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bribwriter's review against another edition
2.0
Wasn't my cup of tea, but I think someone else might enjoy it!
plumdustsuns's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I had typed an entire review but my phone died SMHHH
Anyway. So:
- turned up being a page turner for me
- evocatively beautiful writing and language even with horrific content
- horror wasn’t too distasteful or so which is good for a coward like me
Plot wise:
- by the 200/250 page mark, the plot/incidents began to feel a bit repetitive. Jade goes to sleep, bad dreams, Jade wakes up, fights with dad. I remember I was sHOOK when her dad was digging out the skulls. I wish we had more of that/his hauntings and her seeing him do insane shit instead of just fixing the house and being a stubborn asshat
- lily’s sleepwalking and everything being utilized more would have been cool as well. Using them to go somewhere clue wise and story wise and her being a bit more conflicted about the haunting as she too was being seeped into would have made the stakes feel a lot higher
- I like Jade and Florence but I wish their adventures added more to the story/tightened the plot. Cam being jealous of Florence? Where’s more of that? Why only at the last moment? That would have been so fun and interesting. And seeing Cam’s queerness too in the flashbacks like come onnnn please would have added more to the bad marriage. Maybe her parents discovered her queerness and married her off which is why they don’t talk to her anymore. It could have paralleled Jade’s own fears about coming out and fleshed out their connection, made it more believable and even something to root for in ways
Yeah. There was a lot of interesting content but they all meandered a lot and/or weren’t used to their full potential. Alma being there by the end was blah, we already had a colonizer presence with Marion. Halle didn’t feel too much of a great addition either as we never quite see her or have her back in again.
I wish ‘what did she show you’ to Ba came way before and he showed Jade and we got more of his motivations and it added to his complexities and just the immigrant symbolisms the book was going for. He had so much potential than being just the ‘we’re never leaving’ bad guy and would have brought a lot of cultural weight and justified Jade’s empathy and forgiveness almost of his actions even more. ‘He never spoke about his family before’ WHAT IF HE DID NOW. I like that this was all triggered by his loss of his mother/homeland. We could have went into it more. Him and Jade and Lily could have all had shared psychosis/dreams from the insane food. Sigh. So much lost potential. And if the mom did come in earlier and hadn’t been allowed to leave for a bit? And the escape felt more necessary as pressing as it was all very ‘yeah alright she’s gonna burn down the house now’ without it feeling very consequential to me.
I thought this was a solid almost 3 star read but the more I wrote this review and realized how much more could have been done, the madder I got and realized this was a 2 star read for me at best. But I did enjoy it in ways still.
Anyway. So:
- turned up being a page turner for me
- evocatively beautiful writing and language even with horrific content
- horror wasn’t too distasteful or so which is good for a coward like me
Plot wise:
- by the 200/250 page mark, the plot/incidents began to feel a bit repetitive. Jade goes to sleep, bad dreams, Jade wakes up, fights with dad. I remember I was sHOOK when her dad was digging out the skulls. I wish we had more of that/his hauntings and her seeing him do insane shit instead of just fixing the house and being a stubborn asshat
- lily’s sleepwalking and everything being utilized more would have been cool as well. Using them to go somewhere clue wise and story wise and her being a bit more conflicted about the haunting as she too was being seeped into would have made the stakes feel a lot higher
- I like Jade and Florence but I wish their adventures added more to the story/tightened the plot. Cam being jealous of Florence? Where’s more of that? Why only at the last moment? That would have been so fun and interesting. And seeing Cam’s queerness too in the flashbacks like come onnnn please would have added more to the bad marriage. Maybe her parents discovered her queerness and married her off which is why they don’t talk to her anymore. It could have paralleled Jade’s own fears about coming out and fleshed out their connection, made it more believable and even something to root for in ways
Yeah. There was a lot of interesting content but they all meandered a lot and/or weren’t used to their full potential. Alma being there by the end was blah, we already had a colonizer presence with Marion. Halle didn’t feel too much of a great addition either as we never quite see her or have her back in again.
I wish ‘what did she show you’ to Ba came way before and he showed Jade and we got more of his motivations and it added to his complexities and just the immigrant symbolisms the book was going for. He had so much potential than being just the ‘we’re never leaving’ bad guy and would have brought a lot of cultural weight and justified Jade’s empathy and forgiveness almost of his actions even more. ‘He never spoke about his family before’ WHAT IF HE DID NOW. I like that this was all triggered by his loss of his mother/homeland. We could have went into it more. Him and Jade and Lily could have all had shared psychosis/dreams from the insane food. Sigh. So much lost potential. And if the mom did come in earlier and hadn’t been allowed to leave for a bit? And the escape felt more necessary as pressing as it was all very ‘yeah alright she’s gonna burn down the house now’ without it feeling very consequential to me.
I thought this was a solid almost 3 star read but the more I wrote this review and realized how much more could have been done, the madder I got and realized this was a 2 star read for me at best. But I did enjoy it in ways still.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Body horror, Gore, Gaslighting, Murder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Confinement, Racism, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery
cj_parsley's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
nyx0s's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.75
fmmiller88's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
4.0
"I'm a tourist in a country where my parents were born."
This is the theme throughout the story. Not being Vietnamese enough and not fitting in. Even though this is a haunting story, the truly haunting thing is us having to carry the burden of our ancestors. This story draws on the history of Vietnam and the colonization by the French. The house is demanding and hungry but Jade has to fight to regain her freedom under French influence.
The part of the story that got me the most was "So many would hang them in exhibitions detailing the history on how colonialism ruined lives, without ever naming those lives. My great-grandmother, too young and full of wide-eyed wonder to understand the dangers in her life. My grandmother, chasing American soldiers for candy while napalm dropped in a neighboring province." This struck home because my family comes from Vietnam. I felt the pain she was feeling about not fitting in and bearing the burdens of her families history. I really enjoyed this book. While there were moments that felt repetitive. It also felt like a teenager trying to find purpose. It also could have had more of the fake haunting stuff in it because that was interesting. This book left me thinking all night about it because it wasn't just a ghost story it was a haunting of a whole people.
This is the theme throughout the story. Not being Vietnamese enough and not fitting in. Even though this is a haunting story, the truly haunting thing is us having to carry the burden of our ancestors. This story draws on the history of Vietnam and the colonization by the French. The house is demanding and hungry but Jade has to fight to regain her freedom under French influence.
The part of the story that got me the most was "So many would hang them in exhibitions detailing the history on how colonialism ruined lives, without ever naming those lives. My great-grandmother, too young and full of wide-eyed wonder to understand the dangers in her life. My grandmother, chasing American soldiers for candy while napalm dropped in a neighboring province." This struck home because my family comes from Vietnam. I felt the pain she was feeling about not fitting in and bearing the burdens of her families history. I really enjoyed this book. While there were moments that felt repetitive. It also felt like a teenager trying to find purpose. It also could have had more of the fake haunting stuff in it because that was interesting. This book left me thinking all night about it because it wasn't just a ghost story it was a haunting of a whole people.
mandathebiblio's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for me and I think a lot of that was because of the narrator. I just didn't really enjoy the narration and that took away from the story for me a bit. I really wanted to enjoy this and I think that I could have with the right narration. It also could have been just when I was listening to it, but honestly I just didn't connect with the story in a way that made me care about what was happening. It didn't give me those haunting vibes that I really wanted. I would be willing to give this author another try, though. I didn't HATE the book, I just didn't really enjoy my time reading it.
stilesstilinksi's review against another edition
dark
slow-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
3.5
jaselynn_23's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
3.75
matasatan's review against another edition
More of a no than a yes. Sometimes good, but mostly snooziesta. A whiny teenager. Oh gosh!
ladyinverse's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
what a fucking great horror novel. it thoroughly creeped and icked me out. I loved it.