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chroniti's review
dark
hopeful
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
4.25
Eerie and creepy along with the struggles of a broken family and the scars of colonization. Finally, a Vietnamese-American horror with a bisexual main character for me, a bisexual Vietnamese-American woman to read.
The romantic subplot did not overtake the horror in this book and was able to fit neatly with the main character's story.
The characters are flawed and very human.
The middle portion is slower-paced since there's more focus on the characters rather than the horrors, which I felt was important to put time aside to flesh out the characters and their dynamics.
This felt like watching a great horror miniseries in book form.
I-uh-I would not recommend reading this while you're eating...
Some of the things described in this book can be stomach-churning.
Great horror read!
The romantic subplot did not overtake the horror in this book and was able to fit neatly with the main character's story.
The characters are flawed and very human.
The middle portion is slower-paced since there's more focus on the characters rather than the horrors, which I felt was important to put time aside to flesh out the characters and their dynamics.
This felt like watching a great horror miniseries in book form.
I-uh-I would not recommend reading this while you're eating...
Some of the things described in this book can be stomach-churning.
Great horror read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Murder, and Colonisation
raynbowkitty's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book made me feel physically ill several times. Tough, but intriguing story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Racism, Slavery, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
disnelyse's review
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit and Car accident
uncreativeoops's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.75
The vibes were immaculate, which is pretty important for a gothic horror novel, and the author managed to create an eerie and tense atmosphere while also describing everything so aesthetically. The descriptions felt very... indirect? I sometimes had to reread parts because I wasn't sure what was actually happening but that is by no means a criticism; I adored the language. Plotwise however, I struggled a bit. Haunted houses only work if the characters have a good reason to be in them and not leave once, you know, they realize they might die. In this case, there were reasons for the main character not just going home, but they weren't strong enough for me. I got her motivations and I liked how her struggles with her family and her identity played out, but her behavior in the house was just ridiculous. And some of it seemed like it only happened to set up conflict between characters, the main thing that didn't work for me. Nearly every thing that characters got angry about was so obviously only there to create a shocking reveal and lead to an argument and some of the "dark secrets" I just straight up didn't consider as bad things. The romance also suffered from this.
My favorite thing however were the shorter horror chapters and how horror as a genre was used to discuss colonialism, racism, and sexism. Gothic horror has always been used to portray societal issues with supernatural metaphores and this was done so well here. I also have never read YA horror before and was pleasantly surprised how well these two can be mixed.
My favorite thing however were the shorter horror chapters and how horror as a genre was used to discuss colonialism, racism, and sexism. Gothic horror has always been used to portray societal issues with supernatural metaphores and this was done so well here. I also have never read YA horror before and was pleasantly surprised how well these two can be mixed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, and Car accident
zimmermanrl15's review
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 really enjoyed this book! The themes around self discovery, colonization, and how we handle feeling like a foreigner in our own culture or home country were laid out in a way that I think is very digestible to an audience willing to understand or relate to those concepts.
I don't have any particularly major gripes with the books overall plot, writing or tropes used, but I will say that I was left with a bit of longing for more. What that 'more' would look like, I'm still unsure of months after I've initially read it and some time to think about it. Possibly higher stakes throughout the whole story, but that would have ruined the slow burn intentions of the house.
I do think Trang has a great skill for writing thriller/horror and would love to see more from them in the future!
I don't have any particularly major gripes with the books overall plot, writing or tropes used, but I will say that I was left with a bit of longing for more. What that 'more' would look like, I'm still unsure of months after I've initially read it and some time to think about it. Possibly higher stakes throughout the whole story, but that would have ruined the slow burn intentions of the house.
I do think Trang has a great skill for writing thriller/horror and would love to see more from them in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Body horror
srcreads1's review
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Colonisation
Moderate: Racism
weirdassfanta's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.75
Beautifully written. This book gives you slight chills while showing that you are allowed to be angry and make mistakes. Also deals with colonization and struggling with your identity. It’s a great read for body horror lovers who are looking for something diverse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol
I will also warn people about the detailed and common talk of bugs in places they shouldn’t be, such as skin and food, as this is a trigger for me. So please be conscious of that if you decide to read this book.sarah_shelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Gore, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Minor: Car accident
Body horror involving bugs & worms/larvae Parasitesqueer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: body horror, sleep paralysis, death of a parent, immolation, racism, cursing
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran is a YA horror about a Vietnamese-American girl struggling with identity and family reconciliation amid a haunted house.
We follow Jade, who is visiting her father with her younger sister in Vietnam, as he fixes up an old French Colonial house. Jade's father has been estranged from the family for a long time, but has made a deal that if she stays the summer, then he will give her the money she needs to go to college at UPenn. Then Jade realizes that the house is haunted by a racist, French colonizer who is tormenting her as she did another Vietnamese girl who lived there.
Jade is a bit of an angsty teen girl, angry at her father and making not great decisions. But we soon realized that her father put too much on her when she was young instead of taking responsibility. Jade carries the weight of being the oldest daughter, as well as trying to navigate her Vietnamese-American identity. Throughout the book we see her struggle with not feeling Vietnamese enough. Jade is also coming to terms with being bisexual.
I liked Jade's relationship with Florence and the juxtaposition of their two very different personalities. The hauntings are really visceral and creepy! The interplay between dreams and real hauntings makes reality hard to parse out. A lot of disturbing descriptions. We get themes of how colonialism is a rot upon a country. The racist ghost, Marion, rotted from the inside when she died in the house, so get plenty of imagery of rotting food, parasites and dead bugs. It's ironic that Marion always referred to the Vietnamese people as parasites, when she herself became a parasite of the house after death.
This was a super creepy read and perfect for spooky season. I'm really enjoying all this diverse horror! This would make for a great horror movie.
She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran is a YA horror about a Vietnamese-American girl struggling with identity and family reconciliation amid a haunted house.
We follow Jade, who is visiting her father with her younger sister in Vietnam, as he fixes up an old French Colonial house. Jade's father has been estranged from the family for a long time, but has made a deal that if she stays the summer, then he will give her the money she needs to go to college at UPenn. Then Jade realizes that the house is haunted by a racist, French colonizer who is tormenting her as she did another Vietnamese girl who lived there.
Jade is a bit of an angsty teen girl, angry at her father and making not great decisions. But we soon realized that her father put too much on her when she was young instead of taking responsibility. Jade carries the weight of being the oldest daughter, as well as trying to navigate her Vietnamese-American identity. Throughout the book we see her struggle with not feeling Vietnamese enough. Jade is also coming to terms with being bisexual.
I liked Jade's relationship with Florence and the juxtaposition of their two very different personalities. The hauntings are really visceral and creepy! The interplay between dreams and real hauntings makes reality hard to parse out. A lot of disturbing descriptions. We get themes of how colonialism is a rot upon a country. The racist ghost, Marion, rotted from the inside when she died in the house, so get plenty of imagery of rotting food, parasites and dead bugs. It's ironic that Marion always referred to the Vietnamese people as parasites, when she herself became a parasite of the house after death.
This was a super creepy read and perfect for spooky season. I'm really enjoying all this diverse horror! This would make for a great horror movie.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Cursing and Racism
khakipantsofsex's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Homophobia, Slavery, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury