Reviews with content warning for Bullying - She Is a Haunting

She is A Haunting is a bug horror novel set in modern day vietnam. The protagonist, Jade Nguyen, and her sister visits their father at their family’s ancestral home and the house is haunted.

This book contains a very detailed father daughter conflict dynamic that resonated with me. And throughout this book we learn of Jade’s family history and the colonial impact on their family by the french.

Throughout the novel there are poetic snippets revealing parts of the house and the haunting. And there are incredible scenes and descriptions detailing the different ways imperialism has impacted vietnam. The use of bugs and infestation in this book is pure genius.

Jade is a complicated character and her relationship with her father is no different. We get to learn a lot about Jade through interactions with her family, with the house, and other characters in the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and though it dragged on for a little too long I still think it’s worth a read if you love haunted horror. Thanh is very descriptive and has beautiful imagery throughout this book. Not to mention the cover is GORGEOUS. I highly recommend!

Content Warnings

uncreativeoops's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The vibes were immaculate, which is pretty important for a gothic horror novel, and the author managed to create an eerie and tense atmosphere while also describing everything so aesthetically. The descriptions felt very... indirect? I sometimes had to reread parts because I wasn't sure what was actually happening but that is by no means a criticism; I adored the language. Plotwise however, I struggled a bit. Haunted houses only work if the characters have a good reason to be in them and not leave once, you know, they realize they might die. In this case, there were reasons for the main character not just going home, but they weren't strong enough for me. I got her motivations and I liked how her struggles with her family and her identity played out, but her behavior in the house was just ridiculous. And some of it seemed like it only happened to set up conflict between characters, the main thing that didn't work for me. Nearly every thing that characters got angry about was so obviously only there to create a shocking reveal and lead to an argument and some of the "dark secrets" I just straight up didn't consider as bad things. The romance also suffered from this.
My favorite thing however were the shorter horror chapters and how horror as a genre was used to discuss colonialism, racism, and sexism. Gothic horror has always been used to portray societal issues with supernatural metaphores and this was done so well here. I also have never read YA horror before and was pleasantly surprised how well these two can be mixed.

Content Warnings

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

SO much going on all at once, and not balanced very well. I think I would have liked the different narrative elements individually or if they had been melded more effectively (because a haunted house that is so both literally and as a deeper allegory for the lingering legacy of colonialism -- if that is the intention -- is conceptually great), but it just feels like it's trying to be several different things mashed haphazardly into one. Super overwritten as well, and yet at the same time basically everything that should be shown is told and vice versa.

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