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raquelrodrigues091's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
cereads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Homophobia, Rape, and Murder
lilly_anne's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Racism and Rape
tamara_joy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Murder, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
charnyreads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
laurareads87's review against another edition
- 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
Black Water Sister follows Jess, a young Malaysian-American woman who has just moved back to Malaysia with her parents. Just when she's got enough mundane issues to worry about -- not being out to her parents, a long-distance relationship, the challenges of finding a good job post-graduation, the pressures exerted by her extended family -- the voice of her recently deceased grandmother turns up in her head and before long, Jess is (in the author's words) "[fighting] gods, ghosts, gangsters, and grandmas in 21st century Penang." I appreciate so much about this book -- the rich descriptions of the setting, the comedic elements interspersed with more serious themes, and the development of Jess' character. There is a strong feminist element to Black Water Sister -- it centers multiple generations of women, and addresses trauma, violence, loss, and family tensions and divisions with nuance. This is the second of Zen Cho's books I've read, and my favourite thusfar.
<i>Content warnings:</i> sexual assault, sexual violence, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, racism, xenophobia, violence, murder, domestic violence, gore, grief, medical content
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Gore, Medical content, and Grief
melcanread's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
readingelli's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Cancer and Death
Minor: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse
ellipalmer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The plot felt a little weirdly paced and I wanted more of some things and there were other elements that felt almost like red herrings. But it was overall enjoyable!
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Murder
legxleg's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Murder