Scan barcode
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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? Yes
4.0
Jess has returned to Malaysia, adjusting to life with her extended family rather than only having her parents around. She frequently doesn't know what the social expectations are, and feels overwhelmed by the weight of all the unsaid things she "should" have just grown up knowing if she and her parents had never left for America when she was a child. When she starts dealing with spirits and gods after Ah Ma possesses her, she's even more out of her depth. The worldbuilding and characterization blend together, as most of what Jess is learning deals with a person or being and how to act around them. The first half was fine, but the second half is where this really shines. In the first part Jess gets a basic idea of what's going on, but then things start to go very badly and she has to adapt quickly with incomplete information. One of my favorite things is how Ah Ma's motivations seem simple but strange early one, then turn into this complex tangle, only to be completely understandable by the end as Jess uncovers long-buried or never acknowledged secrets in her quest to get her life back to normal and the god out of her life.
Jess is gay, with a (newly) long-distance girlfriend. Their relationship gets strained by the distance, suddenly reduced contact, and Jess's decision to not tell her any of the very weird things that have started happening to her. When she first heard Ah Ma she thought she was going crazy. Once it became clear that the voice was an actual ghost trying to get her to do something to help a god, Jess felt like she was too far in to start saying something now. An additional issue is that her girlfriend is out as gay but Jess isn't out to anyone who might get the information to her family. Now that she's surrounded by her family and her head is filled with Ah Ma, the slices of the day where Jess feels safe to be herself are getting smaller and smaller. It's a very relatable portrayal of a fracturing relationship, frequently on Jess's mind but not taking over the narrative.
The audiobook performer is excellent. I love the ending, it gets things to a new status quo without attempting to fix absolutely everything that's wrong, keeping some of the messiness of life.
Jess is gay, with a (newly) long-distance girlfriend. Their relationship gets strained by the distance, suddenly reduced contact, and Jess's decision to not tell her any of the very weird things that have started happening to her. When she first heard Ah Ma she thought she was going crazy. Once it became clear that the voice was an actual ghost trying to get her to do something to help a god, Jess felt like she was too far in to start saying something now. An additional issue is that her girlfriend is out as gay but Jess isn't out to anyone who might get the information to her family. Now that she's surrounded by her family and her head is filled with Ah Ma, the slices of the day where Jess feels safe to be herself are getting smaller and smaller. It's a very relatable portrayal of a fracturing relationship, frequently on Jess's mind but not taking over the narrative.
The audiobook performer is excellent. I love the ending, it gets things to a new status quo without attempting to fix absolutely everything that's wrong, keeping some of the messiness of life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, and Blood
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Vomit, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Homophobia
Minor: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Cancer, Ableism, Medical content, and Death of parent
sulinde's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia and Xenophobia
Minor: Cancer, Cannibalism, and Deportation
bookhoarderbea's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Police brutality
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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? Yes
3.5
I love how spooky and dark this was! I recommend it for spooky season this year for sure!
Jess is a compelling protagonist. Imperfect, determined, brave.
This Malaysian dark fantasy novel has deep roots in history, folklore, spirituality, and queer experiences.
Ah Ma and Jess' unconventional, claustrophobic, dynamic relationship was my favourite aspect of this. She is haunted and possessed by her funny, wise, cutthroat grandmother and they use this time to bond, learn, grow. Unwind the cycle of grief, pain, and trauma.
Jess is a compelling protagonist. Imperfect, determined, brave.
This Malaysian dark fantasy novel has deep roots in history, folklore, spirituality, and queer experiences.
Ah Ma and Jess' unconventional, claustrophobic, dynamic relationship was my favourite aspect of this. She is haunted and possessed by her funny, wise, cutthroat grandmother and they use this time to bond, learn, grow. Unwind the cycle of grief, pain, and trauma.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Outing, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Self harm and Cancer
Minor: Alcohol
thetainaship's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, and Outing
Moderate: Cancer, Racism, and Abandonment
Minor: Car accident
raquelrodrigues091's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The story is good but theres something missing from it i can't really explain it, personally i didnt really like tye writing style cuz it made the story confusing sometimes. Overall i would recommend to someone who is into ghosts and mythology and all that
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Murder, and Kidnapping
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Grief, Blood, Cancer, Death, Rape, Racism, Pregnancy, Murder, Outing, Medical content, Lesbophobia, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
written_word_warrior's review against another edition
dark
funny
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Violence, and Kidnapping
melcanread's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
It's so difficult to find original stories nowadays, because everything has already been written. But this book was definitely a breath of fresh air bringing in a brand new storyline I had never even considered before. It is a beautiful blend of traditional and modern, as well as shining a light on Malaysian culture and religions.
I liked that it was normalising LGBT+ relationships while also highlighting the struggles of being in one, while also not making it the main focus and the entire character's personality. There were layers to each of the characters that made them real. Believable. We all know people like this. People who are heavily superstitious, religious to a fault, people who don't rock the boat for fear of ruining current relationships.
I liked that there was no specific bad guy per se, no Disney villain to be defeated, because there was humanity in pretty much every single character. You could understand where most of these characters were coming from, why they made the decisions they made. Even if those decisions were somewhat unrealistic for every day life. Although, this does come from a white woman who did not grow up in Malaysia, so maybe some of their actions are normal and I don't know enough about the culture.
I think my main gripe that I had with this book, and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because at times the writing was unclear. Because this story relied on multiple backstories, it was easy to get lost in who's backstory was whose. And there was no clear divide as to what was happening in the main story vs what was extra information or hallucinations caused by... well, whatever it was caused by (trying not to give spoilers).
Another issue that I had was that, yes, while the characters were wonderfully written and somewhat realistic, it felt like some of the characters were forced to do what they did, if that makes sense. It didn't feel like an obvious choice to be made, or even a natural one. It felt like Zen Cho had taken these characters flaws, put them on steroids and charged forward which did kind of flatten them a bit and take me out of the moment.
However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a beautiful story, and very gripping. I absolutely recommend it to anyone who is interested in traditional Asian cultures and paranormal stuffs intertwined with religions.
I liked that it was normalising LGBT+ relationships while also highlighting the struggles of being in one, while also not making it the main focus and the entire character's personality. There were layers to each of the characters that made them real. Believable. We all know people like this. People who are heavily superstitious, religious to a fault, people who don't rock the boat for fear of ruining current relationships.
I liked that there was no specific bad guy per se, no Disney villain to be defeated, because there was humanity in pretty much every single character. You could understand where most of these characters were coming from, why they made the decisions they made. Even if those decisions were somewhat unrealistic for every day life. Although, this does come from a white woman who did not grow up in Malaysia, so maybe some of their actions are normal and I don't know enough about the culture.
I think my main gripe that I had with this book, and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because at times the writing was unclear. Because this story relied on multiple backstories, it was easy to get lost in who's backstory was whose. And there was no clear divide as to what was happening in the main story vs what was extra information or hallucinations caused by... well, whatever it was caused by (trying not to give spoilers).
Another issue that I had was that, yes, while the characters were wonderfully written and somewhat realistic, it felt like some of the characters were forced to do what they did, if that makes sense. It didn't feel like an obvious choice to be made, or even a natural one. It felt like Zen Cho had taken these characters flaws, put them on steroids and charged forward which did kind of flatten them a bit and take me out of the moment.
However, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a beautiful story, and very gripping. I absolutely recommend it to anyone who is interested in traditional Asian cultures and paranormal stuffs intertwined with religions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Blood, and Homophobia
natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Homophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood