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kappafrog's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
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
3.25
Pros: I loved the worldbuilding. 19th century Malaya was a cool setting, and I appreciated all the little historical details that went with it like the Dutch ghost, all the Malay folklore, and Tien Bai's education abroad. What I liked most about this book was the way Choo built the afterlife world. It was very spooky and atmospheric. All of the rules and restrictions were interesting. The bond between Li Lan and her horse was really nice. My favourite characters in the book were Amah and Old Wong. This was a really cool imagining of what life would be like for someone in her time and place being caught between life and death.
Cons: The plot was really meandering. There was a lot of time spent with Li Lan wandering around aimlessly, and while it showed off the cool worldbuilding, it left her motivations often muddled. She was a very weepy character which was all right but sometimes got a bit repitive. It was sometimes frustrating as a reader how big the disconnect was between what she was thinking and how she acted - she was often very passive in her conversations compared to what she was thinking. It wasn't unrealistic, but it did make her grate on me a bit. I was also never fully sold on Er Lang as a love interest. He was quite misogynistic and while this is true of most of the male characters in the book, which is appropriate to their place and time, it didn't make him seem that appealing.
Cons: The plot was really meandering. There was a lot of time spent with Li Lan wandering around aimlessly, and while it showed off the cool worldbuilding, it left her motivations often muddled. She was a very weepy character which was all right but sometimes got a bit repitive. It was sometimes frustrating as a reader how big the disconnect was between what she was thinking and how she acted - she was often very passive in her conversations compared to what she was thinking. It wasn't unrealistic, but it did make her grate on me a bit. I was also never fully sold on Er Lang as a love interest. He was quite misogynistic and while this is true of most of the male characters in the book, which is appropriate to their place and time, it didn't make him seem that appealing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Body shaming, Murder, Pregnancy, Abortion, Addiction, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Sexism, Mental illness, Drug use, Classism, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Animal death, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury
the_bookish_type53's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
miesebriese's review against another edition
4.0
despite the setting being so unfamiliar to me the feeling of being unable to decide for yourself, being at the mercy of men who have the "right to decide" on how your life will end up rly isn't a foreign concept to me... but that does change quite quickly... i must say i rly liked li lan, she grew immensely within the book and i loved how no one commented on it, usually we get phrases that point it our but she just kept getting more fierce, more daring and more confident through the book, ofc it's due to her rather alarming situation but following her journey was fun!!!
laura1980458's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.25
jrmarr's review against another edition
2.0
This is a strange book. What I thought would be an interesting insight into the life of women in a different culture in a different time, became a strange journey through the spiritual world, full of the ghostly versions of people, cities, animals and houses. I was left feeling a bit 'so what?', which is a very unsatisfying place for me to be!
abrown410's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0
annashiv's review against another edition
3.0
This was an interesting book, though unusual. I felt it could have been better. It felt very much driven by the plot and so half the choices of characters didn't make sense and seemed to be on a whim that supported the plot best. It was very clear and spoiled much of it. I really enjoyed the ending though and the character Er Lang. I would have liked him to be even more central and make more appearances, earlier on as well. Overall, I felt I could not trust the author and while I enjoyed her interpretation of the afterlife, I could not figure out the rules of it as, again, it seemed to be determined by what worked best for the plot. Still, I liked the last 60 pages or so. I'd say give it a go if you are interested in Chinese culture and don't mind a wandering story. I was entertained. I just wish it had been better thought out or executed through the middle.
nikolinaza's review against another edition
5.0
The Ghost Bride (atau dalam versi terjemahannya, Pengantin Arwah) menceritakan kisah Li Lan, gadis berusia 17 tahun, yang dilamar sahabat ayahnya untuk menikahi putranya, Lim Tian Ching, yang meninggal sebulan lalu karena sakit. Li Lan diberikan jaminan bahwa semua hutang ayahnya akan dilunasi dan dia akan hidup serba berkecukupan dan mewah meski tiap malam dia akan didatangi hantu suaminya nanti. Li Lan tentu menolak, terlebih ketika perasaannya tertuju kepada sepupu Lim Tian Ching. Tidak kuat terus-menerus dihantui Lim Tian Ching dalam mimpinya, Li Lan mendatangi cenayang untuk mendapatkan ramuan serta mantra penolak arwah. Namun, satu kejadian membuat arwah Li Lan terpisah dari tubuhnya sendiri. Sebelum dia bisa kembali, dia harus mengunjungi Dunia Arwah dan menghadapi hantu Lim Tian Ching yang marah, memecahkan misteri dibalik kematian lelaki itu, juga intrik yang ada dalam keluarga Lim.
Mulanya aku sama sekali nggak berekspektasi tinggi terhadap buku ini, terlebih fantasi bukan tipe genre yang sering cocok denganku. Tapi, rupanya The Ghost Bride ini bukan sekadar fantasi rekaan. Di dalamnya ada unsur fakta sejarah, religi, dan budaya khas Cina-Malaysia yang menjadi dasar worldbuilding-nya, sehingga latarnya terasa nyata. Penulis sendiri merupakan keturunan Cina-Malaysia sehingga mampu mendeskripsikan dan menuliskan representasi budaya yang tepat melalui tokoh-tokoh di dalam buku ini.
Di sepanjang bagian pertama, alur cerita terasa sedikit lambat, tapi masih bisa aku nikmati dengan baik tanpa merasa bosan. Barulah ketika masuk ke bab kedua, saat Li Lan sudah memulai perjalanannya ke dunia para arwah, ketegangan mulai meningkat. Dunia para arwah di sini digambarkan paralel dengan dunia nyata, namun jauh lebih tidak hidup dan mengerikan. Terlebih lagi, nggak ada satu pun orang yang bisa sepenuhnya dipercaya. Ada sedikit nuansa horor yang meski tanpa ada hantu-hantu bermuka mengerikan, tetap saja bikin merinding.
Porsi roman dan aksi di sini seimbang. Aku suka bagaimana penulis membuat karakter Li Lan yang meski kerap ceroboh, tapi masih bisa bersikap rasional dalam mengambil keputusan, terlebih ketika dia dihadapkan dengan dua protagonis laki-laki yang mentereng dengan karismanya sendiri-sendiri. Meski dia sering dibantu salah satu protagonis laki-laki, dia tetap bisa bersikap mandiri dan berani saat ada bahaya datang. Adegan aksinya nggak seheboh cerita kung fu, tapi tetap menegangkan.
Yang membuat aku makin suka dengan buku ini: aku berhasil dapat edisi pertama paperback dengan desain dan bahan kover yang berhasil bikin bukunya kelihatan mewah ditambah deckled edges hanya dengan enam puluh ribu rupiah di Tokped :))
So what are you waiting for? Go read this book.
Mulanya aku sama sekali nggak berekspektasi tinggi terhadap buku ini, terlebih fantasi bukan tipe genre yang sering cocok denganku. Tapi, rupanya The Ghost Bride ini bukan sekadar fantasi rekaan. Di dalamnya ada unsur fakta sejarah, religi, dan budaya khas Cina-Malaysia yang menjadi dasar worldbuilding-nya, sehingga latarnya terasa nyata. Penulis sendiri merupakan keturunan Cina-Malaysia sehingga mampu mendeskripsikan dan menuliskan representasi budaya yang tepat melalui tokoh-tokoh di dalam buku ini.
Di sepanjang bagian pertama, alur cerita terasa sedikit lambat, tapi masih bisa aku nikmati dengan baik tanpa merasa bosan. Barulah ketika masuk ke bab kedua, saat Li Lan sudah memulai perjalanannya ke dunia para arwah, ketegangan mulai meningkat. Dunia para arwah di sini digambarkan paralel dengan dunia nyata, namun jauh lebih tidak hidup dan mengerikan. Terlebih lagi, nggak ada satu pun orang yang bisa sepenuhnya dipercaya. Ada sedikit nuansa horor yang meski tanpa ada hantu-hantu bermuka mengerikan, tetap saja bikin merinding.
Porsi roman dan aksi di sini seimbang. Aku suka bagaimana penulis membuat karakter Li Lan yang meski kerap ceroboh, tapi masih bisa bersikap rasional dalam mengambil keputusan, terlebih ketika dia dihadapkan dengan dua protagonis laki-laki yang mentereng dengan karismanya sendiri-sendiri. Meski dia sering dibantu salah satu protagonis laki-laki, dia tetap bisa bersikap mandiri dan berani saat ada bahaya datang. Adegan aksinya nggak seheboh cerita kung fu, tapi tetap menegangkan.
Yang membuat aku makin suka dengan buku ini: aku berhasil dapat edisi pertama paperback dengan desain dan bahan kover yang berhasil bikin bukunya kelihatan mewah ditambah deckled edges hanya dengan enam puluh ribu rupiah di Tokped :))
So what are you waiting for? Go read this book.
nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5