The Ghost Bride

I listened the the audiobook version of this book narrated by the author.

The Ghost Bride centers around a young girl named Li Lan. Now 17, she is offered the prospect of marriage to a recently deceased man. She is to be his “ghost bride”. She is both appauled by the idea and driven by a sense of duty to marry and support her aging father and Amah (nurse). As the story progresses, Li Lan suddenly finds herself in the spirit world. Navigating the realms of the dead, the reader gets a glimpse into Malaysian/chinese mythology, particularly the customs of their ghost festival.

Overall I enjoyed this story. It was filled with beautiful imagery and lesser known mythology. It's only recently that I learned of the ghost festival. The trip into the realm of the dead was itself rather fascinating. The author did a wonderful job of narration.

Yet, I can't give it 5 stars. While enjoyable, the pacing began to slow halfway through. We are also presented with a variety of characters and never really receive closure on them. It would be nice to have a sequel to wrap up what happens to everyone.

Still this was a refreshing tale that has sparked further interested in chinese/malaysian/asian mythology/folk tales.

I'm honestly still struggling between a 3.5 and 4.

To be honest, I had never heard of this book before and didn't know that it also had a tv show on Netflix. But when my dear friend Dany suggested that we buddy read it, I was immediately interested and it turned out to be quite a fascinating experience.

The whole idea behind this story is not something I've ever read before and I found it very interesting. The setting of late nineteenth century Malacca (now Malaysia), the diversity of the place as well as the cultural differences between Chinese residents and others who had settled there after coming from various different countries, the mythology behind how the afterlife works and even assigning a bureaucracy to the workings of the land of the dead - it was all so vividly portrayed that I felt transported to the era and kudos to the author for making me feel that way. The mystery which is alluded to is not nearly as compelling, but the journey the main character takes to figure out the truth is fun to follow.

Li Lan is an interesting protagonist to follow. She is sheltered and slightly naive, but has an inner strength that enables her to take on the dangerous path set before her. However, she doesn't always get to make choices that she wants and sometimes, just has to make do with the situation and find creative ways to get out of the obstacles she faces herself with. She also encounters many interesting characters on her journey and I could never decide who can be trusted. There is romance here too but it was totally instalove, and while I'm not opposed to the concept at all, I thought it was not as convincing here as I wanted it to be. And I was particularly both impressed and skeptical about the romantic choices that Li Lan makes towards the end.

In the end, this was a fun fantasy read and I'm glad I decided to pick it up. If you like YA fantasies which have a strong sense of setting and culture, then you will love this book. While romance is a part of the narrative, it's not the main plotline and I definitely enjoyed that the story focused more the main character's own personal journey to discover herself. However, if you hate instalove as an idea like many other readers I know, you might not like this one. Despite its high personal stakes, I think this is an entertaining read that is perfect for these troubling times that we currently find ourselves in. I think it'll be a good distraction for a few hours.