A review by inkdrunkmoth
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 

I was lucky enough to get an eARC for Black Water Sister. And it’s safe to say it’s now a new favorite of mine. 

We follow Jess as her and her parents move back to Malaysia. What she didn’t expect is to start hearing a voice that claims to be her Ah Ma. Ah Ma wants revenge on a man that happens to be the 5th richest man in the country. Jess, just simply trying to do as her Ah Ma wishes to get her to leave her alone, ends up getting possessed by her Ah Ma and nearly kills the man’s son. We find out that there’s more to this story and to her mother’s side of the family that she didn’t know, including the fact her Ah Ma did some rather illegal things while alive while the god Black Water Sister peaks her head in, after all, Ah Ma had been her medium while alive. Now Jess is faced with becoming the next one while not wanting her life tied to the god who demands blood. 

I loved every second of this book. We get to know these characters along with knowing some of the beliefs in Malaysia (though it didn’t touch on the large Muslim population, simply the old beliefs of the Malaya people, Christianity, and Chinese  gods). Then there’s the fact this book has a lot of diversity within it. Shreng is mixed race, part Chinese, part Indian. Jess’s girlfriend is Indian. And then there’s the fact Jess is gay and has to live with keeping this a secret from her family because she fears them finding out. There wasn’t really a slow parts because this book had bigger events tied to it and Jess as a character is extremely relatable in my opinion. She wants to do right by her family and not stir the boat or make them worry. Of course, that doesn’t exactly work for her as her mother finds out about the god. As for what this story is about at its heart, it’s about those who want to get rid of the old ways. After all, there’s a fight for the right of the land that has Black Water Sister’s shrine on it. Ah Ku is a medium and on the board of the temple. It’s about the rich wanting to gentrify everything because they feel they have a right, specifically those of Chinese decent because they get a boost simply for being Chinese. What happens to the old ways and the old gods when their shrines are destroyed to be made into a coffee shop? 

Please go read this amazing book. I highly, highly recommend it.