A review by celinewyp
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

adventurous 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

4.75

I received a copy of this book from Pansing Distribution in exchange for an honest review

Jessamyn Teoh is in trouble. Newly arrived in Malaysia after living most of her life in America, she's broke, jobless, and being actively haunted by the ghost of her grandmother. Now, she has to deal with moving to another continent, get her life on track, and make sure her grandmother doesn't take her body on a joyride in an effort to appease an angered local deity.

This book was written by our very own Malaysian, Zen Cho, and is set in Penang. When we read, we always want to relate to the characters portrayed on the page. Before reading this book, I certainly felt disconnected from some of the characters and worlds I've read before. With this, there's a unique sense of coming home. It's breathtaking to be able to see all the nuances we take for granted in daily life come alive in prose form. For that, I will forever be grateful to Zen Cho.

Not only is this book very relatable to me because of its setting but because of Jess herself. Depressed, in the closet, looking for a job... the only thing I don't have in common with her is the whole haunted by Ah Ma thing. But it still might happen, who knows? The relationships highlighted, especially how a Chinese family functions, are spot-on. Zen Cho managed to encapsulate all our local biases and quirks, our melting pot of culture and Manglish, seamlessly into this book.

The book covers a lot of themes, from the contradictions that arise when East meets West, the gentrification of Penang, the exploitation of foreign labour. It packs a punch while telling a tense and well-plotted story. The thing about Zen Cho is how you can never tell how things will escalate and the stakes will be raised higher and higher. What you can tell from the back of the book occurs in the first half of the book, perhaps. The rest of it shows you how life and circumstances can quickly go out of control. At which point, it's up to the characters to decide how to move forward even in times of turmoil.

With how many local deities and beliefs we have, I believe this book will be one of many tapping into our culture for stories. In fact, I have a friend already writing one. Black Water Sister weaves a stunning tale by tweaking what we already have and creating something believable and instantly immersive. Her take blurs the line between reality and fantasy amazingly well.

All in all, I cannot wait to read more from Zen Cho. Hopefully, there will be more of this style, because I will be sure to eat them up. You know one, right? We Malaysians all love to eat. 
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