Reviews with content warning for Vomit - She Is a Haunting

This book was almost impossible to put down. I tore through it, even though I rarely read horror and there was some disturbing stuff on the page. I really found Jade an instantly relatable character. While I, as a white woman, cannot directly relate to her experience as a Vietnamese-American teen who doesn't feel wholly at home in the US or in the country of her parents' birth, I can definitely remember being on the cusp of 18 and angry and at odds with my family. Jade's emotions feel so real and well-portrayed, giving me a lot of empathy for what it must be like to be in diaspora and have to deal with the legacy of issues like colonization and being the child of refugees.

This very complex human character serves to anchor a story that can otherwise feel a bit like a fever dream.

If you're not a big horror reader, make sure to check the content warnings to decide if this is a good book for dipping your toes into the genre!

Content Warnings

marleywrites's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Jade was the perfect narrator for this haunting novel. She was angry, she was scared, she was smart. Jade was also a normal eighteen year old- a little cocky, a little blunt. I loved every second.

I found learning about Vietnamese culture through this story really engaging. I like reading stories about taking down nasty colonizers so I was really enjoying that aspect of the novel. I especially liked that the book did not provide translation for everything said in Vietnamese. I liked that it wasn’t handed to me, I had to pause and go Google it. I didn’t mind that, for me, it worked. It was unapologetic.

Florence was such an interesting character. I liked her sass and her brains and her scheming. I liked that she saw Jade and wanted to know her right from the start. She weaseled her way in there and did not back down when things got hard.

I found the pacing of this book to be moderately slow, but I think it worked for the story. It sort of goes from a warm water to a rolling boil at a pace where you don’t even realize you’re being pulled in. I liked that when the ending hit, you’re like, “how did we get here??”.

The wealthy couple, Alma and Tommy, were really frustrating characters by design. I enjoyed their role in this book.

I wish we could have seen Halle on page. I would have liked to know more about that relationship for Jade. I also wish we could have seen more on page, in person interactions with Jade’s mom. But I did enjoy getting to see them interact on FaceTime!

Overall, I loved reading this story and I think the author did a really wonderful job with this book. The horror elements were gross and captivating at the same time, and I look forward to more from this author! We also love to see an author using they/them pronouns! 💛

Content Warnings

marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Jade’s first visit to her ancestral homeland in Vietnam is not exactly how she’d envisioned spending her last summer before college. Having agreed to stay with her sister in the historic house her estranged father is obsessed with restoring, Jade expected to face family drama, but what she finds is much more sinister. Death and decay creep around every corner, and the unease of day and night are only partially countered by time spent with a rebellious and magnetizing local girl. Woven with body horror, ghosts, and the violence of colonialism, I’d definitely recommend this YA crossover to fans of Mexican Gothic.

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