Reviews with content warning for Medical content - Black Water Sister

Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

16 reviews

lilifane's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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? Yes

4.0

I was in the mood to read a light-hearted YA Fantasy between two very intense books and thought this would actually be perfect. LOL! Nope.
First of all, this is definitely not YA. I don't even know why I thought it was? And then after a lighthearted and funny beginning, the story gets pretty dark and intense and violent. But also in a good way. I really liked the characters, the protagonist was very relatable, the dynamics between her and the ghost hilarious. The writing style, especially the dialogues, might need some time to get used when you're not the child of immigrants. But since I am, it felt familiar (even if the languages are totally different in my case).
Loved the atmosphere and how ghosts, spirits and gods played such a big part in the plot and every day life of the characters. Also, loved the themes that were explored in a raw and brutal way. Like having an identity crisis, being torn between your family and your own life, coming out to a traditional Chinese family, violence against women, sexism, generational trauma, unresolved hate and revenge. But there are some hard scenes towards the end, so I recommend checking trigger warnings.

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traa's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective 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

3.75

I really liked the premise, the writing style, and a bit of the side eye comments related to white people or sexism, but I think the plot kind of lost its flow in the middle and it just ended up being a meh ending

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wellintendedbibliophile's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-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

5.0

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

3.75

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cookiecat73's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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? No

4.25

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

Jess has returned to Malaysia, adjusting to life with her extended family rather than only having her parents around. She frequently doesn't know what the social expectations are, and feels overwhelmed by the weight of all the unsaid things she "should" have just grown up knowing if she and her parents had never left for America when she was a child. When she starts dealing with spirits and gods after Ah Ma possesses her, she's even more out of her depth. The worldbuilding and characterization blend together, as most of what Jess is learning deals with a person or being and how to act around them. The first half was fine, but the second half is where this really shines. In the first part Jess gets a basic idea of what's going on, but then things start to go very badly and she has to adapt quickly with incomplete information. One of my favorite things is how Ah Ma's motivations seem simple but strange early one, then turn into this complex tangle, only to be completely understandable by the end as Jess uncovers long-buried or never acknowledged secrets in her quest to get her life back to normal and the god out of her life.

Jess is gay, with a (newly) long-distance girlfriend. Their relationship gets strained by the distance, suddenly reduced contact, and Jess's decision to not tell her any of the very weird things that have started happening to her. When she first heard Ah Ma she thought she was going crazy. Once it became clear that the voice was an actual ghost trying to get her to do something to help a god, Jess felt like she was too far in to start saying something now. An additional issue is that her girlfriend is out as gay but Jess isn't out to anyone who might get the information to her family. Now that she's surrounded by her family and her head is filled with Ah Ma, the slices of the day where Jess feels safe to be herself are getting smaller and smaller. It's a very relatable portrayal of a fracturing relationship, frequently on Jess's mind but not taking over the narrative.

The audiobook performer is excellent. I love the ending, it gets things to a new status quo without attempting to fix absolutely everything that's wrong, keeping some of the messiness of life.

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