Alex Cabe reviewed She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
Fun Horror that Seems Caught Between Categories
4 stars
Overall a very solid, spooky read. It was enjoyable to have a slightly prickly protagonist, and her struggles with family and the legacy of colonialism were well presented and thematically resonant.
I think it was a mistake to market this as a YA book. It's a coming of age story about a teenager coping with her family, but I think it's too challenging and slow burn to really connect with teenage audiences.
The motifs were obvious (food, insects) but well used throughout the book.
I would rate this solidly four stars until about 85% of the way through, but the ending was a bit of a letdown and put in on the three/four star border for me. Horror endings are hard to get right, and I think the secondary antagonist muddled things.