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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
Rating: 3.5 stars
I'm having a hard articulating my thoughts about this one. I'll have to come back to my review after I've had time to think about how I feel about this story.
I'm having a hard articulating my thoughts about this one. I'll have to come back to my review after I've had time to think about how I feel about this story.
This book was good, spooky fun. I loved the settings throughout the book. The ending felt a little rushed, especially with how much exposition and how many plot twists there were. But, overall, I enjoyed it!
I really liked this one. I learned so much about folklore and views of the afterlife... but also this was simultaneously a murder mystery, an exploration of corruption, and a touching story about growing up, changing, and being more sure about what you want from your life.
adventurous
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
I think this may be the most unusual book I have ever read - for me, compared to what I have read before. I know nothing about Malaysian culture, history, or religious beliefs. I have never read about the Asian afterlife before. So this was really a new experience for me. I really liked it. The idea of your living family's devotion and offerings determining your status in the afterlife was so interesting. I loved the romance, and fully supported her choice at the end. I was surprised that it was a slew book for me. It was interesting throughout, and yet seemed to drag for much of the beginning. I am not sure how that is possible. Despite that, I did like it very much.
Plot: A rich woman proposes an impoverished girl marry her son's ghost, and despite the girls' protests she finds herself haunted till she has to take drastic measures.
1. This book is slower than what I usually like because my preferences lean more towards snappy dialogue than lyrical descriptions. However, there was enough meat in the plot- enough stakes, menace and interesting worldbuilding to keep me reading at a relatively steady pace.
2. This story took a lot of turns I wasn't expecting? I mean, not as a murder mystery (there is one of those in here, sort of; and it was fair but not mind-blowing) but genre-wise? It starts off as a perfectly normal historical with potential romance and then turns into a ghost story, an adventure story, a quasi-spy mystery and a sortof mystery-thriller lite towards the end. Oh, and there's a bit of paranormal romance in there as well. None of this was bad, mind you. But it wasn't quite what I was expecting.
3. Li Lan isn't what you'd call an interesting character, at least not at first. But I absolutely bought her progression from "sheltered naive innocent prone to panicking" to "resourceful, restless and mildly irritated woman" over the course of the book. It's subtle, happens in stages and is completely believable. And we don't even have to go through long monologues about how different she feels now and how much more empowered she is- the changes in her personality are evident from her actions.
4. Her interactions with Er Lang (and Er Lang himself) are hilarious and I want another book in this universe just so I can see them snipe at each other while they solve another bureaucratic corruption case.
5. This book felt a lot longer than it actually was, and it took a while for me to get really interested in the story, but it was well worth my time by the end.
1. This book is slower than what I usually like because my preferences lean more towards snappy dialogue than lyrical descriptions. However, there was enough meat in the plot- enough stakes, menace and interesting worldbuilding to keep me reading at a relatively steady pace.
2. This story took a lot of turns I wasn't expecting? I mean, not as a murder mystery (there is one of those in here, sort of; and it was fair but not mind-blowing) but genre-wise? It starts off as a perfectly normal historical with potential romance and then turns into a ghost story, an adventure story, a quasi-spy mystery and a sortof mystery-thriller lite towards the end. Oh, and there's a bit of paranormal romance in there as well. None of this was bad, mind you. But it wasn't quite what I was expecting.
3. Li Lan isn't what you'd call an interesting character, at least not at first. But I absolutely bought her progression from "sheltered naive innocent prone to panicking" to "resourceful, restless and mildly irritated woman" over the course of the book. It's subtle, happens in stages and is completely believable. And we don't even have to go through long monologues about how different she feels now and how much more empowered she is- the changes in her personality are evident from her actions.
4. Her interactions with Er Lang (and Er Lang himself) are hilarious and I want another book in this universe just so I can see them snipe at each other while they solve another bureaucratic corruption case.
5. This book felt a lot longer than it actually was, and it took a while for me to get really interested in the story, but it was well worth my time by the end.
3 1/2 stars. For some reason, this book didn't feel authentic to the time period and culture. I don't know why I got that feeling. Also it felt like a little too simply written. Kinda expected a deeper experience. Lovely story though. Enjoyed it.
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
3,75+
Read Around the World Challenge : Malaysia
Really liked it, but turned out different than what I had expected from the description. It's classified as adult fiction so I thought it would be more horror focused, but the writing was very YA-like and it felt very similar to other YA novels with Spirited-Away vibes I've read (like The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea). Nonetheless it was a very nice read.
I really liked the Chinese mythology inclusions (the plains of the dead, the burnt offerings like horses & houses manifesting in the world of the dead, the corruption of border officials/investigations by heaven officials, the power of ghosts to provoke epidemics, the concept of ghost marriages) and the references to the diverse people of Malaysia (which I felt could have been even more developed). I would have wanted a bit more from the investigation, as we do not know the results of it ; why not a scene at the trial with Li Lan as a witness ? The plot was really influenced by the saying that "you can't trust ghosts" (like the betrayal of Fan and the possession of her body, or the evil master in the plains of the dead).
It was so obvious that Auntie 3 was her mother (even if she looked old -> because she traded it for Li Lan to recover) I wanted to shake the heroine.
I liked the idea of Li Lan realizing that her first crush was not the right choice, that she didn't know Tian Bai and were not compatible, that it was mainly physical attraction after being sheltered from man all her life. However, that realization came a bit late and I was disappointed that she did not confront Tian Bai to explain it to him. The whole plot around the murder of his cousin (who he the ghost obsessed with marrying Li Lan) was a bit unclear, as we had many hints of Tian Bai's implication (what about the cold face he made when he spoke about it to Fan in Li Lan's body) only for him to be declared innocent (it was the cousin Yan Hong who wanted to take revenge on him and the treatment of her and her mother in this family).
I really liked Er Lang and Li Lan together, their banter was really sweet. I did guess he was a dragon from the moment he gave her a scale to call him, but I like that he was a mythological creature. How he saved Li Lan's life > ("giving her his breath" of course with a kiss). I wish they would have had a final scene together in which she told him that she chose him.
Read Around the World Challenge : Malaysia
Really liked it, but turned out different than what I had expected from the description. It's classified as adult fiction so I thought it would be more horror focused, but the writing was very YA-like and it felt very similar to other YA novels with Spirited-Away vibes I've read (like The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea). Nonetheless it was a very nice read.
I really liked the Chinese mythology inclusions (the plains of the dead, the burnt offerings like horses & houses manifesting in the world of the dead, the corruption of border officials/investigations by heaven officials, the power of ghosts to provoke epidemics, the concept of ghost marriages) and the references to the diverse people of Malaysia (which I felt could have been even more developed). I would have wanted a bit more from the investigation, as we do not know the results of it ; why not a scene at the trial with Li Lan as a witness ? The plot was really influenced by the saying that "you can't trust ghosts" (like the betrayal of Fan and the possession of her body, or the evil master in the plains of the dead).
It was so obvious that Auntie 3 was her mother (even if she looked old -> because she traded it for Li Lan to recover) I wanted to shake the heroine.
I liked the idea of Li Lan realizing that her first crush was not the right choice, that she didn't know Tian Bai and were not compatible, that it was mainly physical attraction after being sheltered from man all her life. However, that realization came a bit late and I was disappointed that she did not confront Tian Bai to explain it to him. The whole plot around the murder of his cousin (who he the ghost obsessed with marrying Li Lan) was a bit unclear, as we had many hints of Tian Bai's implication (what about the cold face he made when he spoke about it to Fan in Li Lan's body) only for him to be declared innocent (it was the cousin Yan Hong who wanted to take revenge on him and the treatment of her and her mother in this family).
I really liked Er Lang and Li Lan together, their banter was really sweet. I did guess he was a dragon from the moment he gave her a scale to call him, but I like that he was a mythological creature. How he saved Li Lan's life > ("giving her his breath" of course with a kiss). I wish they would have had a final scene together in which she told him that she chose him.