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alassel 's review for:
The Ghost Bride
by Yangsze Choo
I got this book on a sale for Kindle after seeing some good reviews for it online, and I was not disappointed. I found the book to be fascinating in setting, well written, and to have a protagonist that grew and changed throughout the course of the novel. Li Lan is a genteel young Chinese lady whose father has allowed his fortunes to slip as his opium dependence grows, leaving the family on hard times and leaving few prospects for her future. Another local family offers for Li Lan to be the bride in a ghost marriage to their recently deceased son, a situation that Li Lan is less than thrilled about. The novel follows her as she tries to get out of the situation, falls in love with the ghost groom's cousin, and goes on a mysterious journey through the Plains of the Dead.
I greatly enjoyed the fact that Li Lan starts off as a generic genteel young lady, and slowly begins to take charge of her own life and determine what she wants and how she can get it throughout the course of the novel. Her time on the Plains of the Dead really solidifies that course of action, and her decisions once she returns to Malacca show how she's grown and changed, right up to the last page when she makes her final decision of who to marry. I like that this young woman had agency over her own life, even when it looked like that agency would end badly for her, and this is a worthy novel for that alone. The characters are all well drawn as well and vary greatly, with detail given to even single-scene characters that make them fully-formed and interesting. The detailed descriptions of funeral offerings and how those translate into items for the dead were interesting, imaginative, and fascinating, and gave me a glimpse into a culture that I know very little about.
My one complaint is that it's never really explained why Li Lan's ghost groom wants her so badly, other than the glossed-over comment that she was originally betrothed to his cousin. That's the only weakness in the novel that I see, especially as it's the groom's pursuit of Li Lan that really causes everything to unravel for him. He certainly had enough nasty personality traits that this is really a minor quibble, however, so it did not affect my rating.
Great book - definitely pick this up if you're looking for something a little different this summer.
I greatly enjoyed the fact that Li Lan starts off as a generic genteel young lady, and slowly begins to take charge of her own life and determine what she wants and how she can get it throughout the course of the novel. Her time on the Plains of the Dead really solidifies that course of action, and her decisions once she returns to Malacca show how she's grown and changed, right up to the last page when she makes her final decision of who to marry. I like that this young woman had agency over her own life, even when it looked like that agency would end badly for her, and this is a worthy novel for that alone. The characters are all well drawn as well and vary greatly, with detail given to even single-scene characters that make them fully-formed and interesting. The detailed descriptions of funeral offerings and how those translate into items for the dead were interesting, imaginative, and fascinating, and gave me a glimpse into a culture that I know very little about.
My one complaint is that it's never really explained why Li Lan's ghost groom wants her so badly, other than the glossed-over comment that she was originally betrothed to his cousin. That's the only weakness in the novel that I see, especially as it's the groom's pursuit of Li Lan that really causes everything to unravel for him. He certainly had enough nasty personality traits that this is really a minor quibble, however, so it did not affect my rating.
Great book - definitely pick this up if you're looking for something a little different this summer.