This book has many elements to it - fantasy, magical realism, adventure and romance.
I loved the characters and the setting especially how it all came together at the end. I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance element though

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. A very clever tale where myth and reality collide in a richly imagined setting. I will definitely read this author again.

The characters really had my heart - so perfectly realised. I wish I had read this sooner.

An absolutely beautifully written, magical book that intertwines Malaysian and Chinese myth and legend with murder and superstition against the backdrop of 1930's Malaysia.
There are a lot of reviews of this book that recount the storyline, so I won't do that here - it's a really popular book for good reason and you can easily find out what it's about. I personally loved the way the characters developed and how complex they were.
In particular, the young boy Ren and the young woman Ji-Lin whose narrative takes up most of the book. They were easy to like.
I also thought it was interesting how the author painted William and, at times, Shin, as faulted human beings, making them a little less easy to like but no less compelling.
There are twists and turns in this book - you think it's going one way and then it suddenly shifts in a delightful way. This is a rare treat - highly recommended and 5 stars.

A mesmerizing story brimming with Chinese folklore, superstition, and fate, along with some severed body parts, namely thumbs.

Ren and Ji Lin are worlds apart. Ren works as a young house boy for a foreign doctor and Ji Lin works as a dressmaker's apprentice, moonlighting as a dancehall girl to pay her mother's gambling debts. Their worlds align, however, when Ren's old master dies and sends him on a quest to find his severed thumb. Within 49 days, the doctor must be buried with his missing thumb in order for his soul to rest. Ren's journey and Ji Lin's misfortune of finding herself in possession of the thumb lead them to each other, revealing a connection to each other that neither could have anticipated.

I had no idea what to expect with this one which is exactly how I like to approach a book. The story swept me off my feet and transplanted me straight into the heart of Malaya in the 1930s. The superstitions were each grounded in incidents that occurred, making them feel impossibly real. The connections between characters were slowly developed, with fate leading the chosen five to each other. As a believer in fate and destiny, I thought this book played on those predetermined events brilliantly, injecting more magic and mystery into the story.

I'm not a fan of books that add romance to a plot that doesn't require it, but I thought in this case the romance played a key part in the story. It brought certain characters closer and imitated one of the folklore tales perfectly.

This is definitely a diverse book I'd recommend. It's unlike any I've read before and the culture exploration captivated me from the very start.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

A few years back I read a delightful literary novel with elements of magical realism woven into it called The Ghost Bride. I loved the elements of culture that were included and the mystery that drove the story forward. When I saw a copy of The Night Tiger, by the same author available for review, it was kind of hard to resist not requesting it, because I wanted to see if I would love it just as much as I did Yangsze Choo's first novel.

I'm happy to say that I did enjoy it!

Set in 1930s Malaya, a young boy, Ren,  is gifted to a British doctor as a houseboy upon the boy's former master's death. What the doctor doesn't realise is that the boy has been sent there to reclaim something that belongs to his former master with 49 days or risk his master's soul lingering on Earth. Alongside this story is that of Ji Lin, a young woman working in a dance hall to pay off her mother's debts. She comes into possession of something gruesome and Ji Lin and Ren's paths cross as the threads of the mystery come together.

I will admit that it took me a little while to fully sink into the story, but that usually happens when I try to read something that's a little more literary fiction (and not genre based) so I wasn't overly worried. Choo has a fantastic way of describing when and where their stories are taking place and it was a real pleasure just to immerse myself in the location and the culture being depicted.

Both Ji Lin and Ren were compelling characters, each with their own path to walk and their own pasts haunting their decisions. Both characters are very loyal to the people they care about and it came through in various  parts of the story. I came to care deeply about them and that made it hard to put the story down.

I also love how Choo weaves in elements of magical realism, based on cultural beliefs, within their storytelling. It adds a magical element that is very immersive, leaving me wondering, at times, what was true and what wasn't, and could these night tigers truly exist.

Overall, it was a wonderful reading experience and I'm very glad I picked it up.

This was a wonderful book. I really loved it. In this historical novel the fates of a dancehall girl and an orphan boy entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men who turn into tigers. It was so interesting and fun, miles apart from my usual literary content. During Ren's quest to reunite his master with his severed finger he encounters Ji Lin who dreams of being a doctor. Coincidentally she too has come into contact with aforementioned severed finger. And so progresses a story of ambition, ovally, love and superstition. This is a book that is not to missed, a truly unique piece of writing that I will never forget.

Literary fiction at its best a mesmerizing tale that will captivate you.A story of Ji a woman who dances at night to survive but has so many layers to her that slowly unfold.A story of magic strangeness a story that you will not forget,#netgalley#The NightTiger #quercusbooks

Stylistically this one is a bit tricky as some of the gambles don't pay off for me, but I can see why it's beloved. A distinctive voice and palyful structure, there was just something indefinable that I didn't get from it.

This is one of the most beautifully written stories i've read in a long time. It was utterly captivating and moving and the authors ability to weave a story like this should be commended.
The story follows a dressmaker, Ji, who moonlights as a dancer to pay her bills as she embarks on a mission that will unearth many a dark secret.
Excellent book!

This beautiful story follows the paths of Ji-Lin, a young woman who is disillusioned with her lot in life as dictated by the patriarchal society around her, and Ren, a house boy who's master has recently died and given him one last request: to find his finger.
I fell in love with both characters straight away and purposely took my time reading this one to just soak everything in and spend as much time in this world as possible.
I loved the context of the era, culture and the magical realism and how naturally it was woven into the narrative.
Just a beautiful book!

In the notes at the end of the novel, Choo explains that the spirit tigers appeared in different guises in Asian folklore and were revered with a mixture of respect and dread. Choo also suggests (although it is not clear whether this is based on actual beliefs or a fictional reinterpretation) that a body which is not buried “whole” can return to prey on humans as a weretiger – a sort of Asian cross between the werewolf and the vampire.

Taking this as a starting point, Choo crafts an engaging historical novel set in 1930s colonial Malaya. Young Ren is a houseboy for an eccentric English doctor. In the final months of his life, his master falls prey to feverish delusions and starts to confess to nightly roams and killings in the neighbourhood. On his deathbed, he sends his trusted houseboy on a mission – within forty-nine days from his death, Ren must track his master’s amputated finger and reunite it with his body – otherwise, the soul of the old doctor will not rest. Ren’s path crosses that of Ji Lin, an apprentice dressmaker and part-time dancehall girl who coincidentally ends up in possession of the finger. The severed body part however is the least of her worries – what with strange men following her (and then falling dead) and trouble brewing between her and her stepfather.

The names/words “Ren” and “Ji” refer to two of the five “Confucian Virtues”, and it turns out that the destinies of “Ren” and “Ji” are also closely tied to those of three other figures named after these virtues: Ren’s dead twin brother “Yi”, Ji Lin’s stepbrother “Shin” and a fifth characters which will – to avoid spoilers – remain unnamed. The link between these characters is highlighted in several dream sequences where the dead seemingly interact with the living.

I found The Night Tiger to be an enjoyable novel. The historical and cultural context is well-researched and conveyed in atmospheric prose. For most of the book, the plot zips along at a fast pace, its twists and turns making this an entertaining ride.

Yet, I have two major reservations about the book, both of which refer to approach and style. First of all, considering the supernatural underpinning of the novel and its share of gruesome episodes, it had all the potential to become an unsettling piece of speculative fiction played out against a historical backdrop. Instead, Choo chooses to concentrate on the various romantic sub-plots, mostly centred around the boyish but apparently irresistibly attractive Ji Lin. As a result, Choo steers away from horror and ventures instead into YA Romance territory. No doubt, several readers will be perfectly fine with this. I, for one, would have preferred a much darker book.

Another issue is that by the end of the book, it becomes somewhat overburdened with unlikely narrative twists and facile explanations. Of course, in a supernatural novel about weretigers, it is reasonable to suspend one’s disbelief. Yet, even allowing for cosmic connections and otherworldly interventions, some “coincidences” just seem too convenient.

These reservations aside, I would recommend the book to lovers of historical novels who do not mind romance generously thrown into the mix. Horror fans can, however, safely give this a miss.

Confucian mythology and mystery collide in 1930s Malaya (Malaysia)

On his master’s deathbed, eleven-year-old houseboy, Ren, is charged with finding a severed finger. He has 49 days to find the finger before his master’s soul is doomed to roam the world for ever.

Ji Lin dreams to become a doctor. Instead, she is working as a dancehall girl to clear her mother’s Mah-jong debts.

Choo is a storyteller in the mould of Daphne du Maurier. She skilfully weaves the Confucian folklore and the culture of colonial Malaysia (including weretigers, dream-eaters and Cantonese numerical homophones) as well as a romance and a mystery, into the narrative. Her cultural references add richness and authenticity.

A gripping, rip-roaring read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the ARC.

★★★✰✰ 3 stars

“[His] voice was icy. He's an ass if he can't tell you're obviously a virgin.”


…and they say romance is dead.

On paper The Night Tiger has a lot of potential but there were several things that prevent it from being a really good novel.

Things that I liked
This is the sort of story that slowly intertwines the fates of seemingly disconnected people. Set in the 1930s in Malaya the narrative brims with the promise of magic and legends and folklore underline the story.
Yangsze Choo's alluring prose complements beautifully the romantic and dreamy quality of her story. She often uses sweet-sounding metaphors that really appeal to the senses. Her descriptions have this rich and smooth sort of flair that make her setting really stand out.
A missing finger links the story of Ji Lin, a young dressmaker apprentice + dancehall girl, and Ren, a houseboy whose master has recently died. Ji Lin finds herself in the possession of a detached finger while Ren was tasked with finding his master's missing finger and burying it with his now buried body. The promising premise leads way to a slow paced narrative. The mystery behind the fingers and the 'odd' deaths were to me the main drive of the story.


Things that I didn't like
✗ Dual narrative
While I was intrigued I soon found myself disliked the 'format' of the dual narrative. The chapters ended almost with abruptness, as to pique the reader's interest. I wouldn't have minded but for the switching between 1st and 3rd person. It didn't really add anything to the narrative, rather it made a lot of chapters clash with one another. One moment I was deep in Ji Lin's story next thing I was an 'outsider' observing Ren, or worse still William.
Because these chapters interrupted each other's 'action' there were a lot of observations and 'realisations' that are repeated, and often it seemed that I was getting a 'recap' of what had happened previously to that character.
✗ Characters (Ji Lin is not like other girls, and all men are pigs )
I really wanted to like both Ji Lin and Ren. Sadly, I soon found Ji Lin to be insufferable and Ren was both boring and had some very non-child-like moments
Ji Lin is the typical gorgeous and smart girl who doesn't know how beautiful and charming she is. She wanted to study medicine, like her step-brother Shin, but decides not to disobey her "tyrannical" stepfather. Ji Lin seems to find it unfair that Shin was able to study and that she is only excepted to become a wife...and yet Ji Lin soon reveals herself to be the type of young woman who judges and condemns women in situations similar to her own. She seems to think herself better than the other dancehall girls (and their shock horror promiscuous ways). If she is progressive enough to think that women should be doing the same things as the men do, why does she so quickly condemn those like her? Does she think she is the only one who works as a dancehall girl because she in desperate need of money? Is it not likely that the other girls are going through similar 'hard times'?
Worse still is that the narrative and the other characters constantly remind us that Ji Lin is not like other girls:
—“Most girls in my position would probably be over the moon”
—“You don't scream about things like this,”
—“You really are blunt, he said. Don't you know how to act like a girl?”
—“You don't talk like most local girls”
So, other girls are flirty, air-headed, and easily scared of spiders. Ji Lin is DIFFERENT, she is SPECIAL, she is NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS.
Thanks to her new haircut everybody mistakes for Louise Brooks.
“Seen up close, she's shockingly pretty. Or at least, she is to him, thought some might say her cropped hair and slender frame are too boyish.”

How can I believe that her beauty is 'particular' and 'not to everyone's taste' when every single male character tries it on with her? There is only one guy (who makes only a brief appearance and is already married) who doesn't pine after her. I kid you not.
Her whole character seems reduced to how men behave around her. She spent her time bickering with Shin, and failing to avoid/turn-down perverts. Her motivations and her actions seemed completely random.
Her character is clouded by her infuriating relationship with (view spoiler)
There are plenty of other vulgar men except that they are not as beautiful as Ji Lin's love interest is...so they are just creeps.
William is this foreign (I think British) doctor who is made to seem like this possibly 'bad' man. Yet, his actions are far from monstrous. More than being loathsome, he seems pathetic. It would have been better to cut his POV entirely from the narrative since it just shows us how insubstantial he is. Really, what was the point of him?
All the men are either sexist or violent. They either act like animals, (“They were like two dogs sizing each other up”), look like animals (Koh Beng, who has a 'porky face' and is compared to a pig looks up Ji Lin's skirt), or are compared to beasts(“Men are beasts, aren't they?”). Their behaviours and actions are dictated by their reproductive organs. They have no brains! They are just there to behave inappropriately towards Ji Lin or mistreat other 'lesser' women.
Lastly, Ren did not act like a child. He is too self-aware to pass for a child. Yet, he also has these naive moments that came across as forced. We never get to know him well because his chapters often focus on William, his new master. Ren's 'cat sense' was cringeworthy: his 'tendrils' travel here and there and can sense thing…how about n-o.

What could have been a great story focuses on a 'will they/won't they' romance. The mystery of the fingers soon lost its appeal to me. The 'murder' storyline managed to be both disappointing and predictable.
I might try other books by Choo but this just didn't work for me.