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elysianbud's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
This made me cry several times. The characters are complicated people which I loved, especially the depths of Jade and her father.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
virginianash's review
3.5
alright i listened to this as an audiobook, and i liked the book but i felt like the audiobook skewed my perception of the book a little. i felt like the narrator just didn’t do a good job with changing their emotions in their voice, it felt like they were just in the same mood through out the whole book and i felt like i was lost sometimes when there was a conversation between multiple people. like the audiobook was not great. the book itself had a handful of spooky parts and i enjoyed the characters and the bisexual representation 🩷💜💙 i enjoyed the way the story was told through ghosts and memories. overall enjoyed the book but the audiobook experience really ruined a lot of stuff for me.
jenpaul13's review against another edition
4.0
Haunting appetites consume those who come near a particular, and historic, house in Trang Thanh Tran’s She is a Haunting.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Jade Nguyen’s summer trip to Vietnam with her family to visit her estranged father, Ba, who left his wife and three children in Philadelphia, is less a holiday and more an obligation negotiated with Ba in order to secure the necessary funds for her educational future; all she has to do is feign being part of a happy family for five weeks while he restores a French colonial house, Nhà Hoa, that his family once resided in in servitude. Throughout her life, Jade has developed a history of lying, mostly so that she might be accepted by others, which is why Ba and her sister, Lily, don’t believe her when she expresses the strange and frightening things she’s experienced in the house, such as an audible beat emanating from the walls, bug extremities in places they oughtn’t be, and beautiful bride ghosts who utter strange, yet direct, warnings. Determined to prove her experiences true and show Ba and Lily that the house is compelled by a harming and haunting presence, Jade works with Florence, the niece of Ba’s business partner, and decides to haunt the house to drive them from the building danger. While facing off against the ghosts of the house to save her family Jade also finally confronts the truths about herself, who she is and who she wants to be.
Within an atmospheric setting that conveys a creeping and strong sense of oppressive forces, both historical and physical, the narrative depicts, in an eerily consuming manner through sometimes disturbingly vivid images, the hungers and desires that feed the manipulation some exert on others. Told from Jade’s prickly teenaged perspective and interspersed with a handful of creepy chapters from the perspective of the ghostly house, both of which devolve toward the ethereal as events progress, the story addresses the concept of identity from a few lenses, including sexual, cultural, and familial; Jade and her family’s story provides a perspective of simultaneously being seen as “other” and as not being seen as “other” enough and how and in what way that plays a role in the formation and expression of identity while exploring the impact of colonialism – and in particular how it manifested in Vietnam – immigration, and the experiences that children of immigrants have in their birth country compared to the birth country of their parents. Many of the relationships shown throughout the story demonstrated a parasitic symmetry, which was interesting to see inform the decisions that characters made, which could be frustrating at times, and impact the interpersonal dynamics between characters.
*I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Jade Nguyen’s summer trip to Vietnam with her family to visit her estranged father, Ba, who left his wife and three children in Philadelphia, is less a holiday and more an obligation negotiated with Ba in order to secure the necessary funds for her educational future; all she has to do is feign being part of a happy family for five weeks while he restores a French colonial house, Nhà Hoa, that his family once resided in in servitude. Throughout her life, Jade has developed a history of lying, mostly so that she might be accepted by others, which is why Ba and her sister, Lily, don’t believe her when she expresses the strange and frightening things she’s experienced in the house, such as an audible beat emanating from the walls, bug extremities in places they oughtn’t be, and beautiful bride ghosts who utter strange, yet direct, warnings. Determined to prove her experiences true and show Ba and Lily that the house is compelled by a harming and haunting presence, Jade works with Florence, the niece of Ba’s business partner, and decides to haunt the house to drive them from the building danger. While facing off against the ghosts of the house to save her family Jade also finally confronts the truths about herself, who she is and who she wants to be.
Within an atmospheric setting that conveys a creeping and strong sense of oppressive forces, both historical and physical, the narrative depicts, in an eerily consuming manner through sometimes disturbingly vivid images, the hungers and desires that feed the manipulation some exert on others. Told from Jade’s prickly teenaged perspective and interspersed with a handful of creepy chapters from the perspective of the ghostly house, both of which devolve toward the ethereal as events progress, the story addresses the concept of identity from a few lenses, including sexual, cultural, and familial; Jade and her family’s story provides a perspective of simultaneously being seen as “other” and as not being seen as “other” enough and how and in what way that plays a role in the formation and expression of identity while exploring the impact of colonialism – and in particular how it manifested in Vietnam – immigration, and the experiences that children of immigrants have in their birth country compared to the birth country of their parents. Many of the relationships shown throughout the story demonstrated a parasitic symmetry, which was interesting to see inform the decisions that characters made, which could be frustrating at times, and impact the interpersonal dynamics between characters.
*I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
sammaich's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
mysteriesofmar's review against another edition
4.0
i echo a lot of constructive criticisms of this book, but the biggest takeaway from here is that southeast asia is spooky af and horror/thriller authors are not taking advantage of this enough!!!
cheerfully_chaotic_leo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.0