angcar 's review for:

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
2.5
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Cool premise, very slow execution. How can a story with mafia, ghosts, and gods be such a slog?

This is marketed as adult, but I think it's more of an older YA book. It is a sort of coming-of-age story for Jess. I found (maybe because YA isn't my taste) I was less interested in Jess and more interested in Ah Ma and the Black Water Sister.

I also thought it was a little lame that we solved the "Jess is the Black Water Sister's Medium now" plotline with....having the vengeful spirit-god overcome her trauma and move on?? In like 20 pages?? Certainly fixed the "Jess can't leave Penang to be gay with her gay girlfriend" problem. It felt too rushed and easy.


There's also an attempted SA toward the end of the book that was very jarring and unnecessary. I did not appreciate reading that.