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plumdustsuns's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
2.0
I had typed an entire review but my phone died SMHHH
Anyway. So:
- turned up being a page turner for me
- evocatively beautiful writing and language even with horrific content
- horror wasn’t too distasteful or so which is good for a coward like me
Plot wise:
- by the 200/250 page mark, the plot/incidents began to feel a bit repetitive. Jade goes to sleep, bad dreams, Jade wakes up, fights with dad. I remember I was sHOOK when her dad was digging out the skulls. I wish we had more of that/his hauntings and her seeing him do insane shit instead of just fixing the house and being a stubborn asshat
- lily’s sleepwalking and everything being utilized more would have been cool as well. Using them to go somewhere clue wise and story wise and her being a bit more conflicted about the haunting as she too was being seeped into would have made the stakes feel a lot higher
- I like Jade and Florence but I wish their adventures added more to the story/tightened the plot. Cam being jealous of Florence? Where’s more of that? Why only at the last moment? That would have been so fun and interesting. And seeing Cam’s queerness too in the flashbacks like come onnnn please would have added more to the bad marriage. Maybe her parents discovered her queerness and married her off which is why they don’t talk to her anymore. It could have paralleled Jade’s own fears about coming out and fleshed out their connection, made it more believable and even something to root for in ways
Yeah. There was a lot of interesting content but they all meandered a lot and/or weren’t used to their full potential. Alma being there by the end was blah, we already had a colonizer presence with Marion. Halle didn’t feel too much of a great addition either as we never quite see her or have her back in again.
I wish ‘what did she show you’ to Ba came way before and he showed Jade and we got more of his motivations and it added to his complexities and just the immigrant symbolisms the book was going for. He had so much potential than being just the ‘we’re never leaving’ bad guy and would have brought a lot of cultural weight and justified Jade’s empathy and forgiveness almost of his actions even more. ‘He never spoke about his family before’ WHAT IF HE DID NOW. I like that this was all triggered by his loss of his mother/homeland. We could have went into it more. Him and Jade and Lily could have all had shared psychosis/dreams from the insane food. Sigh. So much lost potential. And if the mom did come in earlier and hadn’t been allowed to leave for a bit? And the escape felt more necessary as pressing as it was all very ‘yeah alright she’s gonna burn down the house now’ without it feeling very consequential to me.
I thought this was a solid almost 3 star read but the more I wrote this review and realized how much more could have been done, the madder I got and realized this was a 2 star read for me at best. But I did enjoy it in ways still.
Anyway. So:
- turned up being a page turner for me
- evocatively beautiful writing and language even with horrific content
- horror wasn’t too distasteful or so which is good for a coward like me
Plot wise:
- by the 200/250 page mark, the plot/incidents began to feel a bit repetitive. Jade goes to sleep, bad dreams, Jade wakes up, fights with dad. I remember I was sHOOK when her dad was digging out the skulls. I wish we had more of that/his hauntings and her seeing him do insane shit instead of just fixing the house and being a stubborn asshat
- lily’s sleepwalking and everything being utilized more would have been cool as well. Using them to go somewhere clue wise and story wise and her being a bit more conflicted about the haunting as she too was being seeped into would have made the stakes feel a lot higher
- I like Jade and Florence but I wish their adventures added more to the story/tightened the plot. Cam being jealous of Florence? Where’s more of that? Why only at the last moment? That would have been so fun and interesting. And seeing Cam’s queerness too in the flashbacks like come onnnn please would have added more to the bad marriage. Maybe her parents discovered her queerness and married her off which is why they don’t talk to her anymore. It could have paralleled Jade’s own fears about coming out and fleshed out their connection, made it more believable and even something to root for in ways
Yeah. There was a lot of interesting content but they all meandered a lot and/or weren’t used to their full potential. Alma being there by the end was blah, we already had a colonizer presence with Marion. Halle didn’t feel too much of a great addition either as we never quite see her or have her back in again.
I wish ‘what did she show you’ to Ba came way before and he showed Jade and we got more of his motivations and it added to his complexities and just the immigrant symbolisms the book was going for. He had so much potential than being just the ‘we’re never leaving’ bad guy and would have brought a lot of cultural weight and justified Jade’s empathy and forgiveness almost of his actions even more. ‘He never spoke about his family before’ WHAT IF HE DID NOW. I like that this was all triggered by his loss of his mother/homeland. We could have went into it more. Him and Jade and Lily could have all had shared psychosis/dreams from the insane food. Sigh. So much lost potential. And if the mom did come in earlier and hadn’t been allowed to leave for a bit? And the escape felt more necessary as pressing as it was all very ‘yeah alright she’s gonna burn down the house now’ without it feeling very consequential to me.
I thought this was a solid almost 3 star read but the more I wrote this review and realized how much more could have been done, the madder I got and realized this was a 2 star read for me at best. But I did enjoy it in ways still.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Gore, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, Racism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery
parkergarlough's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Death
Moderate: Racism, Car accident, Misogyny, Grief, Gore, Lesbophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Alcoholism, and Alcohol
lana_reads98's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Physical abuse
nutmegandpumpkin's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The author did a fantastic job with the actual horror aspects & overall creepiness. The characters were OK but not entirely likable apart from the younger sister IMO. The writing was also just okay with the exception of a couple of great lines sprinkled here and there. The story felt VERY slow yet some of the aspects felt rushed at the end.
I’m honestly having a hard time pinpointing how I feel about this book. I found it somewhat enjoyable but not extremely memorable. I think the potential is there but it didn’t quite reach it.
I’m honestly having a hard time pinpointing how I feel about this book. I found it somewhat enjoyable but not extremely memorable. I think the potential is there but it didn’t quite reach it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Body horror, and Vomit
Moderate: Car accident, Cursing, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Animal death
winter_loves_cookies's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Grief and Alcoholism
Minor: Colonisation, Racism, Physical abuse, and Vomit
Lots of bugssusanpevensie's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Body horror
Moderate: Physical abuse
heatherinthenether's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
This is a delightfully unsettling thriller that explores family and love, societal expectations, culture and history, colonization and generational trauma. It's a powerful and truly haunting story that stays with you long after you finish the book. For anyone with a bug phobia, this is not the book for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Biphobia
Moderate: Death, Alcoholism, Blood, Colonisation, and Confinement
Minor: Animal cruelty, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Car accident, and Animal death
kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5 stars rounded up!
this started off super interesting but the haunting within a haunting threw me off a bit and the family dynamics were a bit too heavy for the haunting plot to balance out. the “scares” felt a bit cheesy and 2D in comparison to the commentary on race/colonization in Vietnam and the crumbling family
that being said the relationships, especially between sisters were lovely! as an oldest sister i deeply felt all the heavy lifting Jade did and how she felt she had to pay everyone before herself. Lily was a really accurate 2nd child; old enough to remember the rosy “before” but too young to understand or process the fucked up “after”. I have a sister just like that & our different approaches to our deadbeat father have driven a wedge between us over time just like this. really affirming to see on a page, as sad as it was
the ending was a bit cheesy & grand gesture-y so minus some points for that
anyways gotta love a book that ends with a deadbeat dad on fire!
this started off super interesting but the haunting within a haunting threw me off a bit and the family dynamics were a bit too heavy for the haunting plot to balance out. the “scares” felt a bit cheesy and 2D in comparison to the commentary on race/colonization in Vietnam and the crumbling family
that being said the relationships, especially between sisters were lovely! as an oldest sister i deeply felt all the heavy lifting Jade did and how she felt she had to pay everyone before herself. Lily was a really accurate 2nd child; old enough to remember the rosy “before” but too young to understand or process the fucked up “after”. I have a sister just like that & our different approaches to our deadbeat father have driven a wedge between us over time just like this. really affirming to see on a page, as sad as it was
the ending was a bit cheesy & grand gesture-y so minus some points for that
anyways gotta love a book that ends with a deadbeat dad on fire!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Body horror
zombiezami's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
4.5
This author is a genius. She is elevating YA
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Body horror, Colonisation, Grief, Racism, Violence, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Biphobia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Toxic friendship
carolined314's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
3.75
Food and love and ghosts and control all intertwine in this book, which I found almost revolting and yet fascinating. The main character's queer journey kept me grounded even as the situation got worse and worse and then... wow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, and Body horror
Moderate: Cannibalism, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Classism, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, and Car accident
Minor: Addiction