A review by tangiblereads
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

dark funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Black Water Sister made me appreciate my grandmother because they all pass on.  That said, this ghost grandmother was a riot and my favorite thing about the book was the banter between Jess and Ah Ma.  Her motivation was wild too.  While the plot in this book was good, and a bit complicated, I think the synopsis on the back of the book is a tag misleading about the serious themes.  You have domestic violence, spirituality, religion, family expectations and drama, queerness, and sexual assault.  Also there is a lot of incorporation of Chinese and other languages words that I couldn't always figure from the context.  It slowed down my reading, but I appreciated the incorporation.  Also the broken English as well.  Very authentic for what is was.  This book is a rich incorporation of Chinese and Malaysia culture and I appreciated that. The ending seemed rushed, like a big buildup of action, then a summarization.  I didn't like that.  Overall, I did enjoy this book, just not as much as I expected to.