She Is a Haunting

Books | Young Adult Fiction / Horror

3.4

Trang Thanh Tran

William C. Morris Debut Award FinalistInstant New York Times and Indie BestsellerThis house eats and is eaten . . ."A riveting debut from a remarkable new voice! Trang Thanh Tran weaves an impressive gothic mystery in which Jade's father is determined to restore a decrepit home to its former glory and Jade is the only person who feels the soul-crushing devastation of colonialism lingering within its walls." --Angeline Boulley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Firekeeper's DaughterA House with a terrifying appetite haunts a broken family in this atmospheric horror, perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic.When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She's always lied to fit in, so if she's straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised.But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don't belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can't ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves cryptic warnings: Don't eat. Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house--the home they have always wanted--will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house's rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all.

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More Details:

Author

Trang Thanh Tran

Pages

384

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published Date

2023-02-28

ISBN

1547610824 9781547610822

Community ReviewsSee all

"The book is equal parts a horror story and equal parts about colonialism, inter generational trauma, and the struggle of fitting in as a first-generation American, both in America and in their home country. It also has a sprinkle of a coming of age story. I truly enjoyed this book and I also got the chance to learn more about Vietnam and some of the experiences of Asian American families. 5 ⭐️’s."

Tre

"⭐️⭐️.50 I really, really wanted to love this book, but it was painfully slow and not very interesting to me. I loved how the author brought in colonialism, the struggles of being first gen and relating to family members, but the story was hard for me to get into and for me the descriptors were very confusing 🥴"

Fefe Luna (she/they)

"I’m honestly not sure how to explain how I felt about this book, like it wasn’t bad but it was very confusing and quite slow. I think the horror aspect and the imagery was really great and very disturbing and I loved the idea of the story but that’s about it? There were times where I felt like the story was really dragging, which isn’t always a bad thing with slow burn horror but the rest of the time, I just rarely understood what was going on. So I personally wouldn’t recommend this one but I also don’t not recommend it. I think it’s one that could be really good for some readers, it just wasn’t for me"

Courtney Williams

"(3.5 stars) This was a mixed book for me. The main issue was that it didn’t balance horror and its messages/social commentary well, the scary parts weren’t that scary and they were too far apart. The fact that I can’t remember anything about the ending is concerning. However, I did like the chapters written in the third person, they were very atmospheric and intriguing. And the LGBTQ representation was amazing (there is a wlw relationship with the main character). And the cover is one of my favorites. Overall, while at some parts engaging and atmospheric, this novel is also slow and more on the mild side of horror, so it isn’t one of my favorites."

Isabella Quinn

"It was pretty good loved the mystery of it. The fact that the story connect was amazing and how they bring back the memories detail by detail was good."

Sonya Bobet

"Usually love these types of books but this one didn’t really spark my interest. I thought it was extremely confusing and uninteresting. "

Space Name

"This is a pretty solid YA haunted house story. There are some really effective scares in here and I loved the Vietnamese setting, but sometimes feelings and character motivations got a bit lost in the flowery writing and the romance didn't really work for me.<br/><br/>3.5 stars rounded up"

awesome_user_984860

"This novel has some really great content— At times. I expected something more engrossing and fantastical, and less depressing and petty. It has some sections and dream sequences that are so beautiful they could be tiny poems. And then almost immediately it begins to read like a pulp novel again. I enjoyed the information about the colonization of Vietnam and it would have been a better read with a little more history and culture of the Vietnamese for context. As much as it is a Gothic or horror novel, I found the protagonist's personality and actions more bizarre than the supposed paranormal activity in the house. Perhaps this was the point: To really emphasize the need for therapy and healing from family trauma. Had the writing and plot been more consistent in quality, it would have been an excellent read, but as it was, I struggled to finish it. "