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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
I checked The Ghost Bride out from the library as part of my annual October ghost/supernatural/horror stories batch of books. The setting of colonial Malaya (now Malaysia) was vibrant and interesting since I knew nothing about it before starting the book. Choo does a good job of making the setting come alive without feeling like it's extra exposition for exposition's sake. The novel drags at a few points and there are a couple of plot points that were a little confusing to me, but overall I found this book entertaining. A good read for any time of the year, but especially good if you want a different sort of ghost story.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Once again, I cannot get over Yangsze Choo’s use of descriptive language. She effortlessly brings both settings and people to life by giving just enough detail to paint a gripping picture. This is also the first youngish character (she turns 18 over the course of the book) I’ve read in a while who seems believable for her age and yet I don’t want to strangle her in times of crisis. In other words, she isn’t miraculously/unbelievably mature for a teenager, but she also doesn’t turn into a gibbering idiot when confronted with…well, you’ll see.
(I’m so sad that I only have one more book by this author left to read!)
(I’m so sad that I only have one more book by this author left to read!)
adventurous
challenging
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The author created a very cool world but it took too long for the plot itself to get interesting and some of the things in the book just werent satisfying. That being said i will probably read more from the author because i think she gets better each book. I really hope she gets better at plotting out her books if that makes sense.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The beginning was a bit too drawn out and the ending not expanding enough - with all that being said, this was a great read! Wonderful atmosphere and descriptions, brave main character, and a well-written romance.
I first heard of The Ghost Bride through my book club, though we didn't read it. It would have been interesting to discuss the cultural differences in how we consider death and the afterlife. In The Ghost Bride, spirits walk invisibly among the living, benefit from the generosity and nourishment of their still-living family members, and can invade living people's dreams.
Set in pre-independence Malaysia, Li Lan is the daughter of a poor, opium-addicted father, who - in order to settle his debts with the Lim family - considers the Lims' proposal of a ghost marriage for their son, Tien Ching, a spoiled heir who has recently died (... or been MURDERED, as he believes). Being a ghost bride would mean Li Lan gets to live in luxury as a widow in the Lim house, but also she has to put up with Tien Ching visiting her in her dreams and he's not real pleasant. Plus Li Lan kinda has a crush on Tien Ching's cousin, Tien Bai, who Tien Ching thinks MURDERED him, and so it's weird that she still moons over Tien Bai for the whole book.
Anyway, so Tien Ching doesn't wanna take no for an answer, Li Lan must be his bride! and so he shows up in her dreams and really creeps her out like a creepy stalking weirdo. So Li Lan goes to a medium to get this dude to stop bugging her, and then Li Lan's spirit is separated from her still-living body after an accidental overdose of the tea that was supposed to be used to prevent Tien Ching from haunting her sleep.
There's creepy decaying spirits! Corruption in the nine circles of hell! Also having to live in the same house with all your dead relatives in the land of the dead with all your same pettiness and problems that you had on earth until you pass through the circles to get reincarnated! Apparently there are courtrooms in one or more of those circles of hell because Tien Ching is confident he can get the judges of hell to condemn Tien Bai for MURDER??
Anyway, this was a GREAT October pick, and a really interesting and different story than anything I've read before. 3.5 stars.
Please excuse misspelled names, as I listened to the audio (great, read by the author), and haven't read other reviews yet to see how they're spelled.
Set in pre-independence Malaysia, Li Lan is the daughter of a poor, opium-addicted father, who - in order to settle his debts with the Lim family - considers the Lims' proposal of a ghost marriage for their son, Tien Ching, a spoiled heir who has recently died (... or been MURDERED, as he believes). Being a ghost bride would mean Li Lan gets to live in luxury as a widow in the Lim house, but also she has to put up with Tien Ching visiting her in her dreams and he's not real pleasant. Plus Li Lan kinda has a crush on Tien Ching's cousin, Tien Bai, who Tien Ching thinks MURDERED him, and so it's weird that she still moons over Tien Bai for the whole book.
Anyway, so Tien Ching doesn't wanna take no for an answer, Li Lan must be his bride! and so he shows up in her dreams and really creeps her out like a creepy stalking weirdo. So Li Lan goes to a medium to get this dude to stop bugging her, and then Li Lan's spirit is separated from her still-living body after an accidental overdose of the tea that was supposed to be used to prevent Tien Ching from haunting her sleep.
There's creepy decaying spirits! Corruption in the nine circles of hell! Also having to live in the same house with all your dead relatives in the land of the dead with all your same pettiness and problems that you had on earth until you pass through the circles to get reincarnated! Apparently there are courtrooms in one or more of those circles of hell because Tien Ching is confident he can get the judges of hell to condemn Tien Bai for MURDER??
Anyway, this was a GREAT October pick, and a really interesting and different story than anything I've read before. 3.5 stars.
Please excuse misspelled names, as I listened to the audio (great, read by the author), and haven't read other reviews yet to see how they're spelled.
'The Ghost Bride' by Yangsze Choo is so much fun and exciting to read! I am crossing my fingers hoping there is a sequel. The author created a Chinese underworld which is rich with Eastern mythological detail and invention. I was reminded of [b:Sabriel|518848|Sabriel (Abhorsen, #1)|Garth Nix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1293655399l/518848._SY75_.jpg|3312237] by Garth Nix, another exciting book full of characters who are able to travel to lands of the dead.
Li Lan is a young girl who is almost eighteen. It is 1893. She is fortunate to be a third-generation Chinese descendent of a good Malasian family who did well financially in establishing themselves in Malacca. Unfortunately, her father has lost the family's wealth after his wife died in a smallpox epidemic. Finding his grief unbearable, he has become addicted to opium. They are still considered middle-class, but he is in more financial difficulties than he has been telling.
There are only three servants left in the large old house. Ah Chun, a maid, Old Wong, the cook, and Amah who raised Li Lan as well as Li Lan's mother. Amah is devoted to Li Lan. Amah is very superstitious and has raised Li Lan up with stories about the spirit world. Balancing these myths is her father's Confucianism. Between the two, Li Lan does not really believe in spirits.
Li Lan begins to suffer from bad nightmares. In them, she is in a mansion full of spirit goods, food, and servants. It is clearly a rich man's house. This man is abhorent to her, but he insists they are to be married. When she asks him his name, he says it is Lim Tian Ching. She can't stand him! Although these nightmares are only dreams, they affect her by making her anxious.
Then soon after these dreams have begun to haunt her, Li Lan's father calls her into his study. He tells her Lim Teck Kiong has talked with Li Lan's father to propose a marriage between Li Lan and his son, Lim Tian Ching. If her father agrees, Lim will pay off all of her father's debts.
There is a slight complication. Lim Tian Ching is dead. However, under Chinese custom, the ghost marriage is not unheard of to satisfy Chinese betrothal customs and settle claims of inheritance. Unfortunately for all concerned, Li Lan has already met a living Lim nephew, Tian Bai, when she had accepted an invitation to visit the Lim mansion earlier in the week. She adores him.
Li Lan is horrified by this proposed ghost marriage! In her nightmare, she hates Tian Ching, the fiance she will have if she accepts! Upset, she takes a sleeping potion hoping to sleep without nightmares and anxiety. In her desperation and unhappiness, she takes a huge portion of the powder.
Suddenly she is floating above her body the next day when she wakes up! Ooops.
Gentle reader, she is not dead. Yet. But she needs to figure out how to get back inside her body, which doesn't seem to allow her in at this point. After hanging about miserably for some days, she discovers a white thread from a gift Tian Bai had given her leading out a window. Amah has been feeding and taking care of her body, so she decides to follow the thread.
So begins her adventure of discovery about the world of spirits. Not dead herself, but still a spirit, she learns a lot about a plot against her of which she had no knowledge! She could end up really dead! Li Lan needs to figure out the rules of being a ghost quickly. Her enemy is powerful, and she doesn't understand entirely what it is all about.
Apparently the book includes a lot of real Chinese-Malasian mythology and customs. It is a YA read, and it has a realistic point of view (spirit world of dead people notwithstanding) as narrated by the naive but brave heroine Li Lan. I liked her very much. This was fun, exciting and an interesting fantasy to read.
Li Lan is a young girl who is almost eighteen. It is 1893. She is fortunate to be a third-generation Chinese descendent of a good Malasian family who did well financially in establishing themselves in Malacca. Unfortunately, her father has lost the family's wealth after his wife died in a smallpox epidemic. Finding his grief unbearable, he has become addicted to opium. They are still considered middle-class, but he is in more financial difficulties than he has been telling.
There are only three servants left in the large old house. Ah Chun, a maid, Old Wong, the cook, and Amah who raised Li Lan as well as Li Lan's mother. Amah is devoted to Li Lan. Amah is very superstitious and has raised Li Lan up with stories about the spirit world. Balancing these myths is her father's Confucianism. Between the two, Li Lan does not really believe in spirits.
Li Lan begins to suffer from bad nightmares. In them, she is in a mansion full of spirit goods, food, and servants. It is clearly a rich man's house. This man is abhorent to her, but he insists they are to be married. When she asks him his name, he says it is Lim Tian Ching. She can't stand him! Although these nightmares are only dreams, they affect her by making her anxious.
Then soon after these dreams have begun to haunt her, Li Lan's father calls her into his study. He tells her Lim Teck Kiong has talked with Li Lan's father to propose a marriage between Li Lan and his son, Lim Tian Ching. If her father agrees, Lim will pay off all of her father's debts.
There is a slight complication. Lim Tian Ching is dead. However, under Chinese custom, the ghost marriage is not unheard of to satisfy Chinese betrothal customs and settle claims of inheritance. Unfortunately for all concerned, Li Lan has already met a living Lim nephew, Tian Bai, when she had accepted an invitation to visit the Lim mansion earlier in the week. She adores him.
Li Lan is horrified by this proposed ghost marriage! In her nightmare, she hates Tian Ching, the fiance she will have if she accepts! Upset, she takes a sleeping potion hoping to sleep without nightmares and anxiety. In her desperation and unhappiness, she takes a huge portion of the powder.
Suddenly she is floating above her body the next day when she wakes up! Ooops.
Gentle reader, she is not dead. Yet. But she needs to figure out how to get back inside her body, which doesn't seem to allow her in at this point. After hanging about miserably for some days, she discovers a white thread from a gift Tian Bai had given her leading out a window. Amah has been feeding and taking care of her body, so she decides to follow the thread.
So begins her adventure of discovery about the world of spirits. Not dead herself, but still a spirit, she learns a lot about a plot against her of which she had no knowledge! She could end up really dead! Li Lan needs to figure out the rules of being a ghost quickly. Her enemy is powerful, and she doesn't understand entirely what it is all about.
Apparently the book includes a lot of real Chinese-Malasian mythology and customs. It is a YA read, and it has a realistic point of view (spirit world of dead people notwithstanding) as narrated by the naive but brave heroine Li Lan. I liked her very much. This was fun, exciting and an interesting fantasy to read.
The historical elements in this book are fascinating, but the author has a hard time creating her characters - they are too current, and the relationship between the main character and her suitors seems contrived. For a purely entertaining read, however, and an opportunity to learn about a different belief system, it was worth slogging through the awkwardness, especially if you like historical fiction.