Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Black Water Sister

"Black Water Sister" has made me realize how woefully ignorant I am of Malaysia and the Malaysian diaspora!!! I loved all the content about Malaysia from the folklore to the customs to the cuisine, expanding my knowledge of the vibrancy of the country. Jess and her grandmother Ah Ma were super interesting characters to follow along with, and I enjoyed Ah Ma's constant commentary, which reminded me so vividly of my own grandmother. The messages on intergenerational trauma were done masterfully, evoking feelings of teary-eyed healing and self-righteous justice.

My only gripe is how the conclusion of the gentrification in the story felt way-laid in favor of the family dynamics, even though gentrification plays a very large part in the overall story, to the point where it felt the conclusion was, "gentrification is bad but some gentrification is okay to prevent even bigger gentrification from happening". This facet of the ending didn't sit too well with me, but otherwise I enjoyed the book for it's lively characters and well-paced plot!

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ratatouilllie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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coookiecat's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Jess has returned to Malaysia, adjusting to life with her extended family rather than only having her parents around. She frequently doesn't know what the social expectations are, and feels overwhelmed by the weight of all the unsaid things she "should" have just grown up knowing if she and her parents had never left for America when she was a child. When she starts dealing with spirits and gods after Ah Ma possesses her, she's even more out of her depth. The worldbuilding and characterization blend together, as most of what Jess is learning deals with a person or being and how to act around them. The first half was fine, but the second half is where this really shines. In the first part Jess gets a basic idea of what's going on, but then things start to go very badly and she has to adapt quickly with incomplete information. One of my favorite things is how Ah Ma's motivations seem simple but strange early one, then turn into this complex tangle, only to be completely understandable by the end as Jess uncovers long-buried or never acknowledged secrets in her quest to get her life back to normal and the god out of her life.

Jess is gay, with a (newly) long-distance girlfriend. Their relationship gets strained by the distance, suddenly reduced contact, and Jess's decision to not tell her any of the very weird things that have started happening to her. When she first heard Ah Ma she thought she was going crazy. Once it became clear that the voice was an actual ghost trying to get her to do something to help a god, Jess felt like she was too far in to start saying something now. An additional issue is that her girlfriend is out as gay but Jess isn't out to anyone who might get the information to her family. Now that she's surrounded by her family and her head is filled with Ah Ma, the slices of the day where Jess feels safe to be herself are getting smaller and smaller. It's a very relatable portrayal of a fracturing relationship, frequently on Jess's mind but not taking over the narrative.

The audiobook performer is excellent. I love the ending, it gets things to a new status quo without attempting to fix absolutely everything that's wrong, keeping some of the messiness of life.

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adancewithbooks's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad

4.0

Black Water Sister is a book I have been wanting to read for ages but I kept putting it off. Sometimes books from your favorite author can seem extremely daunting. Especially when it is about a haunting.

We meet Jess when she first hears a voice in her head. She doesn't realize then that her grandma, who she has never met, has started haunting her. Not until the move to Malaysia is complete and Jess is in a complete new world, being taken over by her grandma who has ulterior motives for sticking around.

The absolute feels that we get from Jess is what makes me adore this book. Moving to Malaysia, hiding being queer and then being haunted by the grandma you never met, it is a lot. And then when your grandma ghost wants you to go and save a shrine for the ghost that was attached to her, well, your world gets put upside down.

If that sounds like a whirlwind, it is. For Jess. But for us as readers the pace is a tad bit slower. We get plenty of time to regroup alongside of Jess. To understand who Jess is and how her family works. Why her mother always kept her away from her grandmother and uncle.

I also quite appreciated Jess' family. Her uncle who is a bit of a mess, her mom who loves her but has quite the backpack, her aunt who is more observant than you would think.

All in all I think Black Water Sister is once again a great read from Zen Cho.

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sulinde's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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