Reviews tagging 'Murder'

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

27 reviews

sknappy1's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Death, and Murder

Minor: Vomit

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

SO much going on all at once, and not balanced very well. I think I would have liked the different narrative elements individually or if they had been melded more effectively (because a haunted house that is so both literally and as a deeper allegory for the lingering legacy of colonialism -- if that is the intention -- is conceptually great), but it just feels like it's trying to be several different things mashed haphazardly into one. Super overwritten as well, and yet at the same time basically everything that should be shown is told and vice versa.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Murder, Racism, Suicide, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Misogyny, War, Vomit, Homophobia, Biphobia, Bullying, and Sexism

Fungal/parasitic infection. Insects, insect death. Sleep paralysis.

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Classism, Colonisation, and Blood

Minor: Grief, Homophobia, and Murder

leweylibrary's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

3.5

I wanted to like this one more than I did unfortunately. I did like the spooky, LGBTQIA+ vibes and the fuck colonialism sentiments, but I just found myself having a hard time getting into the book and staying in it. I also wasn't crazy about most of the characters. Overall it fell a bit flat for me, but I do appreciate it and think there are others who will love it more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Murder, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Racism, and Abandonment

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. 

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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

hobbithopeful's review against another edition

challenging 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? No

4.75

Sapphic colonization horror!?? LIKE WHAT! This was such an engaging and creepy read. I couldn't put it down, even as I had goosebumps from the suffocating imagery. I don't think there are many authors that can pull off writing about race and colonisation for a horror book, but  Trang Thanh Tran NAILED it! I am a grade A weenie, so this wasn't too scary for me to read. I was guessing the whole time, and I loved the twists and turns. 
I absolutely loved how race was talked about, it was just done so well and seamlessly. Honestly still cracking up about the line "this woman has a PHD in colonization.." . Jade feels so out of place in Vietnam, like a banana she mentions, and honestly I relate so much to her with my own race struggles. 
Also this book is sapphic!  
A truly creepy and tense tale about a hungry house, and too many bugs!
If you like thriller books you will definitely like this one! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Homophobia, and Body horror

Moderate: 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! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Murder, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Body horror

tahsintries's review against another edition

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Racism, Animal death, Body horror, Murder, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism

pey333's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Body horror, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Violence

Minor: Sexual content, Biphobia, Murder, and Suicide

ashcrash's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

i really wanted to love this book. the premise sounded amazing and i’m always down for food/bug/haunted house horror, but it really fell flat across the board. the main character is a teen in a complicated situation

and i get that she’s meant to be an unreliable narrator once the house gets its claws in her

but it definitely feels like none of her decisions relate to her internal monologue or any characterization we get of her. speaking of internal monologue, there’s a LOT of it. i love scene setting and atmospheric books, especially horror, and it could totally just be the audiobook, but the way the description/prose/jade’s thoughts are weaved in with actual plot is very confusing and slows down the book a lot. there are lots of great plot elements here but way too many, so by the end it feels like none of them amounted to anything, and the central “mystery” also feels unresolved. because of all of that, the ending is completely underwhelming and doesn’t feel earned. also surprisingly disappointed by the romance, which feels forced and rushed though there are some  nice moments. the theme of colonialism is a super important thing to bring into the haunted house trope, and i do feel like it works well in regards to the business partner couple, but at other points it feels like like it gets lost in the confusing narrative rather than working as an actual force in the story the way the haunting itself is. overall really disappointing, unfortunately :(

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Colonisation, Body horror, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment