Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

16 reviews

shadow_cat94's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

This book is focused on the generational trauma and displacement caused from colonization in Vietnam shown  through a single family and the house they're rebuilding over a summer.

The main character, Jade, is struggling with feelings of abandonment by her estranged father and coming out to her family as bisexual. These manifest in fights with her father and a new potential friend, Florence, at every opportunity. Her sister, Lily, is forced to be the peacekeeper as she wants to have her father back in not only her life, but everyone's life again.

I found the flash stories written from the house's POV endearing. The story overall felt like it fell flat in the ending for me. I didn't like the final interaction between Jade and Ba, it left a bad taste in my mouth. The way the sisters never talked it out or talked anything out, yet had this perfect relationship prior to going into that house seemed off to me as well. I loved the mom. She was written consistently enough and often enough that I was satisfied with her part in the ending,

it didn'tfeel like a deus ex machina.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Car accident, Abandonment, and Alcohol

There is a death by burning in this story along with other types of deaths. They're not in graphic detail, but you are "present" with the MC when it happens for the most part.

lunitareads's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

  She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran is a chilling, gothic story that blends ghosts, family, & identity with a haunting twist. Jade Nguyen, a Vietnamese American teen, visits her dad in Vietnam to help restore an old French colonial house with a familial connection. The Nhà Hoa, Flower House isn't just falling apart-it needs a whole limpia (cleansing). It is full of spirits, dark secrets, & a hunger that can never be satisfied.

At its core, the story reminds us of the remnants of French colonization in Vietnam. The house, a relic of colonial power, symbolizes how the past keeps its grip on the present through haunted rooms & the cultural scars left behind. Jade feels the pressure of this history as she struggles with her identity. She doesn't feel "Vietnamese enough" when she's in Vietnam & doesn't feel "American enough" when she's in the U.S. Not only is she grasping that identity dilemma, but also about her sexuality. It's like being stuck between worlds, much like the spirits in the house.

Body parts serve as interludes, keeping suspense. Food plays a magical role; it's not just about meals but links to her culture. Traditional Vietnamese dishes carry warmth and a strange fear, reflecting the spirit's hunger and the hunger for belonging that Jade herself feels. Ugh... but you smell, at times, the rot and feel the parasites crawl.

This book is perfect if you love ghost stories with deep meaning, creepy, eerie atmospheres, and the idea of belonging to more than one world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Blood, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Suicide, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Biphobia, Child abuse, Slavery, and Lesbophobia

lue_moon's review

dark mysterious 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

4.75

Even as someone who doesn't typically read horror (my overactive brain gives me nightmares way to easily with creepy stuff), I ended up really loving this book. Though I can see how this book might not be for everyone. Be forewarned, it is creepy as hell and can sometimes feel a bit chaotic, but it contains a lot of beautiful writing and story that drew me in. I'm always a big fan of houses that become their own character in books and this one becomes as much a part of the book as the main characters. It also speaks to exploration of identity, family rupture and connection, and stories washed over and untold by colonialist revision of history.

Additional content warning for bugs, so many bugs in many creepy ways.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

em_of_swags's review against another edition

4.0

liked it but the "mythology" of it felt kind of all over the place. brb getting Vietnamese food now

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcohol

honeybeewitched87's review

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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying and Fire/Fire injury

lunarexorcist's review

dark mysterious sad 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

i thought this was a new adult book until like twenty pages in my bad. i was so let down jade was 17 and not... like... 22.

i cried at the last forty pages but then went "what. what? what???" until the end. unhinged. i cant decide if it was unhinged in a genius or stupid way, but i will say that

being horny for a ghost that is horny for you also in a toxic yuri way and also a "wow you are so repressed colonialism slash misogyny slash queerphobia is a hell of a thing huh"

is one of the more unique interpretations of "this house eats people" ive seen. 

i think the fact everyone sucks so bad throws people off but that just made my chest ache with how real it felt. that was my dad. thats my eldest daughter trauma. im gonna lose it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

parkergarlough's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Colonisation

torismazarine's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol

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.

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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