Reviews tagging 'Death'

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

65 reviews

tamara_joy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Murder, Death, Rape, and Domestic abuse

charnyreads's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Blood, Cancer, Death, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Murder, Outing, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

readingelli's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death and Cancer

Minor: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

samants's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.0

Bumped up from 3.75 stars due to just how relatable this was. The relatable/personal aspects of this book were by far the most compelling parts. It's wild to feel so understood from a book.

On the other hand, though the overall plot was good, and I saw how the narrative arc led to the conclusion the book had (for example,

I thought her not ending up friends with Sherng made sense

), at times I felt like I had missed something or skipped a step -- I just got lost sometimes with what was happening.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Sexual violence, and Death

Moderate: Homophobia and Domestic abuse

charlieeee's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Sexual assault

Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Cancer

small_giant_plans's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, and Death

_forestofpages's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

I immediately found myself relating to Jessamyn; she uses humor as a defense, hides her true emotions and compartmentalizes. She seems to be depressed and anxious as well, not to mention in the closet and surrounded by judgmental and religious people who would not approve of who she is because she's gay. I loved her character development, which I won't spoil, but it's gradual and realistic and I truly appreciated how much time the author took with developing her.

I absolutely loved her family. Some of them weren't so great (though I related to that too), but her parents are amazing. It's refreshing seeing a teenager in a book with decent parents for once. Her Ah Ma reminded me so much of my own grandmother, and she was truly a complex character. 

There is a crime and mystery element to this along with the supernatural/mythology aspects all through the lens of interesting and vivid Malaysian culture. The blend of the modern and ancient was something I haven't read in some time and this book reminded me how much I missed it. This was also a great representation of a closeted character with a traditional family dating long-distance an "out" person. The relationship, though not a main focus, was still handled very well and realistically. I appreciated that it wasn't all the character thought about, but was still a big part of her life.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys magical realism, mythology and well done LGBT rep, with a side of dysfunctional but well intentioned family drama. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Death

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Racism, Classism, Gun violence, and Domestic abuse

liliakwolf's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative 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

3.25

I think that Black Water Sister was very well written and I found the plot interesting. I loved the way that Malaysian culture was told in this book and felt that I learned a lot as someone who has very little experience with Malaysian culture, and all of the other cultures inside of it. I thought that this book also addressed generational curses and trauma very well and it felt very realistic, though it is a light-fantasy book. I would have given this book a higher rating, as I felt it hit all things well logically, it's just that for the majority of the book I wasn't super invested in the plot. That isn't to say that I didn't connect with the characters, I just wasn't super intrigued to find out what happened next, so it fell a bit flat there for me. I think that someone else could definitely find it more interesting in that regard though! There is a bit of heavy stuff in this book, so I recommend looking at the trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Rape

Moderate: Violence, Cancer, Xenophobia, Death, and Death of parent

malimaan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

This book was such a beautiful read.

The way it touched upon generational trauma and abuse and your relationship with your family. The ghosts and possession were a great medium to tell this story through and I loved reading about a culture that isn't as represented in modern media. 

It was amazing to read about how Jess finds her voice after years of trying to be perfect. The book explores her queer identity and her diasporan identity in such a great way.

The only thing I felt was a bit of a drawback, was that Jess' parents felt a bit flat, especially because they play a big part in her identity. They just felt like they were lacking something.

I really recommend reading this book! And I can't wait to read more by this author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Racism, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcoholism

simon_toast's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Cancer, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Drug use and Torture