"The Ghost Bride" First Impressions *No Spoilers*

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Come on a magical journey through Malaysian myth! What impressions are you getting?

Please try to leave all spoilers, really any concrete details about the book, for the full spoiler discussion, up in a few days!

Content warnings for those who want them: (view spoiler)[Fat shaming, misogyny, loss of a loved one, death, drug use. (hide spoiler)]

[Gabi]

First impression after I started the audiobook: I LOVE the voice. The author narrates the story herself and she sounds like silk. I don't care what the story is about, I just want to listen to her. XD

[Oleksandr]

Allison wrote: "Come on a magical journey through Malaysian myth! "

Malaysian or Chinese? Culturally the latter I presume.

As for an impression - I like the story even if a protagonist sometimes behaves like damsel in distress but more will be said in spoilers

[Anna]

It has both! :)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

The author and character make distinctions between the parts of their heritage that are Malay and the parts that are Chinese. I took their lead on my wording :) But yes, I think it's safe to say without spoiler there's a lot of Chinese culture in this as well!

[Soo]

I figured I would try this one because the book is available on KU and it's been a while since I've tried to read a book with the group.

I stopped at Ch5 and the story hasn't grabbed me at all. I have low expectations and thus far it's about what I thought it would be. I'm going to jump into other books & come back to this one.

Phrasing is modern & that makes it harder to envision the story taking place in 1900's.

Amah is the only one with any spunk. Rest of the setting/characters are bland and narrative comes across as detached.

[Queralt✨]

Gabi wrote: "First impression after I started the audiobook: I LOVE the voice. The author narrates the story herself and she sounds like silk. I don't care what the story is about, I just want to listen to her. XD"

I am listening to its audiobook too! I felt a bit twitchy knowing the author is the narrator (never had a good experience with this concoction) but holey moley - I am with you. LOVE her narration!

I've heard about this book a lot and a friend warned me about the characters being bland. Hopefully it will not bother me too much, I studied East Asian Studies and learnt Chinese for a long time, would love to learn more about the ghost world (there's plenty of cool horror movies about it that I like) and the society of Malaysia. I love how the author makes it clear when something is specifically Chinese or looks slightly foreigner to her because it's a 'Han thing' and not Malaysian.

I'm 50% done and while I can tell it won't be a 5 star read, it's grabbed me and I am enjoying it.

[Anna]

Soo wrote: "I stopped at Ch5 and the story hasn't grabbed me at all."

It does start a bit slow, but as I told Allison when she was reading it: "It's not just mahjong parties!"

[Gabi]

I loved the mah jong part btw :D. I used to have an elegant set of those stones in my teens. Have to have a look if it is still somewhere around.

[Anna]

I also enjoyed that part all three times I've read the book, but I understand how it might feel extremely slow going for people who prefer their books with more action.

[Kari]

I read this one in January, so will save most of my thoughts for the spoiler thread, but I remember the first part of the book was just amazing. I loved learning about the mix of cultures and thought the author did a great job integrating her research into the setting. And as someone said up thread, Amah is the best.

[Sabrina]

Her first book - The Night Tiger - drew me in with its tropical and mystical flavor and so I looked forward to reading this one. This time I chose to listen - and I agree about her silken voice. It sounds perfectly right for a magical story and has the plus of hearing how each name sounds correctly.

Story-wise, I'm not so sure yet, but for now, I'll just enjoy the flow...

[Anna]

Ghost Bride is her debut, Night Tiger is the latest one!

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Enjoyable read!

[Sabrina]

Anna wrote: "Ghost Bride is her debut, Night Tiger is the latest one!"

Sorry, meant the first book, I've read from her, you are absolutely correct. Misspelt.

[Anna]

OK that makes sense! I should've realized that's what you meant.

[DivaDiane]

I can’t find the audio book anywhere (legal)!!

[Anna]

Diane wrote: "I can’t find the audio book anywhere (legal)!!"

Two week free trial of Storytel Italy?

[Christopher]

I'm over halfway through. I found it compelling at the beginning and now it feels a bit more meandering, like the author is taking us on a tour of Chinese lore regarding the afterlife -- curious to see how it all resolves.

[Jacqueline]

It has Mahjong? Well I’m in. Maybe. If I can source it. I used to play Mahjong heaps. My Hubby bought me a beautiful set of Mahjong tiles close to 25 years ago now. I love them. I used to play proper Mahjong on the computer (not this match the tiles Mahjong you see everywhere now) before I got my set and became rather good at it. Haven’t played in a very long time though. My tiles are with all of our other games at the beach house. Maybe we should take them home to the Outback and try and remember how to play again.

[Cheryl]

I want to learn to play real Mahjong.

I have this book in paper from the library. Cover is gorgeous. Won't get a chance to open it for a few days and have no idea whether I'll like it or not... but tx for the heads-up; I will give it some time to get going.

[Lana]

I listened to this book in one go. Looking forward to the spoiler discussions.
I completely agree with the previous comments about the authors voice. I’m always worried when I see the author is reading their own work, but she matched the best voice actors out there. Going to watch the Netflix series now... I think I’m going to be disappointed after reading the book, but it will be interesting to compare.

[Raucous]

I have a friend who grew up in Malaysia during the last days of British rule and retains strong connections to her Chinese heritage. This should be an interesting read against the background of the stories that she's told me.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Raucous wrote: "I have a friend who grew up in Malaysia during the last days of British rule and retains strong connections to her Chinese heritage. This should be an interesting read against the background of the..."

I can't wait to hear your impressions, Raucous!

[Meredith]

My first impressions were that I felt very drawn into the setting, including the time, place and the mix of cultures.

I googled some of the clothing items mentioned to see what they looked like and some of my results were historical photos from about the same time period as the story so that was a fun addition to my reading experience.

[Janice (JG)]

This turned out to be a re-read for me, and when I realized it I was glad because I think I must have missed a great deal my first time through. I've really enjoyed immersing in the Malasian/Chinese culture's legends and beliefs from that time period. I wonder how much of it still pertains today.

Here is a YouTube of the instrument mentioned towards the first part of the novel - the er hu. The piano intro lasts about 48 seconds, and then a woman plays a lovely composition on the er hu.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fdFG...

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Janice (JG) wrote: "This turned out to be a re-read for me, and when I realized it I was glad because I think I must have missed a great deal my first time through. I've really enjoyed immersing in the Malasian/Chines..."

Beautiful.

[Gabi]

Janice (JG) wrote: "Here is a YouTube of the instrument mentioned towards the first part of the novel - the er hu. The piano intro lasts about 48 seconds, and then a woman plays a lovely composition on the er hu."

Thank you for the link, Janice, this is beautiful!

[Cheryl]

Started to read now, and so far I'm confused why this is being read in this group... it reads more like historical fiction. I assume the fantasy elements come later and that it would be spoilery to say anything, but I will say that my local library tagged it as (general) fiction, no sticker of a picture of a unicorn or anything.

[Anna]

It's definitely fantasy!

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Ghost characters are in the book, all are haunted, we see dead people.

[Bill]

I finished it today and could not agree more with everyone who praised the authors narration in the audiobook.

@Diane - I got it from Hoopla if you have that service available through your library.

[BookTurtle360]

Anna wrote: "I also enjoyed that part all three times I've read the book, but I understand how it might feel extremely slow going for people who prefer their books with more action."

I loved this book so much that I inhaled it over the last weekend in May. It sounds like you enjoyed it too, if you read it three times? Can you recommend any books with a similar pace/style?

[Anna]

For the Malay-Chinese afterlife feels, The Terracotta Bride (novelette) by Zen Cho, as well as some of her other short fiction, collected in Spirits Abroad, and some is also free online.

For historical Chinese fantasy, I think Janie Chang's trio has a similar feel. I liked Dragon Springs Road the best, but Three Souls is maybe closer to Ghost Bride in terms of the afterlife plotline. The third one is The Library of Legends which has the least fantasy elements. They're all standalone and can be read in any order.

[J.W.]

Just discovered the audiobook is available through my library system. Snagged it. Excited to begin once I've finished my current book.

[Emmett]

I just started reading this last night and I am only 2 chapters in, but it definitely has me intrigued. I have had it on my to-read list for a while, so I am glad to have the push to finally read it this month. Excited to see where the story goes from here...

[Janice (JG)]

Anna wrote: "For historical Chinese fantasy, I think Janie Chang's trio has a similar feel. I liked Dragon Springs Road the best, but Three Souls is maybe closer to Ghost Bride in terms of the afterlife plotline. The third one is The Library of Legends which has the least fantasy elements. They're all standalone and can be read in any order..."

Thanks for the pointers, Anna. I'm not familiar with Janie Chang, and I'm eager to add her to my list of women Chinese authors that I enjoy so much.

[Anna]

I hope you like them! :)

[Joelle.P.S]

I finally managed to start this today and was immediately captivated! :-D I read 20+% percent before coming up for air (because time to sleep!).

[Anthony]

Finally beginning this, and very intrigued by the first chapter. It’s a setting that is happily brand new to me, and I look forward to seeing how everything unfolds.

[Joelle.P.S]

Dang! I only got halfway through during June, but I like it! I'll keep reading, & I look forward to necroposting the spoilers thread. :-D

[Kaa]

I finally started this as well, and I'm grateful for all the recommendations to try to audiobook, because it is fantastic. I found the beginning much easier to listen to than I think it would have been to eye-read - it didn't feel too slow at all, and I loved the way the setting was developed.

[Anthony]

After six chapters, I’m finding the pacing and the first person voice to be quite stilted. Hoping it picks up and gets deeper.

[Joelle.P.S]

Yay! Finished yesterday & thoroughly enjoyed this 1. :-)

Now to check out that spoilers thread....