Reviews with content warning for Gore - She Is a Haunting

Jade Nguyen leaves her home in Philadelphia with her younger sister to spend the summer with their estranged father. Ba has purchased a 1920’s French Colonial house in Vietnam where Jade’s great grandmother grew up in servitude. Nha Hoa, as the house is called, is to be a bed and breakfast and a home for the Nguyen family. He has also agreed to pay Jade’s college tuition if she stays the summer and creates a website for the B&B with his business partner’s daughter, Florence. Strange nightly occurrences, an abundance of dead insects, and the constant smell of rot plague Jade. Her father is adamant that the house is not haunted and the relationship between father and daughter becomes increasingly strained.

When a ghostly presence warns her, “don’t eat”; she must find a way to protect her family from an unknowable threat and enlists the help of Florence. The longer they stay, the hungrier the house becomes and the seeds of fear bloom into paranoia. The house with its sinister past become a body, representing the parasitic nature of colonialism, creating a dark backdrop for the haunting. Vivid imagery bathed in Vietnamese culture and atmosphere is illuminated through eloquent language. Its verisimilitude is achieved through adolescent prose that capture the insecurities and concerns of a teenager contemplating the cost of college, sexuality, and cultural identity. Despite the narratives’ slow pace, the beguiling setting of this gothic horror is the true star and will leave the reader hungry for more. —Rebekah Palmer

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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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chilivanilli28's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

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bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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susanpevensie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

i’d like to preface this review by saying that i’m not vietnamese, so i believe that my experience with this book would certainly different than if i were a vietnamese.

what i loved about this book is that it’s very rich in culture and lore. i loved that the author did not shy away from using vietnamese language. she most definitely did not over-explain terms—it’s like, if you don’t know what they’re saying, then google is free!

jade wasn’t exactly an easy character to like. she was all teenage angst at seventeen years old. a bit abrasive, she was constantly angry and rude to the people around her, she was stubborn, she betrayed her best friend by kissing her friend’s crush just because she could, and she held a mean grudge. but underneath it all was just a child who needed to be loved and accepted. i couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. her struggle as an inner child unbeknownst to her little sister resonated with me a lot.

the author’s writing was hard for to follow at times. i understand why some readers found themselves confused with what’s going on with the story. certain parts were disjointed, which i felt made no sense but i think it’s just the author’s writing style. regardless of that, i find this book beautifully written and i thjnk it would make such a perfect movie.

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sammy_nor's review

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3.25

i liked the book, but i also found the writing confusing at times. i hadn’t a clue what was going on half the time

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leweylibrary's review

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challenging 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? It's complicated

3.5

I wanted to like this one more than I did unfortunately. I did like the spooky, LGBTQIA+ vibes and the fuck colonialism sentiments, but I just found myself having a hard time getting into the book and staying in it. I also wasn't crazy about most of the characters. Overall it fell a bit flat for me, but I do appreciate it and think there are others who will love it more.

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