I love a gothic horror story and this one was a really fun read, i really liked that this was not a traditional western haunted house novel i loved that twist on a traditional haunted house getting to see how other cultures have ghosts in their cultural traditions was really fun, it’s definitely a YA horror it was creepy and fun but i probably prefer something a little darker, overall a really fun read

This book was full of deliciously creepy descriptions, beautiful prose, and extremely well-fleshed out characters. The writing style, in particular, was both voicey and lyrical - I felt the author handled the prose very deftly.

Jade was an interesting character. It's not always comfortable to be in her head, since she's so full of anger (and rightly so!), but I really identified with the issues she faced, particularly her resentment toward her father. I think she's a very unique character, multidimensional and full of flaws in a very realistic way, and for this reason I feel that the way she's written is very effective.

Being a total wimp when it comes to ghosts and supernatural stuff, I found the ghosts and the house quite scary (it doesn't help that I read at night, in the dark!). The anti-colonialism themes come across very strongly, making this a book that delivers and entertaining story while still packing a punch with the underlying message.

I've seen reviews mentioning the ending can feel a bit disjointed. I found this too, and I didn't always fully understand what was going on - but I felt as though this contributed to the overall unnerving, creepy vibe of the book and was possibly an intentional narrative device. Despite getting lost at times, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Thank you to Bloomsbury ANZ for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

☆☆☆.5

She is a Haunting is a YA horror that follows Jade during her summer break before college as she visits her father in Vietnam.

Between dead bugs pilling up and visits from dead ancestors Jade soon realises the house is haunted. Typically, the adults don't believe what she has to say so she decides to 'fake' haunt the house so that someone believes her.

Meanwhile her dad is busy converting a French style villa into a BnB. During her stay she digs up a lot of information about the first owners and how her ancestors lived which fuels the rage she is already bottling up inside.

This book reminded me so much of a classic haunted house movie and while quite gross at times I loved the vibes. While I did enjoy Tran's writting style I did find it a little slow and hard to follow at times.

Overall this was a really enjoyable haunted house story and I would recommend it for fans of YA horror.

I am all for anti-coloniser haunted books. I was so excited to pick this up. However, whilst I find this an interesting book and loved elements of the book, I wasn’t a fan of the writing style and was often lost within the book, having to backtrack a few times to understand what was going on. I also felt like the ending was a bit abrupt.

2.5

Thank you to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for providing an eARC to review!

I appreciated how this book exposed how deeply the legacy of colonialism still persists in Vietnam, and how atrocities go unrecognised in the name of progress. I believe at least some of the book was based on the author's real family, and the parts of the book where we discussed these issues I thought were the strongest. Jade's anger was very justified and it was interesting to see a book where the protagonist had this rage at her centre and was very overt in expressing it - I feel like I don't see this often.

That being said, I found it really hard to keep engaged in this book and follow what was happening. The first half in particular was very slow, and while I liked the setting and there were definitely some disgusting scenes, I wasn't quite as sucked in by the atmosphere as I wanted to be. Jade immediately found the ghost lady hot (go off I guess) and I was a bit confused by the ways in which the house was sentient.

It picked up as it went on, but between the romance which I found too rushed and underdeveloped, and Jade who felt very directionless and changeable, I just wasn't being drawn into the story. Maybe some of this lack of direction could be put down to the influence of the evil house, but I just found it really hard to follow and often had to go back and reread sections cause I was convinced I had missed something that explained where we were currently at. I would call this more grossness horror rather than scary horror - bugs and food were terrifying but ghost with stretchy neck was just goofy.

Overall I liked the message behind this and the elements critiquing colonialism, but I found it really hard to connect.