Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf

10 reviews

nadiamasood's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

This ghost story left me feeling devastated!

Imagine inheriting a ghost from your grandmother and striking an unlikely friendship with him. You have been together since you were a toddler and he protects you at all costs...until his darker nature rears its ugly head.

What an emotionally wild, sometimes funny, oftentimes haunting story about friendship, loneliness, jealousy, bullying, and revenge. It is also about forgiveness, courage, and kindness.

This beautifully written and atmospheric novel unfolds in a quaint village in Malaysia. It begins with a lighthearted tone but gradually grows darker as the plot advances. I found myself utterly absorbed in the narrative!

I do have a couple of issues with the story. For instance, the friendship between Suraya and Pink that turned toxic due to him feeling jealous feels a bit dark for middle-grade children. And Jing going out of her way to save Pink after he tried to get her beaten to death? Did she know he was the reason for how she was nearly killed? I hope this was resolved in a better way.

What I loved most about this book:

The ghost has his own POV!
The part where Suraya names him "Pink" had me laughing out loud!
Jing and Suraya's friendship. So precious!
Learning about Malaysian culture and folklore.
The funny ghost banter at the cemetery.
Suraya choosing to go to her mom for help despite their strained relationship.
The unexpected reveal toward the end!

Who is this book perfect for?

Those who love a little spooky story! If you enjoy powerful and atmospheric stories about family and friendship and don't mind it going to some dark places, this book is for you. Also recommended to those looking to read stories inspired by Malaysian folklore.

PS: This is an honest book review from a scaredy-cat who typically avoids horror novels.

Content Warnings

moiru'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A heart-wrenching, yet heartwarming story about family and grief, based on Malaysian folklore and superstition.

It says that the most beautiful blooms come from the darkest soil.

It's about a pelesik, a type of ghost that takes the form of a grasshopper in disguise, who was previously under the command of a witch. When he is no longer under her possession, he travels to find a girl who shares the same blood as the witch. The ghost cannot grasp what emotion is in his non-existent heart, but a joy of human pain, because that is what the witch has taught him. However, when he meets Suraya, the girl he’s been searching for and who named him “Pink,” he learns that her greatness of humanity is contagious to him, and he doesn’t like feeling it. One thing about Suraya, despite behaving like a little sunshine, is that she lives in a poor status and hard circumstances where she has a dysfunctional mother. Pink knows exactly how hard it is for her, and soon they cherish their human-ghost friendship.

She shivered slightly under his gaze—she had no blanket—so he curled himself around her for warmth and smiled when she sighed happily in her sleep.

The Girl and the Ghost was an amusing medium-paced read. The story is set in a village in Malaysia, and I adore Hanna Alkaf when she wrote some of the words in Malaysian, e.g. kampung and sarong. Her writing style helped me to feel close to the characters, and they also had a decent development throughout the story. Its adventurous, emotional, tense, and mysterious atmosphere makes it a terrific read, but inappropriately too dark for a middle-grade book. It was depressing in the early chapters, and I had to stop myself from reading because there were twenty pages of graphic bullying scenes, and it took so long for the bullies to obtain their karma. Alkaf in her book is implying that standing up for yourself against the bully makes you a bully is so wrong; standing up for yourself against the bully does NOT make you a bully too. The moral of the story should have taught the kids to defend themselves against bullies.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The ending is predictable, but I had myself quite fulfilled. I’m glad I spent 5 days on a worthwhile read and planning to read other books by Hanna Alkaf. I feel honored to read an English book that is set in Malaysia, and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this setting. If you like or are looking for a story about the dynamic between humans and supernatural beings, or the hardship of mother and daughter, or even an adventure against evil beings, please consider grabbing this book and giving it a big amount of love.

⭐ 4.1/5

Content Warnings

melancholymegs'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? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

lizgom's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

This will probably be my favorite middle grade book. I listened to this as an audiobook, and honestly it was great. I feel like it gave the characters more depth than I would've given them if I had read it. I have a habit of liking middle grade books better as audiobooks. This is a great take on mental health and reaching out.

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alexvb's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

This was so great! I enjoyed it from start to finish! I wish the ending had just one more chapter between the final and the epilogue or just a few more pages or something. It felt just a tad rushed.

The writing flowed so well, and the story was very easy to get into!

The characters are all so distinct and great. I like PINK even though we are challenged to question him and his morals. The bad guy was actually chilling and creepy!

The story naturally has Muslim and Malaysian culture / aspects into the story which was great for me to look up (especially all the food mentioned! So much food was mentioned!) and do extra research about if I wanted to.

I the dual pov was perfect for me.
This story also discusses parental love, mourning, and bullying, and it felt very realistic. The fantasy/supernatural is very minor compared to the modern day, everyday life, and real topics in ths book.

I found myself crying in that last chapter though! The reveal!!

Personally, I think that this book is probably better for the upper end of middle grade (13-14) rather than the lower end. Some publishers class age 8-14/15 as middle grade, but I would not recommend this book to someone under 12, because some parts of this were genuinely dark, creepy, and scary if I'm being honest. I had some disgusted, creeped-out, heart-racing moments myself reading this as an adult! Our main character around 12 to 13 years old, so if you're going to give this book to a child, I think a child of the same age or older is best.

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cozylifewithabby's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional medium-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? No

3.5

The story of a young girl with no friends and a ghost who calls her his master. They will both need to learn some tough lessons together and apart. Cute, but dark.

Content Warnings