Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - If I Have to Be Haunted

Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

If I Have to Be Haunted by Miranda Sun

7 reviews

vilelian's review against another edition

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cmckayo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted fast-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

3.75

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Zach and Cara have never gotten along, but they clearly get something out of riling each other up. Cara doesn't like the way Zach gets whatever he wants due to his parents' position and money. Zach must at least somewhat enjoy riling up Cara because he keeps doing it. Cara agrees to help Zach in exchange for money, but as they continue on their journey and keep having to rely on each other, their rivalry and grudging cooperation turns into something more.

Cara is caught in the middle of a rift between her mother and grandmother. Cara's mother denied her own ghost-speaking abilities until she lost them, and her grandmother lingers as a ghost in the house, speaking with Cara but unable to speak to her own daughter. Cara feels stuck between them, unable to please her mother unless she denies her grandmother's continued existence. She's also not as much of a ghost-speaker as her grandmother wants her to be, since she's afraid to disappoint or anger her mother more than she already is. Most of the book takes place during her quest with Zach to stop the venom from killing him for good, which means she has time to grow away from her mother and grandmother, space to feel more like her own person. It's an excellent coming-of-age story.

The worldbuilding is really cool, on their journey to find the antidote the teens pass through several different areas which all have their own atmosphere, wonders, and dangers. Some of the worldbuilding is clearly intended to lay the foundations for later stories, but because Cara is trying to understand her grandmother and her own history, nothing feels like it was only said for the sake of some future story. The details matter here, in this book, and hopefully they'll get to matter again if this ever gets a sequel. This seemed like it was a stand-alone book until the very last chapter, when it sets up a hook for a future story. It pulls on threads laid down throughout the rest of the book but which seemed to be just background details for the main plot. It's a smart narrative choice, since if there's never a sequel then this story still feels very satisfying and complete, but if there is more to come then it's a great teaser for later books to address.

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markedwithanm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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not_asha01's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

4.5

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jessicanb93's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-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

5.0

What a wonderful book! Cara is a highschooler who has a secret- she can see and talk to ghosts. Split between wanting to obey her mom (who wants Cara to deny this side of her and close off her powers) and continue the legacy of her ghost grandmother (who also had these powers and wants Cara to embrace them and help ghosts pass over), Cara is struggling with knowing what to do.

When her classmate that she hates shows up dead and Cara’s the only one that can help him, she’s forced to help the one person she can’t stand. Adventures and a quest type of storyline ensues.

What a book! I had so much fun reading If I Have to Be Haunted and I highly recommend it to people that love fantasy stories set in real life and forced teamwork. This is definitely going to be at least a duology as a lot of questions that come up during the book aren’t answered and I can’t wait to read the next book!

*thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an eARC of this book*

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective fast-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? It's complicated

Disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews because I don’t like leaving them. Most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book.I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all.

Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

premise:

contemporary supernatural fiction / fantasy and coming-of-age story with romance
third-person POV of teenager Cara, who was raised by her single mom, and the ghost of her Laolao (maternal grandmother) who arrived when Cara was younger
She is a ghost speaker, which means she helps ghosts cross over to the other side, and her Laolao had this same gift - she still speaks to her Laolao every day
Cara has been bantering back-and-forth with rich kid, Zach, ever since elementary school, and they are partnered up for a project at school
Cara finds Zach's dead body after school, but once she notices she can touch him, she realizes that he is not fully dead yet; her Laolao helps them figure out how to reconnect him to his body, and find the antidote to the snake that bit him
Cara and Zach's ghost begin a quest to find the antidote, and confront their issues along the way!
cw: estranged mother/daughter relationship, generational struggles, cannibalism,

thoughts:
Cara was a super relatable character for me in her struggle between her mom and her grandma's approval, all while trying to figure out what *she* really wants too. The slow-burn, antagonists-to-lovers romance between her and Zach was fun and full of delightful banter!

This is so specific to me but every Brittany I have ever read in a book has been absolute *garbage* so I was beyond thrilled that the side character, ghost hunter Brittany, is a bad ass and adds a fun dynamic to the group's quest! Charlotte and Felicity were not highlighted as much in the book, but I liked that they were foils to Brittany and Zach. I appreciated that it showed Cara that you could add even more people in your corner! <3

Cemetery Boys meets Legendborn feels like an accurate way to describe it so I think fans who enjoyed those, will absolutely enjoy this! The Chinese American representation and the red string theory was woven in so beautifully to the story. I don't know if this is meant to be a standalone or if it's the first in a series, but either way, I'd absolutely read from Miranda Sun in the future.

quotations that stood out to me:

There was that. Being born on Halloween and cursed with the unwanted ability to see ghosts—she couldn’t find it more ironic.

So many threads of blood in your body, and one of them became a string that connected your heart to the heart yours was meant to be with, the person whose side you’d eventually end up at. The thread could snarl itself in knots, stretch out over chasms and continents, but it wouldn’t break, and one day it would lead you to love, to another hand whose little finger was tied with your string.

Death this loud drew ghosts. The broken glass shattering the air, the keening of sirens, the resounding silence of a stopped heart. The world folding and creating something so terrible nobody could look away, not even the dead.

Xiaogui. A term of endearment used for children, quite literally meaning little ghost.

A bad mother but a good grandmother. A flawed human being but a better ghost.

There were so many things stacked against Cara in this world. Child of an immigrant, daughter of a single mom. People looked at her face and expected someone passive, someone who didn’t know how to speak English or fight back. Her mother was probably right: she didn’t need to add the problems of the dead to her own. Going to a good college wouldn’t merely be an accomplishment anyone would be proud of—it would be a way out. A lit path in the dark woods, leading to a better life than the one her mother had. All her mother wanted was to give it to her. So Cara stayed quiet.

After fighting their entire lives, they knew exactly where each other’s weaknesses were. They pressed their fingers into each other’s wounds to win.

Which would her mother find worse: running off with a ghost or with a boy?

But if love meant controlling every single aspect of the other person, she wanted no part of it.

“Liminality concerns thresholds. Boundaries. It’s where things transition from one state to another. Where things change. You’ve been in liminal spaces before. Haven’t you ever been at school after everyone’s gone home and the halls are quiet and the lights are dim and flickering?”

Cara had been raised to respect her elders, no matter what, but she’d found that sometimes, certain adults simply didn’t deserve her respect. Especially when they tried to eat her.

Her eyes had never been her own. They had belonged to the dead, to those that refused to move on, to the countless times she’d stared at the ground so that ghosts would not find out she could see them. And they belonged to Laolao, to her legacy. You have your grandmother’s eyes.

Something passed between them, a trembling thread of memory they both held the ends to, wrapped around their fingers. Tying them together.

Perhaps the way to begin breaking the chain was to embrace herself for who she was and what she could do. And to stick with the people who helped her do that.

Crown shyness. She’d read about this once upon a time. To only grow so far and no farther. To sense without seeing how close you were to another, close enough to touch, and yet stop.

“You know how people won’t believe something, even if they see it, until they feel it? Like, even though the sign says Wet Paint, at least one person is going to sit down? How people pinch their cheeks in case they’re dreaming? It’s all about what we perceive. What we get back when we check our perceptions against those of other humans.

“America likes to pretend its ghosts don’t exist. That its sins are safely buried in the ground. But pretending something isn’t there doesn’t make it go away. It just makes you less prepared for when the time finally comes to reckon with your own haunting.”

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