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horizonous's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Murder, Outing, Racism, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Cancer and Domestic abuse
▫ Outing = as a threat▫ Sexual violence = Attempted rape
leedolee's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
3.0
The premise of this book certainly intrigued me.
The book was slow paced at the beginning but quickly picked up as the story began to unravel in various directions. It was rather hard to understand the further I progressed but the concept of the ghosts and gods kept me interested.
Sadly, I did not thoroughly enjoy the book this book as much as I thought it would. Regardless, I enjoyed learning about the various spirits within the pages.
The book was slow paced at the beginning but quickly picked up as the story began to unravel in various directions. It was rather hard to understand the further I progressed but the concept of the ghosts and gods kept me interested.
Sadly, I did not thoroughly enjoy the book this book as much as I thought it would. Regardless, I enjoyed learning about the various spirits within the pages.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Racism, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, and Homophobia
Minor: Blood and Violence
hanz'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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Cancer
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
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
4.25
I enjoyed this book a lot! I loved Jess as a main character and seeing everything she goes through with ghosts, her family, moving, and what turns into a very complicated story. I thought this was really good and I enjoyed the read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping
amandaquotidianbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.75
This was grittier than I had expected, but it really came together at the end. I’d like to reread it knowing what a main theme now is.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Kidnapping, Violence, and Murder
caidyn's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.0
When I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. It was enjoyable and I can definitely see myself owning this in the future so I can revisit this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Kidnapping, Outing, Sexual assault, and Violence
foreverinastory's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Rep: Malaysian-American lesbian female MC, sapphic Indian female love interest, Malaysian supporting cast.
Content Warnings: Violence, spiritual possession, side character with cancer and depression, homophobia, murder, attempted rape, flashbacks of sexual assault, blood, kidnapping, death.
Content Warnings: Violence, spiritual possession, side character with cancer and depression, homophobia, murder, attempted rape, flashbacks of sexual assault, blood, kidnapping, death.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Homophobia, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer and Sexual assault
rorikae's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
‘Black Water Sister’ by Zen Cho is an engaging fantasy that dabbles in family history, identity, and the traumas that we hold with us.
It follows Jess, who is returning to Malaysia with her family after graduating from college. Shortly after moving, she begins to hear a voice in her head and realizes that it is the ghost of her grandmother. Her grandmother died last year but has unfinished business that she wants Jess to take care of. As Jess gets swept up into her grandmother’s world, she’ll learn more about her past and the local gods than she expected.
In ‘Black Water Sister,’ Cho does an excellent job of creating a close-knit fantasy that delves into gods and spirits while also staying firmly rooted in family. The cast of characters is relatively small, but the world feels vast as Jess learns more about Malaysia and her grandmother’s past. Alongside the more spiritual issues that Jess is dealing with, she is also dealing with a lot of personal issues as well, hiding her girlfriend from her family and trying to decide what to do with her life are both at the top of that list. Cho carefully unwraps Jess’ fears as she is also sucked into the true story of her grandmother’s past and the world that her mother has tried to keep her from. This story is full of so much familial trauma but also love and care. It isn’t an expansive fantasy, but I think that is also what makes it so impactful. I came to care deeply for each of the characters, even those that I didn’t necessarily like. I would love to follow more of Jess’ life and know what happens as she grows up further and figures out exactly who she wants to be. This is another great fantasy by Zen Cho. I am always looking forward to what she writes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cancer and Car accident
joceraptor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and Grief
fleece's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
incredible as always from zen cho, queer and family-guilt jobless chinese diaspora milennial relatability lmao. definitely darker/heavier than her other works tho still funny and w very loving and caring characters, like clearly everyone is human and understandable and you wish you could solve their problems
may add more spoilery content warnings later,iif storygraph has dms feel free to do so if you need more details
may add more spoilery content warnings later,iif storygraph has dms feel free to do so if you need more details
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Xenophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Homophobia
Minor: Blood and Gore