Baba and Nyonya culture. I also like how the graphic designer uses the Chinese traditional hand fan for the openings of every chapter in the novel. The traditional hand fan really symbolizes the Baba and Nyonya culture.

Most of all, I loved Elias Lim Li Jun's character. I think Aisya Sofea did a good job in developing Elias's character. Aisya Sofea portrays Elias as every woman's dream guy. As a woman, I have to admit that Elias has all the traits that I like in a guy. He is good looking, charming, charismatic, smart, intelligent, romantic, and have respect for woman. I also liked the way Aisya Sofea portrays Elias's physical appearance. Elias is tall, masculine, manly, has fair skin, small oriental eyes, and he also has dimples when he smiles. I always loved guys with small oriental eyes and dimples. The way Aisya Sofea describes Elias's physical appearance makes it easy for me to visualize him. I visualized Elias like Malaysian-Australian actor, Remy Hii. Hehehe.......except that Elias's hair color is soft brunette instead of black.

Overall, I rate this novel 7/10. For those who enjoy reading romance novels and loved intercultural romance, I highly recommend you to read Sumpah Setia. You will enjoy it.


Before I end this post, let me ask my readers some questions.......

1) Has anyone of you read Sumpah Setia by Aisya Sofea? If yes, what do you think about this novel? 
2) Is there anyone of you a fan of Aisya Sofea?
3) If yes, what is your favorite Aisya Sofea novel?


Ok, that's all for now. Thank you for reading. Pls stay at home and pray.

XoXo,

Fadima Mooneira ^_^


#SumpahSetia #AisyaSofea #BahasaMalaysiaNovel #RomanceNovel #NovelReview #FadimaMooneiraLibrary #Edutainment #FadimaMooneiraBlogspot

Comments

  1. Sounds like a great book - and culturally interesting! Thanks for sharing! (Love this font!)

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  2. This book sounds quite interesting! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us!

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  3. This books sounds interesting! Thank you for sharing a great detailed review!

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    Replies
    1. You are welcome. I shall share all the compliments with the author.

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  4. Thank you for this wonderful and thorough review! I love romance novels, especially sweet ones that include multi-cultural romance (hurray!). Thanks you for also explaining about Peranakan Chinese, I had never heard that term before. Great post!

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    1. Me too. My favourite romance novel author is Nicholas Sparks.

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  5. Good review. Sounds like a very interesting read. 7/10 isn’t bad. I’m going to pin this on a Pinterest also.

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  6. This sounds like a really interesting read! I've never heard of the book before this, but the plot sounds interesting x

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    1. Yeah, it’s about intercultural romance. I liked intercultural romance.

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  7. Wow, this sounds like such an interesting book. Thank you for a great review. This is going on my 'to read' list.

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  8. Great review. I'm not familiar with this author but I enjoy discovering new reads. Thank you for the recommendation.

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  9. Aisha Sofea ni semua novel dia memang best. Lagi kalau buat drama tv, memang tak miss punya. Sis bukanlah pembaca Novel tapi suka juga baca sinopsis setiap novelnya....

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    1. Kalo dah suka baca sinopsis lepas nie baca la plak novel. Best tau. Drama selalu Saya jarang follow. It depends on the actor lol. Selalu nyer novel yg diadaptasi jadik drama, actor dia Mesti x sebest yg novelist to describe. Never my expectation lol.

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  10. honestly, kita dah lama tak baca novel. no!! sedih pula. rasa macam tak de masa pula untuk diri sendiri kan :(

    by the way, tq for the review :)

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    Replies
    1. I understand that. Nie Mesti sebab kerja. How about you start now during this quarantine.

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  11. Bagus ada review macam ni. At least sesiapa yang nak cari buku kalau nampak review bagus boleh terus beli novel ni.

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    1. Yep. Hehehe. But everyone has their own taste and opinion.

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  12. Wahh the book looks good though. And the plot seems interesting. Your illustration is cute, keep illustrate more :)

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  13. frankly speaking, saya bukan pembaca novel.
    tak minat. but kenal aisya sofea because my daughter loves to read novel. not sure whether she has read this one, fadima.

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    1. This is Aisya Sofea latest one. Tanya lah dia dah baca ker blum. If not belilah utk dia. Hehehe.

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  14. I love reading malay novel but stopped buying any since im working in library school, since then, im reading english novel. I think i should start buy more malay novel from now. great review!

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    1. Baca2 both - Bahasa Malaysia and English. Both languages are important.

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  15. I really love the way you write! Keep it up! I'd love to read more.

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    1. Thank you. Hope we can be good blogger buddies. Nice to know you.

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  16. I love books that also provide you with some cultural insights. thanks for sharing! (love this font!)

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    Replies
    1. Yeah. You gained knowledge by reading the novel.

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  17. Tak pernah meminati novel. Jenis malas membaca Kak Bell ni. Hehe. Wah kalau diadaptasi jadi drama pasti lah buku dan ceritanya menarik. Sis baca sinopsis jela selalunya. Hehe.

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    1. Hmm........ saya x sure Kalo diadaptasikan jadi drama menarik ke tak. Selalu nyer novel melayu yg diadaptasi jadik drama..... drama nyer x sebest novel nyer. Mostly sebab plakon2 melayu x best. Buat spoil wariak. Kalo diadaptasi jadik international drama best lah kot.

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  18. Macam best je novel ni, sure anak sis suka. Macam sis zaman dah berakhir, giliran anak pulak suka baca novel

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  19. Kita ni bukan lah peminat novel tambah lagi nak membaca novel tebal-tebal ni tapi nama Aisya Sofea ni cukup sinonim kerana ada karya beliau yang di terbitkan dalam bentuk drama kan hehehee bagus jadi ulat buku ni...

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    1. Yep. Be of her most popular move is Adam & Hawa

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  20. Novel ni saya belum baca lagi. Nampak menarik. Kalau best, should be mesti jd drama tv. Baru syok kan. hehehe.

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    1. Hmm...... kena tengok dulu plakon nyer sape. Most novel yg best spoiled Bila diadaptasi jadik drama. Sebab watak2 nyer habis dirosakan oleh actor dan actress kita yg x dek bakat dan charisma. Harapnya kalo Sumpah Setia diadaptasi jadik drama jgnlah Mira Filzah dipilih jadik Anis. Memang spoil Kalo
      Minah tu blakon. And I don’t want mana2 actor melayu jadik Elias. I want Asian Hollywood actor- Remy Hii to be Elias. Ahax!

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  21. Such a good story.. I do love reading novel.. But this one i do not read it yet. Thanks for the review

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  22. Loved it! Haven't read her book, but will consider...

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  23. I am a sucker for romance novels, especially those where true love triumphs, and it definitely sounds like Sumpah Setia fits the bill. I love that it has an intercultural romance able the main character has to realize that her first love has underhanded motives.

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    1. I am sucker for romanve novels too Dr. Kimberlie, and I second everything you said.

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  24. Sounds like an interesting read. I love happy endings

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  25. This sounds like a really interesting read and I love that it discusses the topic of intercultural relationships and the struggles that they may have to face (including criticism from family members).

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  26. aisya sofeais wel known author...but for this title i never heard about this...btw love the ending..true love win!

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  27. menarik juga based on your review. the author pun quite famous kan

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    1. Yup. Aisya Sofea kan salah seorang top novelist Malaysia.

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  28. I love stories that end with a happy ending, especially at the moment when the world is so confusing and miserable! This book sounds fantastic and lovely x

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    1. Everybody love stories with happy endings. In Malaysia, people won’t buy your book if it’s not a happy ending.

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