The Girl on Paper by Guillaume Musso Review

Gadis itu terjatuh dari dalam buku.

Hanya beberapa bulan yang lalu, Tom Boyd adalah seorang penulis miliarder yang tinggal di Los Angeles dan jatuh cinta pada seorang pianis ternama bernama Aurore. Namun, setelah putusnya hubungan mereka yang terekspos secara publik, Tom menutup dirinya, menderita writer’s block parah, dan tenggelam dalam alkohol dan obat terlarang.

Suatu malam, seorang gadis asing yang cantik muncul di teras rumah Tom. Dia mengaku sebagai Billie, karakter dalam novelnya, yang terjatuh ke dunia nyata karena kesalahan cetak dalam buku terakhir Tom.

Meskipun cerita itu gila, Tom harus percaya bahwa gadis itu benar-benar Billie. Akhirnya mereka membuat perjanjian. Jika Tom mau menulis novel agar Billie bisa kembali ke dunianya, Billie akan membantu Tom untuk mendapatkan Aurore kembali.

Tidak ada ruginya, kan? Iya, kan?

What happens when fantasy is the only thing that seems real? Just a few months ago, Tom Boyd was a multi-million-selling author living in LA, in love with a world-famous pianist. But after a very public break-up he’s shut himself away, suffering from total writer’s block, with only drink and drugs for company. One night, a beautiful, naked stranger appears in Tom’s house. She claims to be Billie, a character from his novels, who has fallen into the real world because of a printer’s error in his latest book. Crazy as her story sounds, Tom comes to see that this must be the real Billie. And she wants to strike a deal with him: if he writes his next novel she can go back to the world of fiction; in return she will help him win back his beloved Aurore. What does he have to lose? Guillaume Musso’s latest romantic adventure is a story of friendship, love and the special place that books have in our lives.

Judul/Title: The Girl on Paper (La Fille de Papier)
Penulis/Author: Guillaume Musso
Jumlah halaman/Number of pages: 448
Penerjemah/Translator: Yudith Listriandri
Penyunting/Editor: Selsa Chintya
Proofreader: Titish A.K.
Design Cover: Chyntia Yanetha
Penerbit/Publisher: Spring
ISBN: 978-602-74322-4-6
Harga/Price: Rp 85.000

Review:

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Alhamdulillah akhirnya penantianku berakhir. Pada tanggal 21 September lalu, buku The Girl on Paper sudah tiba di pangkuanku.

Ahamdulillah finally my wait was over. On 21st September, The Girl on Paper was finally on my lap. 

Baca Arc Review Girl on Paper disini / Read The Arc Review Girl on Paper here

Covernya cantik banget. Mari meluangkan waktu sejenak untuk mengagumi kecantikan covernya. The cover is so beautiful. Let’s take a moment to drool over this gorgeous cover.

Setelah mengagumi kecantikan covernya, aku langsung membuka halaman 223, halaman terakhir ketika membaca Arc copy.   Aku tidak sabar ingin mengetahui kelanjutan kisah Tom dan Bille serta ingin mengetahui jawaban atas pertanyaanku: Apakah kisah Tom dan Billie itu fantasi, hasil halusinasi/delusi, mimpi atau apapun itu?

As soon as I finish admiring the beauty of Girl on Paper’s cover , I immediately open the page 223, the last page when reading the Arc copy. I can’t wait to find out about rest of Tom & Billie’s story and the answer to my question: whether story of Tom and Billie is fantasy, the result of hallucinations / delusions, dreams or etc?

Namun ternyata di buku cetak halaman 223 bukanlah halaman terakhir kali aku membaca, melainkan halaman 230. Ternyata ada perbedaan jumlah halaman antara versi cetak dengan versi arc yang kuterima disebabkan perubahan format.

But it turns out pages 223 in The Girl on Paper printed version is not the last page when I read the arc copy, but the page 230. It turns out there are differences between the number of pages printed version with the arc version I received  due to format changes.

Jadi aku mulai membaca halaman 230 dan berhasil mencapai halaman 446 dari buku ini dalam waktu 1 jam 30 menit. Ceritanya seru banget! Meski di sekitar 100 halaman terakhir, plotnya jadi mudah ditebak tapi Guillame Musso berhasil membuatku tetap tertarik membaca.Hatiku dipenuhi perasaan : I want more Guillame Musso’s writing! Aku jatuh cinta dengan buku ini dan tulisan Guillame Musso

So I started to read from page 230 and made it to page 446  in  1 hour and a half. The story is really exciting!  Although around the last 100 page, the plot became predictable but Guillaume Musso managed to keep me interested to keep reading. My heart filled with : I want more Guillame Musso’s writing! I fell in love with this book and Guillame Musso’s writing. ❤ Penerbit Spring, would you translate and publish another Guillaume Musso’s book? Pleasee.. 😉

Hal yang aku sukai dari buku ini (Things that I love from this book):

• Alurnya cepat ( The plot is fast-paced)
• Aku suka karakter Tom. Aku dapat mengidentifikasi diri dengannya. Mungkin karena aku juga penulis dan mudah bagiku membayangkan bahwa untuk  melarikan diri  dari kenyataan. Hanya saja aku sering  melarikan diri dari kesedihan/kenyataan dengan membaca buku, sementara Tom dengan obat-obatan ( I love Tom. I can identify myself with him. Maybe because I am also a writer and it is easy for me to imagine doing anything in order to escape from painful reality. The difference is I often run away from the sadness / reality by reading a book, while Tom using drugs)
• The prologue and ending are written in unique format thus left strong impression about this novel and made it easy to remember 🙂
• I feel excited almost all the time when reading this book 😀 It is rare occasion. 😀 How Guillame Musso managed to do that?
• Narasi Guillame Musso yang singkat, padat dan indah (Guillaume Musso’s narrative short, solid and beautiful)
• It is page turner
• Banyak kalimat yang quotable (Many sentences are quotable)

  Tadinya saya mengira kisah Anda tidak dibuat untuk saya. Saya keliru.

  At first I thought your story was not made for me. I was wrong.

  ✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐

  Apakah kita benar-benar berhak melindungi teman kita dari diri mereka sendiri? tanyanya

  Do we really have the right to protect our friends from themselves? he asked

  ✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐

  Kalau dia benar-benar cinta dalam hidupmu, dia seharusnya berada di sini, hari ini, bersamamu, berusaha mencegahmu agar tidak menghancurkan diri sendiri.

  If she is love of your life, she should be here with you, today, trying to prevent you from destroying yourself

  ✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐

  Akhir-akhir ini kami berdua semakin jarang bertemu, dan ketika kami bertemu pun, kami menghindari pembicaraan tentang apa yang benar-benar berarti  bagi kami. Mungkin itu karena kami berharap, dengan naifnya, bahwa  kalau kami tidak lagi membicarakan masa lalu, masa lalu itu pun akan  menghilang. Tapi, yang terjadi tidak sesederhana itu.

  Lately we both rarely meet, and when we met, we avoid talking about what it really matters for us. Maybe it was because we hoped, naively, that if we are no longer talking about the past, then it will disappear. But, it is not that simple.

  ✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐

  Ya Tuhan, kau harus berhenti berkubang dalam penderitaanmu! Kalau kau tidak segera keluar dari sana, kau akan tenggelam untuk selamanya. Memang lebih mudah menghancurkan dirimu sedikit demi  sedikit daripada mengumpulkan keberanian untuk kembali berjuang, kan?

  O my God, you have to stop sink in misery! If you do not get out of there, you will sink forever. It is easier to destroy yourself little by little rather than muster the courage to fight back, right?

  ✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐

Masih banyak quotes yang lain tapi aku capek ngetik. Hehehe 😀

There are so many other quotes but I am tired of typing. Hehehe 😀

Btw, aku mau baca ulang Girl on Paper since 5 star books are worth to be re-read 😀

Btw, I want to re-read  Girl on Paper since 5 star books are worth to be re-read 😀

Apakah kalian sudah membaca The Girl on Paper? Siapa karakter favorit kalian? Jika belum, apakah kalian tertarik untuk membacanya? 🙂

Have you read The Girl on Paper? Who is your favorite character? If you have not, Will you add it to your TBR? 🙂

✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐✎✐

Baca juga Wawancara dengan Guillaume Musso tentang Girl on Paper dan Perjuangan Penerbit Spring memperoleh ijin menerjemahkan Girl on Paper.

Read also Interview with Guillaume Musso about Girl on Paper and The Penerbit Spring’s effort to get translation right for Girl on Paper.