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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
dark
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
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
Reminded me of Sabrina the Teenage witch in a very good way. Jess's discovery that she is a medium (or could be) and gods and spirits are real leads to an unraveling network of family secrets.
Gosh I think Zen Cho just gets better and better
Here's the tagline for you: "A stressed lesbian medium fights gods, ghosts, gangsters, and grandmas in 21st century Penang"
I think her writing is funny, so personable and compelling, this story in particular has a huge family (and what a complicated and yet warm and loving web of relationships are present in this story!), a story of the immigrant experience(s), humor, action, adventure, gods, revenge, etc. Truly just let it sweep me off my feet.
Here's the tagline for you: "A stressed lesbian medium fights gods, ghosts, gangsters, and grandmas in 21st century Penang"
I think her writing is funny, so personable and compelling, this story in particular has a huge family (and what a complicated and yet warm and loving web of relationships are present in this story!), a story of the immigrant experience(s), humor, action, adventure, gods, revenge, etc. Truly just let it sweep me off my feet.
4.25*
“You can bargain with anybody, spirit or human. All you need to know is what do they want and what are they scared of. That's all.”
Jessamyn Teoh is finding her ‘return’ to Malaysia a cultural shock, especially since she was brought up in the U.S., and she hasn’t found the courage yet to come out to her parents. If this wasn’t enough, her dead grandmother is haunting her and forcing her to meddle with gods’ affairs...
Didn’t know much about this fantasy set in Malaysia and that made it the more enjoyable. Zen Cho creates an intriguing story, one that you’re not entirely sure where it is leading you. All of it however was fascinating, and even a couple of times seriously creepy (to me).
“You can bargain with anybody, spirit or human. All you need to know is what do they want and what are they scared of. That's all.”
Jessamyn Teoh is finding her ‘return’ to Malaysia a cultural shock, especially since she was brought up in the U.S., and she hasn’t found the courage yet to come out to her parents. If this wasn’t enough, her dead grandmother is haunting her and forcing her to meddle with gods’ affairs...
Didn’t know much about this fantasy set in Malaysia and that made it the more enjoyable. Zen Cho creates an intriguing story, one that you’re not entirely sure where it is leading you. All of it however was fascinating, and even a couple of times seriously creepy (to me).
Simplified summary:
Jess is haunted by her grandmother.
Opening lines:
The first thing the ghost said to Jess was: Does your mother know you're a pengkid?
Review:
This book is so messy!! Everyone's lying, characters are making dumb decisions, no one knows what's going on - kids, adults, ghosts, gods, it doesn't matter, they're all figuring things out. But it is all consistent and makes sense for each character! I think that's what makes this book so captivating. So often in literature and especially in fantasy, there are very clear right and wrong things, there's almost always a black and white. This whole book was gray.
Also, the way the author handled the perspective of an immigrant and showed the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic population of a country that's not the states was one of my favorite ways anyone has done it.
Jess is haunted by her grandmother.
Opening lines:
The first thing the ghost said to Jess was: Does your mother know you're a pengkid?
Review:
This book is so messy!! Everyone's lying, characters are making dumb decisions, no one knows what's going on - kids, adults, ghosts, gods, it doesn't matter, they're all figuring things out. But it is all consistent and makes sense for each character! I think that's what makes this book so captivating. So often in literature and especially in fantasy, there are very clear right and wrong things, there's almost always a black and white. This whole book was gray.
Also, the way the author handled the perspective of an immigrant and showed the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic population of a country that's not the states was one of my favorite ways anyone has done it.
4.5 stars, actually.
Several fairly cool things in this book in terms of low-occurrence Urban Fantasy tropes in USA literature: a Malay protagonist, a Penang location, a gay protagonist, lack of romance as a major subplot or theme, explicit reference to ingrained sexism in god/myths/folklore, and a majority of dialogue transcribed in
In this stand-alone feeling story, Jess has just moved to Penang with her parents to live with an Aunt and Uncle after her father's serious illness results in financial difficulties.
Her grandmother, Ah Ma, is waiting for her there with a bunch of unfinished family business and secrets, as a ghost.
Also waiting: a god with a tragic past connected to her family involved in a dispute over a shrine with a big-time rich Penang developer with mobster ties. Jess has to lie to her parents and extended family about her faraway girlfriend, the presence of Ah Ma, and her lack of career goals. She also must navigate the multicultural and multi-lingual world of Penang, and the book does the reader the courtesy of using Malay exclamations and food names without glossing it overly much. I didn't find it distracting or incomprehensible.
What I did find distracting, was the overwhelming use of non-British/non-American English grammar structures and phrases. For the first third of the book, I appreciated the "flavor" of those phrases, but after a while, they began to feel awkward and clunky, and for me, made the story more ambiguous and fuzzy, as I often had to go back and reread to figure out what the characters were saying.
On the one hand, it felt authentic. On the other hand, after a while I cared more about the secrets Jess was feeling and just wanted to experience that with her rather than have to "translate' what was being said. After a while, the characters really blurred together for me, partially as a result of their dialogue being similarly fuzzy.
You have to dial up your ambiguity tolerance for this one. But it's worth it. I particularly appreciated the novelty of an urban fantasy where romance is not the main dealio, and also, how unearthing the Black Water Sister's death story contrasted with the stories of the male gods and the way Jess did not shy away from those complicated stories.
Several fairly cool things in this book in terms of low-occurrence Urban Fantasy tropes in USA literature: a Malay protagonist, a Penang location, a gay protagonist, lack of romance as a major subplot or theme, explicit reference to ingrained sexism in god/myths/folklore, and a majority of dialogue transcribed in
In this stand-alone feeling story, Jess has just moved to Penang with her parents to live with an Aunt and Uncle after her father's serious illness results in financial difficulties.
Her grandmother, Ah Ma, is waiting for her there with a bunch of unfinished family business and secrets, as a ghost.
Also waiting: a god with a tragic past connected to her family involved in a dispute over a shrine with a big-time rich Penang developer with mobster ties. Jess has to lie to her parents and extended family about her faraway girlfriend, the presence of Ah Ma, and her lack of career goals. She also must navigate the multicultural and multi-lingual world of Penang, and the book does the reader the courtesy of using Malay exclamations and food names without glossing it overly much. I didn't find it distracting or incomprehensible.
What I did find distracting, was the overwhelming use of non-British/non-American English grammar structures and phrases. For the first third of the book, I appreciated the "flavor" of those phrases, but after a while, they began to feel awkward and clunky, and for me, made the story more ambiguous and fuzzy, as I often had to go back and reread to figure out what the characters were saying.
On the one hand, it felt authentic. On the other hand, after a while I cared more about the secrets Jess was feeling and just wanted to experience that with her rather than have to "translate' what was being said. After a while, the characters really blurred together for me, partially as a result of their dialogue being similarly fuzzy.
You have to dial up your ambiguity tolerance for this one. But it's worth it. I particularly appreciated the novelty of an urban fantasy where romance is not the main dealio, and also, how unearthing the Black Water Sister's death story contrasted with the stories of the male gods and the way Jess did not shy away from those complicated stories.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book would have been good if the plot wasnt such a mess. Its a bit difficult to explain why its that way, but let me try. There's no main plot, just several side quests. And actually theres so many of them, this book has to many things going on. Im guessing the main plot is the conflict with the Black Water Sister, but that doesnt show up at least halfway throught the book, and before that we get so many things. The mc main goal changes like four times
As far as side plots we have the mc's family problems, saving the temple, the mc fighting two separate gangs, this one corrupt company, whatever is going on with the rich son, job hunting, girlfriend problems, the mc wanting to come out, the secret with the uncle, and theres probably more that Im forgetting. Does this connect with the main plot? Somewhat.
As far as side plots we have the mc's family problems, saving the temple, the mc fighting two separate gangs, this one corrupt company, whatever is going on with the rich son, job hunting, girlfriend problems, the mc wanting to come out, the secret with the uncle, and theres probably more that Im forgetting. Does this connect with the main plot? Somewhat.