Reviews tagging 'Racism'

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

101 reviews

rainbowjellies's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Moderate: Death, Racism, and Murder

Minor: Vomit

kingcrookback's review against another edition

dark 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

This book would probably fit into the niche of creeping Gothic horror with generational themes of the likes of Mexican Gothic and What Moves the Dead. When Tran's writing was effective, her imagery was genuinely and viscerally unsettling. Ordinarily, the themes of generational trauma, queerness, colonialism and diaspora, and father-daughter relationships should have kept me hooked from page one.

The problem is, I found that Tran's writing was often not effective. Much of the time the figurative language and syntactical choices lacked the necessary undergirding of substance, which resulted in a murkiness that did not seem intentional and consequently just felt confused or unfocused. I understand that sometimes the intention was slipperiness and disorientation, and while that sometimes came across, its success was inconsistent. In fact, what this book did well - the creepy-crawliness, the imagery, the way it taps into the experiences that many American-born Vietnamese people share - made it even more of a frustrating read in the face of its shortcomings, including the underdeveloped side characters and the (occasionally) less-than-natural dialogue.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, and Car accident

introvertsbookclub's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

3.75

I don’t enjoy being scared so I was a little apprehensive about reading this, but it was so much more than a scary story.

The novel is so rich, it is difficult to summarise – a closeted daughter, an overworked mother, a father who has left his family behind while he searches for belonging in his birth country, a closeted daughter resenting him for leaving and trying to protect her siblings from further pain and disappointment while navigating her own relationship with a country, culture and language she feels distanced from. Oh, and a legacy of racism that has invaded the present in the form of colonialism-romanticising neighbours and an old house haunted by a racist ghost.

It is incredible how much emotion and tension is packed into this novel. The story is driven by self-doubt and a fear of revealing your true self, but also a desire to belong and to protect the people you love; to earn their approval and avoid the pain of rejection. It explores the trauma that legacies of racism and colonialism continue to inflict in the present day. It was vivid and intimately written, but the ending, while satisfying on some counts, was a little lacking on others. Overall, it was an amazing read and I definitely want to read more from this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

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, Death, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

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

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

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

hurricane_noel's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Biphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Terminal illness

winter_loves_cookies's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Alcoholism and Grief

Minor: Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, and Colonisation

Lots of bugs

lots of eating bugs

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

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

Minor: Homophobia, Grief, and Murder

moiramaclir's review

dark emotional sad 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

3.75

Slower start then what I was hoping for. But eventually picked up speed and started to settle into the pace and I liked how it played out. 

I’ll admit the slow start had me and I was hoping for a bit more in places. Specially with how the fmc saw herself and also her mothers reactions in the end. But still a good story worthy of being told again and again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Racism and Outing

Minor: Death of parent

gondorgirl's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Racism, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail