⋆⭒˚｡⋆ 5 stars ⋆⭒˚｡⋆

i think i just found the perfect spooky season book.

if i have to be haunted follows cara who is a ghost speaker as she goes on a journey to raise her nemesis, zach, from the dead.

what i liked the most about this book is definitely the romance. i mean when you give me a slow burn enemies to lovers combined with forced proximity, you can’t expect me not to love it. the banter between the main characters was immaculate.

the plot was also amazing and i swear there wasn’t even one boring moment from the beginning to the end.

october is honestly the perfect time to pick up this book and i wholeheartedly recommend it!

thank you to netgalley and harpercollins children's books for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

FMC Cara see ghosts
MMC becomes a ghost
Enemies/rivals to lovers
Paranormal Romance
Slow Burn
High School
Fantasy Romance

FMC Cara is a high school student at Autumn Falls High and Captain of the Track team. She happens to also be a ghost speaker. MMC Zach is also a student at Autumn Falls, he is on the boys swim team. What do the two main characters have in common…the fact that they loath each other. They have been each others nemesis since childhood. Always fighting and pranking each other.
After they are set up to work together on a school project Zach ends up dead. The only person that can see him is Cara. They find out that he is not quite a ghost. That there is a possibility that he could be resurrected. In order to be resurrected Zach needs a ghost speaker.
Cara and Zach must go on this long adventure to find the antidote to resurrect Zach. Along their journey they face a human eating shop
owner, monster plants, hallucinogenic fog, and even meet a crazy ghost hunter. Along the way their relationship starts to turn from hate to love.

I absolutely loved this story. The beginning was a little slow in my opinion but once the story picked up I devoured it. I really loved the diversity of characters. I also love how descriptive the author was in certain situations that the characters are put thorough. Loved the characters growth for both main characters.

Cara Tang has been able to see ghosts her entire life, but she made a promise to her mother that she would never let anyone (living or dead) know. It’s for the best really - the dead have issues. But when she stumbles across the body of her school nemesis Zacharias Coleson one day, she doesn’t realize until it’s too late that he’s a ghost - and now he knows she can see him. Cara begrudgingly agrees to help resurrect him in exchange for a hefty sum of money, putting her squarely at odds with her mother and into the path of dangerous monsters and magic. But as the two are forced to rely on each other to survive, they grow closer and Cara realizes that the most frightening thing she’s up against may not be the monsters, but her very not-hatred-like feelings for Zach.

I’m a sucker for enemies-to-lovers, but when one of the main characters is a ghost, I’m always hesitant to get attached. Despite my initial hesitation though, this story drew me in immediately and never let go.

The banter between Cara and Zach is absolutely top notch. It sets the tone for their relationship to develop as the story goes on, allowing tension to permeate every aspect of their interactions. The story is told strictly from Cara’s POV so there are moments where I found myself yelling at her because it’s clear as day she is interpreting Zach’s actions and motivations wrong, which was frustrating in such a deliciously torturous way. The slow burn does its thing and the payoff is beyond satisfying.

Speaking of relationships, the one between Cara and her mother was so incredibly relatable. Reading their interactions and the internal monologue that Cara had when thinking about what she has to do to keep the peace felt so much like my own experiences with my mother when I was Cara’s age. I related so much to Cara that I found myself wanting to reach into the pages and give her a hug and tell her that everything would be okay and their relationship could grow into something less stressful. We don't see much of her mom on the page so we don't get to see the changes to their relationship happen, but Sun is able to do a lot with the little bit we do see with her.

Sun’s attention to detail brings the fantasy elements of this story to life, from the simple things like Cara seeing ghosts to all the things that Cara and Zach encounter on their journey. The incorporation of the myth of the red thread of fate worked to foreshadow future events while also shining a spotlight on Chinese mythology. Though the beginning feels like a slow start with the humdrum nature of regular life, it picks up fairly quickly as Cara and Zach start their journey. The stakes are high, but my anxiety levels never rose too far because the ample amounts of snark and banter provided much needed levity throughout.

And that ending! I don’t know if there is going to be a sequel, but that ending definitely left the door open. While it’s not the kind of cliffhanger that makes you want to hunt down the author so you can shake out the rest of the story right now, it does leave you aching for more - from these characters and from the world.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher for free and have voluntarily written this review.

4/5 stars! I really enjoyed this story. It definitely read as YA, but since that was what it was marketed as it didn't really bother me. Cara and Zach were both fully developed characters. My only complaint was that the magical element could have been better explained.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

Thank you to NetGalley for giving this ARC, and this doesn’t influence my review. This was a great read, and I loved the MC’s chemistry and banter. Overall this was a great read

This was a standout YA paranormal romance debut with unique magical elements, evil snakes and a ghostly former high school nemesis who can only be saved by Cara, a Chinese American teen ghost speaker who is reluctant to take up her grandmother's legacy and all that it entails.

What I really loved was that it was the guy who needed saving in this one and the way he turned out to be the such a swoony secret softie in the end. The story was fresh and original and I had no idea where things would go, which made it so much fun!

Highly entertaining and full of adventure, romance, memorable characters and an ending that left me reeling. I really hope there will be a sequel and SOON! I am OBSESSED with this cover and need a copy for my shelves immediately! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

What an intro into spooky season. This may be a YA novel but it takes you on an emotional journey with growth and maturity throughout.

Cara Tang can see and talk to the dead. Zach is the golden boy in her class whom she has been assigned to partner with for a class project. When Zach is late to their first meeting to discuss their project, she finds him dead in the forest. Through his ghost she finds out he was bitten by a magical snake and she has 7 days to find the antidote to save him and bring him back to life.

There are monsters and magic along the way to finding the cure for Zach and it was a fun read full of adventure and emotions. Recommended.

This was a unique read and it didn’t go as I had expected!

The book is told from one point-of-view and it comes from Cara Tang. She has a special gift of being able to see and hear ghosts that was passed down from her grandmother. The only problem is that her mother doesn’t want her using the gift and tells her to keep it a secret from everyone. Of course, nothing ever goes according to plan especially when it comes to Zach Coleson.

I really liked Cara as a character. She has a good group of friends, although I wish there was more interaction between them, and an enemies-to-lovers relationship with Zach in the making. She also feels down-to-earth minus the whole ghost thing and I feel like a lot of people would be able to relate to her because of the strained relationship with her mother. Who hasn’t been there? 🙋‍♀️ It’s hard to want to please your parents but also head out on your own and make your own choices. It never gets easy no matter how old you get!

Zach Coleson is quite the character and the banter between him and Cara was gold! I liked the dynamic and that even though there was a lot at stake she was still willing to help him even if it started with bribery. A lot happens throughout their journey to fix his death and they definitely learn a lot about one another because of it.

I didn’t realize that this book would be a series? The cliffhanger was not expected but I can see where the plot is going and it leaves me with so many questions! I will be checking it out whenever it drops!

Overall, this was enjoyable and has all of the spooky vibes which is perfect for this time of year. If you are a fan of the paranormal with a little dash of romance then I would suggest you check this one out.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this eArc in exchange for an honest review!

Honestly what a fun book! I had already been lookin forward to reading since I first heard the premise years ago, but there was so much more that I loved about beyond the excitement of a ghost and human romance!
Sun’s story is a perfect mix of fun, romance, family, and finding your own way. I loved reading Cara’s wit and sass and Zach’s equally fun banter as the two get stuck together with their intertwined date. And I loved LaoLao and the often hard and impactful story between her and her daughter and Cara who’s in between it all.
As one of my most anticipated reads, I’m so happy If I Have To Be Haunted held up to what I was so excited for and can’t wait to read more from Miranda Sun in the future!

She can talk to ghost, and he's her nemesis, yet when she finds his dead body and see's his ghost, they both find that they'll need to work together to raise him from the dead. Cara Tang can see ghosts, in fact she comes from a family of ghost speakers, people who can see and talk to ghost and help them cross over. Cara's grandmother always wanted her to embrace her powers while her mother wanted her to have nothing to do with them. Cara is suppose to be perfect for her overbearing mother, but her only real problem is that she keeps getting into fights with Zacharias "Zach" Coleson. Zach and Cara are always arguing, getting into fights, and driving each other crazy, yet when they are forced to be partners for a school project, Zach gets bitten by a mysterious snake on his way to meet Cara and she discovers his dead body and his ghost. Cara is the only one who can save him, but that means disobeying her mother and embracing her powers, it also means facing off against deadly snake entities, monsters, and traveling through a magical world, all the while accompanied by the one boy who makes her crazy. However the more time they spend together and the more they work together, Zach and Cara begin to realize that all the fighting and getting under each other's skin might have been due to the fact that no one drives the other person crazy like each other and that they might not hate one another at all. Can Cara save Zach and find a way to resurrect him before his time runs out or before she gets killed? This was such a fun ghost adventure/high school nemesis to lovers store. I loved the whole ghost world and the snake gods, I loved the banter and the romance between Zach and Cara, and the way the book ends really has me hoping for a second book so I can see my two favs again (and this time fighting off against someone else). This is a great book for the autumn time and for anyone looking for a ghost romance story with a bit of rivals to lovers!!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this title in exchange for this honest review.

It's been a while since i read this, so my memory is a bit patchy. But i really enjoyed it and warmly reccomend it to any who are considering picking it up.

This book was so much fun! A perfect Halloween read with some Over the Garden Wall vibes mixed in the Chinese folklore and the experience of Chinese immigrants. You definitely have to suspend your disbelief a bit though for some of the scenarios.

I enjoyed the (fr)enemies-to-lovers segments of this book; overall, I'd say the relationship dynamics were the strongest part of the story for me. The family tensions were also interesting, complex, and believable.

The magic/spookiness elements, however, did not work for me. This read way more like middle grade than YA, in terms of scariness and emotional complexity related to the ghost speaking abilities and other spooky elements. The reaction to Zach's death is weirdly muted, until the characters learn that they can save him using magic and reverse his death. I kept feeling like the author was pulling punches, and the amount of backstory monologuing/letter writing didn't do it for me. The prose itself was good, but the choice to focus the story around death and haunting and then make so much of the magic toothless (so to speak, snake-related puns notwithstanding) left me lukewarm.

Now, keep in mind that I am an adult reading this book. For a younger reader who likes RL Stine or Point Horror-style fiction but wants to branch out, I think this would be a great fit. For readers who, like the main characters, are approaching college-age? I reads a little young to me.

I'm not the person to give the best feedback about this, but I did like how Cara's grandmother comes from a Chinese ghost speaking background, but Cara herself has to deal with a wide array of magical traditions and entities. She's very much caught between two mindsets in terms of her grandmother's worldview and her mother's experiences. There is some good stuff going on here, and I want to acknowledge that, even if the book wasn't a great fit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book as an ARC. The Halloween vibes are strong with this one, so if you like a light-ish-hearted YA ghost romance, it may be a better fit for you!

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC, which was given in exchange for an unbiased review.

This ended up being one of those books where I went in with certain expectations, and it ended up being something else entirely. And I tried very hard to judge this on the basis of what it is, but to be honest, it was a bit of a mess.

I think the main issue for me was the tone. I had gone into this expecting it to be a supernatural urban fantasy, and for a bit, it did have that feeling. But then I started seeing inspiration from Percy Jackson and Harry Potter and maybe Avatar: The Last Airbender, and while I enjoyed all of those series at various points in my life, the way those were incorporated didn’t necessarily mesh well. It felt a lot like a middle grade fantasy at times, but then it seemed to be aiming for an older audience with the romance. And the worldbuilding and magic system became strangely complex for the premise of the book, where a lot of things were thrown in or explained but it didn’t feel necessary. Overall, it felt really inconsistent.

In terms of the writing, I enjoyed the general plot of the book and the mythological concepts it draws from, but when they started the quest, things seemed to fall apart a bit. Problems would pop up and then a convenient solution would come through, and then the characters would move on to the next leg of the journey. It was a bit too neat, and I ended up skimming chunks of it just to get to the actual plot. Also, I really didn’t like the dialogue - it often felt very sitcom-y/Disney Channel. The epilogue makes it clear this is not meant to be a standalone, and there were definitely hints at it throughout the narrative that something bigger was happening, but I just don’t see why this book needs a sequel, especially if the romance is resolved, which I think was the main draw for most readers.

The one thing I did love was Cara’s relationships with her mother and grandmother. I love the exploration of complex Asian family dynamics, and the mother-daughter relationship in this was written so well. I really wish I could say I was rooting for Zach too, but he was just sort of unlikable and relatively flat for me. Their rivalry really didn’t have any basis and I know they’re the main characters but I don’t get why everyone cared so much. Overall, I felt like I was putting up with the romance, but then the last couple of chapters really ruined it for me. One of their classmates is racist and objectifies Cara, and Zach steps in to defend her. And it really felt like the moment was just written in so Zach could have his moment as Cara’s savior, and it felt so unnecessary.

Overall, this book was a bit all over. There’s a lot of amazing ideas and potential, but it just didn’t reach it for me.

Good but more on the young side of YA than I was expecting. I'll hand it to readers who are crossing over from middle grade and ready to move up to YA.

Book made me cry sob all in happy tears!!! This book hurt me in the best way oh my god, ghost stories are the hardest. I highly recommend for fans of you've reached Sam

When I saw this book on netgalley, I recognized it from the book box I subscribe to and requested it right away because ever since hearing about it, I have been excited to pick it up! I enjoyed this read and loved the writing! It's marketed as Cemetery Boys meets Legendborn so, what else do you need to hear to convince you?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

This book follows Cara who can see and speak to ghosts. Her mother doesn’t want her to use her ability so she tries to ignore what she can do for the most part. That is until her school rival Zach shows up as a ghost. Now she is the only one that can help him and she has to decide what she is willing to sacrifice for him.

I was really excited about this book because I thought that the premise of the story sounded great. The beginning of the book was good and moved quickly, but I felt like the middle dragged a lot. I can’t say what it was about the book exactly, but I just didn’t love it. I think part of the problem was that Cara kind of frustrated me for the 3/4s of the book. She just wouldn’t get out of her own way. Zach was really great throughout the story though!

Waiting on physical copy of this book to review. Please stay tuned, will update once read. Received physical copy to review.