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alsira98's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
hurricane_noel's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Terminal illness
kswartz's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
3.0
The themes explored in this book, such as family, generational trauma, colonialism, are interesting in the context of a hungry, haunted house. But the author's style was not to my taste. It seemed fussy and overly complex, very twisty without much payout. It was hard to focus and I found myself skimming without missing very much. Still, it was weird and gross and unique.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Colonisation
Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
jessicanb93's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While I enjoyed the story overall, I did struggle a bit with the writing. I found it a little difficult to follow sometimes (I feel like there were random time jumps in the middle of a paragraph).
On the side of horror, this is the most I’ve read about bugs or food in a story, and it really grossed me out. I would recommend checking trigger warnings, and if you have any sensitivities to subject matter dealing with food and long descriptions of food being eaten, please proceed with caution.
On the side of horror, this is the most I’ve read about bugs or food in a story, and it really grossed me out. I would recommend checking trigger warnings, and if you have any sensitivities to subject matter dealing with food and long descriptions of food being eaten, please proceed with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Vomit
modernmatilda's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.5
Things I love
-female character who aren't perfect and who's flaws and mistakes are a struggle
-books with covers featuring girls faces with flowers growing out of their mouths
-explorations on topic like what parents owe their children, what older siblings do to project their younger siblings and is it good, first vs second generation kids, cultural identify, belong/not belonging
This book was a wild ride with cottageGORE vibes that I treasure. But more than that, it was this gorgeous exploration of families, parents, multigeneration trauma, colonization, and ghosts. I don't think I understood everything, but I loved everything.
The dream/not dream scenes were wonderful because I did not know which parts were real and which ones weren't. The sleep paralysis creeped me the F out. The bug scenes were fantastically gorey but I think I needed more explanation.
I feel like this would make a fantastic book discussion choice and I'm so thankful to my local bookstore employee for recommending it.
-female character who aren't perfect and who's flaws and mistakes are a struggle
-books with covers featuring girls faces with flowers growing out of their mouths
-explorations on topic like what parents owe their children, what older siblings do to project their younger siblings and is it good, first vs second generation kids, cultural identify, belong/not belonging
This book was a wild ride with cottageGORE vibes that I treasure. But more than that, it was this gorgeous exploration of families, parents, multigeneration trauma, colonization, and ghosts. I don't think I understood everything, but I loved everything.
The dream/not dream scenes were wonderful because I did not know which parts were real and which ones weren't. The sleep paralysis creeped me the F out. The bug scenes were fantastically gorey but I think I needed more explanation.
I feel like this would make a fantastic book discussion choice and I'm so thankful to my local bookstore employee for recommending it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Slavery
amberghinii's review
Writing style, slow, I normally love atmospheric but it wasn't holding my attention. I did enjoy commentary on colonialism, racism, bi-phobia, identity issues.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
motaki's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
A nice concept ruined by an absolutely stilted rythm, not many things were happening plotwise and most of them were so confusing I almost DNF.
I really liked the parts focused on how white colonialism is the worst and the world is still full of racist POS, would have loved more mother/daughter quality time.
And I get that Jade is an angry teen but she wronged and hurt everyone that loved her, it wasn't the best choice as a narrator IMO.
I really liked the parts focused on how white colonialism is the worst and the world is still full of racist POS, would have loved more mother/daughter quality time.
And I get that Jade is an angry teen but she wronged and hurt everyone that loved her, it wasn't the best choice as a narrator IMO.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Xenophobia, Car accident, Murder, and Classism
2treads's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A story is what holds me hostage during sleep.
Anything that leads with a haunting, a sentient or otherwise inhabited inanimate object, complicated father-daughter relationships, a self-aware, queer, motivated, complex, and confused main character will have me reaching for it. The malevolence that comes through as Jade learns more of the house's history and previous owners is a palpable thing, as are the marks left by French colonialism.
#SheIsAHaunting brings this and much more, the underlying sinister vibes, entangled familial and colonial history, identity, sexuality, and the need for acceptance are all wrapped around Jade as she tries to navigate her fraught relationship with her father in order to be able to pursue her educational aspirations.
I love that Tran has given us a look at how each child responds to the father in their way, based on their age and understanding of why he isn't home with them. It also speaks to their complex relationship with their heritage and cultural identity. How you feel in the place of your parent's birth and history versus how you feel in your country of birth that finds many ways to make you feel Other.
But it is also the sacrifices that we can be led to make for those we love while ignoring the damage such actions cause. It is learning and relearning, listening, and understanding that there is always another story, another person who was also used and impacted by the need for power and longevity.
I want to go through this terrible thing, but I’ll never fully understand the intimacy of a home rooted in soil.
Anything that leads with a haunting, a sentient or otherwise inhabited inanimate object, complicated father-daughter relationships, a self-aware, queer, motivated, complex, and confused main character will have me reaching for it. The malevolence that comes through as Jade learns more of the house's history and previous owners is a palpable thing, as are the marks left by French colonialism.
#SheIsAHaunting brings this and much more, the underlying sinister vibes, entangled familial and colonial history, identity, sexuality, and the need for acceptance are all wrapped around Jade as she tries to navigate her fraught relationship with her father in order to be able to pursue her educational aspirations.
I love that Tran has given us a look at how each child responds to the father in their way, based on their age and understanding of why he isn't home with them. It also speaks to their complex relationship with their heritage and cultural identity. How you feel in the place of your parent's birth and history versus how you feel in your country of birth that finds many ways to make you feel Other.
But it is also the sacrifices that we can be led to make for those we love while ignoring the damage such actions cause. It is learning and relearning, listening, and understanding that there is always another story, another person who was also used and impacted by the need for power and longevity.
I want to go through this terrible thing, but I’ll never fully understand the intimacy of a home rooted in soil.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Body shaming, Death, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Blood