As horror goes, this is pretty mild, although it has plenty of disturbing imagery, especially if you are sensitive to creepy crawlies. Where this really shines is the prose, which is wonderful, and the commentary on colonialism mixed with difficult familial relationships, and the challenges of being part of the diaspora, belonging nowhere.

One of the aspects I particularly enjoyed are the short interludes that seem to be from the perspective of the house. Apparently, this is something that works for me in horror more than ghosts do.

The horrors and effects of colonization linger and fester in countries even though the colonizers have left. With this book also digging into colonization, I wonder if the house is meant to be a metaphor for that. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but I like the way it made me think.

The middle part drags a bit, and there isn't much plot or mystery to speak of, but I still really enjoyed my time with this book.

This was an engaging and very creepy book. The characterisation is really well done and you do feel for the main character, Jade.

Personally I do prefer books to be slightly faster-paced. However, this book does grip you with an increasing sense of unease as you get through it.

Jade Nguyen, a teenage girl on the cusp of her college years, has always lied to fit in, all she needs to do now is keep it up for five more weeks. During these five weeks Jade, and her younger sister Lily, are spending time with their estranged father in the decaying French Colonial house he’s doing up. All Jade needs to do is last those five weeks and the money for college is hers. However, things quickly take a turn. Jade has been waking up to spooky apparitions around the home, cryptic warnings and a strange feeling inside her throat which may have a darker meaning.

With the help of Florence, the daughter of Jade’s father’s business associate, they start to stage hauntings within the home to convince Jade’s father and sister that these supernatural hauntings are really happening. They still do not believe her. Yet, the house wants more, its hungry and wants to live.

The supernatural aspects of this novel and very true to the horror style. Creepy apparitions, ghosts, paralysis and possession. Everything you would expect from a traditional house haunting. The main aspect I loved about this novel is not just the ghosts but the fact that the house itself appears to be living and breathing through Trang Thanh Tran’s writing.

Trang Thanh Tran has a very easy to read writing style, one that is true to the young adult genre of writing. You are drawn into the emotions and feelings of each character and not all of them are written the same as is very common within horror novels. The main protagonists always seem to have the same wants and feelings with no real emotions other than fear. Through the writing style you not only feel Jade’s fear, but her wants and her needs. She’s a very well written and very well thought out main protagonist.

The beginning of this novel was very fast paced and I found that I couldn’t put it down. It was on track to be a five star read however the pacing slowed dramatically once we got to the actual haunting aspects of the book. The fast paced read became quite slow and generic and began to pick up again towards the end. There is a very clear beginning, middle and end to this book, which is told primarily through the pacing. Nonetheless, I cannot take away how well written this novel is, you wouldn’t think it was a debut!

If you are someone who enjoys supernatural and ghostly elements to a story I would highly recommend it, however, it in my opinion, would appeal more to a younger generation. It is also a very good introduction to horror and supernatural content, so if you are just starting out this would be an ideal book to take a look at!

Compulsive, heartwrenching, and beautifully creepy. It was a slow, creepy, dream-like horror tale, less overtly frightening than a building fright. Jade was such an intriguing and complex main character, and the family dynamic in this book is incredibly complex. Sometimes the unique writing style can be difficult to delve into, and I had to reread sentences multiple times to figure out what was happening.

This debut novel is incredibly unique and interesting, the natural storytelling is very immersive. The unsettling events within the house and the coming of age story work well in combination, the spiky but fiercely protective main character’s struggle with cultural and sexual identity was handled with the care and the attention it deserved. Themes of colonialism and generational trauma were explored in an interesting and sensitive manner. I really enjoyed the representation of Vietnamese culture, food and language. I found it extremely refreshing that Vietnamese phrases were not always translated, often leaving the reader to infer meaning from context. The beautiful poetic writing style was in direct contrast to the downright creepy events and managed to make even the most grotesque passages palatable.
I look forward to reading more from Trang Thanh Tran in the future.

Thanks to the author, Bloomsbury publishing Inc. and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this unique story.

I’m grateful to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this prior to publication. It was a very different reading experience for me, focusing as it did on Vietnamese culture and it required quite a lot of focus to keep track of who was who at key moments. There were some formatting issues which leads me to believe some elements were rather lost.
Even after finishing, I’ll confess to not being entirely sure how to talk about this book. It was truly a book that unsettled me and the content definitely made me a little squeamish on occasion. I can’t say I enjoyed reading it, but it evoked such a reaction that I feel it’s a book I may return to.
The basic story focuses on Jade being manipulated into spending the summer with her father in Vietnam so that he will support her university costs. Upon arrival, her discomfort in this environment is evident. However, little details given then indicate that her discomfort may have a more supernatural element. Her father’s home seems to be haunted.
As we follow Jade through this experience, we see that her relationships with family are at the heart of the story. The haunting also serves as a timely way to introduce talk of colonisation and to explore attitudes to race and culture. While I have to say I know little of this era/place, it was certainly a fascinating read.

I would struggle to be able to review this book due to issues with the file/download. The issues stopped the flow of the book. The issues are:
- Missing words in the middle of sentences
- Stop/start sentences on different lines
- No clear definition of chapters.

An example of this is at location 1316 of 3295, the words are split over sentences e.g. pic and then the rest of the word "ture" on a new line.

I’m not sure if it was a file/download issue but there were lots of gaps and stops/starts which really ruined the flow. I would love the chance to read a better version as the description of the book appeals to me. I would be more than happy to re-read the book with a better file or as a physical book as the book topic and genre are of interest to me.

I'm sorry, but I ended up not finishing this one. I was looking forward to it, but it just wasn't working for me. There was just a disconnect between me and the writing style and maybe it's because I didn't expect it to come across so Young Adult, that's probably my fault for assuming. Thanks again though for sending me a copy, I hope it does well

the mc is such an annoying brat that i can't put up with her. if you are interested in reading this novel i recommend you check out some more positive and/or detailed reviews out. ...more

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: She Is A Haunting
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Trang Thanh Tran
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: LGBT+ YA Horror
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 28th February 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4/5

Well, this was certainly an experience. At one point I’m not sure whether I was devouring the book, or the book was devouring me. I read this in one sitting with my eyes wide and teeth clenched

She Is A Haunting takes my entomophobia and shoves it down my throat without a care in the world. This story is quite possibly the creepiest I’ve ever read and was entirely too focused on creepy crawlies for me to feel relaxed. This eerie, gothic haunted house genuinely made me feel sick 😂 I absolutely do not recommend to anyone who is squeamish when it comes insects. I mean, with that cover, I don’t know what I expected really. But, if like me, you’re utterly pulled in by it’s description, then I really can’t blame you. This book was disgustingly delightful.

What really buried under my skin was firstly, the representation of Vietnamese culture. I really enjoyed learning about a culture I knew nothing about. It also gave the story another layer with Jade struggling with her cultural identity; too American to feel truly comfortable in Vietnam, yet too Vietnamese to call herself a full American. Colonialism and racism was also a heavy theme here and honestly, I l loved the way it was deftly explored, spat at, and burnt. This is the kind of marginalized representation I was hoping to read in 2023.

The main character, Jade, is prickly, resentful but also written really well. She’s resentful and fierce for all the right reasons but she’s also protective, quick to fall in love and start rebellions. I honestly loved her.

The story itself gave me The Ghost Woods vibes, one of my favourites of 2022. Is it just me or is the horror genre really leveling up lately?

This may be because the digital ARC I received was formatted really badly, but I often find myself getting confused in the story, struggling to distinguish who’s perspective I was reading or who the vague pronouns belonged to. This book could have benefitted from some refinement in this area.

Anyway, I’m off to bed with guaranteed nightmares.

🧚🏻‍♀️

She is a Haunting is at once a beautifully ethereal story and one mired in blood, guts and gore.

Right away, I was hooked by the stunning writing. It has the poetic, lyrical feel full of lush descriptions and sensory writing. That glamour has a definite edge and sense of darkness to it though. Before long, it fades away to reveal the rotting heart and truth. This is not a book that holds back. There are some truly disgusting sequences and plenty that blur the line between reality and fantasy. Occasionally, we dip into a stream of consciousness style narration, completely immersing you in this bizarre landscape where dreams melt into waking and ghosts are a constant presence. Trang has definitely caught my eye and ensured that I will be picking up whatever she works on next.

Jade Nguyen is a fantastic protagonist. Life has hardened her and the threads of her identity enshroud her, never feeling Vietnamese enough or American enough. Coupled with her closeted bisexuality and her fractured family, you understand fully the guards she has placed up around her. I adored her prickly nuances and that deep longing for family connections at her core. She does not forgive easily and nor should she. Beneath this is a deeply scared child forced to grow up too quickly and that vulnerability leaks through as the horror ramps up.

This book also heavily deals with the bloody horrors of colonialism and the ongoing influence it has. Here, the house is clearly marked by its abhorrent past and the bloodshed surrounding it. That influence and slow corruption is such an interesting way to depict the entrenched racism and ideologies that form a crucial part of colonialism’s legacy. It warps and shapes everything.

She is a Haunting blew me away completely. This is everything you could ever ask from a YA horror: unapologetic in its ferocity, creepiness and pushing the boundaries.

She Is a Haunting was a fascinating novel aimed at older teens which I enjoyed in patches but found frustrating in others. The narrator is seventeen-year-old Jade Nguyen who is American Vietnamese and a lot of the story deals with her internal conflict over how she sees herself. She does not speak fluent Vietnamese and when she visits the home of her family for the summer feels disconnected and less than. As the same time she has been hiding the fact that she is bisexual from her family and she is particularly concerned how her mother will react. So even before the story gets to the supernatural part the story has a focus on Jade, who is also struggling with a messy relationship she left behind in America with another girl. Combine all these elements together and She Is a Haunting becomes a very angsty book, probably too much so, and some readers are going to find it frustrating. However, the queer representation is excellent and readers who have personal struggles in coming out will be sure to identify with Jade’s internal monologue.

Jade has a complex relationship with her family, she has been promised funding for college is she helps restoring an old house in Vietnam her father is restoring and looking to open as a hotel. However, the house has a dark history and at times inserts itself in the narrative and the story also dips into the colonial of the house and the local area. The supernatural story did not particularly grab me, with Jade suffering from sleep paralysis and sees ghosts from the house’s history. As nobody believes her, she attempts to fake hauntings and I found this part of the story rather dumb. Along the way a new romance develops and Jade develops as you might expect in a coming-of-age novel. The haunting and the house had some good ideas with the use of insects and body parts, some of which was a bit gory. This was an ambitious novel which might make an impression on stronger readers looking for a thoughtful read, but it is definitely not for all tastes. AGE RANGE 14+

The writing is very pretty, has some beautiful quotes in there, but it felt distant to the characters, I did not feel them close to me, could not get closer to them and feel with them, you know?! I really wanted to love it as this kinda premise is really my jam, but it just didn't work for me right now. I might pick it up again when it's released in physical format.

I love the idea of queer gothics, and I love ownvoices from various cultures in the far East, and I do love an exploration of liminal space that’s to be found between one’s identities. What I do not love is an intensely purple prose that thrives on teenage emotions, and this book is very much that in addition to the good things above. For those readers with more tolerance to teenage resentments and anxieties this would probably not be bothersome: after all, the same flowery language works well when setting the scene with creepy colonial mansions in an oppressively hot summer. I guess I hoped for more of the magic that was Zen Cho’s Black Water Sister, or her Spirits Abroad, whereas the book is spiritually much more teenage angst upfront, cultural setting in the backdrop.

Thanks to #Netgalley for an advanced copy of the book.

I really enjoyed She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran.
The writing was really good, it was creepy and atmospheric.
I also really liked the main character Jade.
I definitely recommend this book especially if you are interested in a great YA queer horror read!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bloomsbury and Trang Thanh Tran for this advanced copy!

She is a Haunting is a LGBTQ+ YA horror, set in Vietnam. We follow Jade as her and her sister visit their estranged father as he restores/renovated an old house connected to their family. Having promised to pay her tuition back kn the US in return for her help, Jade has no option but to keep up her side of the deal. However, things start to go very wrong as unsettling dreams creep in, ghosts appear and dark secrets are unearthed.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit! It's dark, unsettling and quite scary in parts, I was definitely spooked at some points when reading alone at night. The story itself was intriguing and held my attention throughout.

Dealing with topics such as sexuality, family, colonialism and racism, there is a lot going on. At times it was a little confusing trying to figure out what was going on but it still made for a gripping read!

The last couple of years have been really awesome for post-colonial gothic, and gothic specifically about the migrant experience (thinking of Sara Faring, Silvia Moreno-Garcia). She Is a Haunting is a brilliant addition to this canon, focusing on teenager Jade as she spends six weeks with her father in Vietnam, renovating a French colonial house to become a hotel. The hauntings start almost immediately, and there is more than one ghost to choose from. Jade must come to terms with her family's historical position as servants to colonialism, and her relationship with her absent father, to save her family now from the hauntings.

This book felt a little more YA than I would normally read, with quite a bit of angst about coming out as bisexual and a growing attraction to Florence, who is also helping with the renovations (or at least, the website). But this doesn't detract from the horror elements, which are creepy in their presentation, but necessary, as Jade recognises, to learn what she needs in order to make them stop.

All in all, I enjoyed She Is a Haunting, and would definitely read more from this author.

This was a novel that I wanted to like more than I did. The story was strong and the writing was incrediblly creepy but the potential and execution fell so flat. There was litle description and imagination that left me feeling disconnected. It was a good read but not as obsessive as I wanted to be.

She Is A Haunting is a young adult horror novel that combines romance with haunted house horror and colonialism, as a Vietnamese American girl on the brink of going to college faces a building her family has history with. Jade doesn't feel like she's anything enough, has fallen out with her best friend, and wants to tell her mum she's bisexual, if it wasn't for the worry of how her mum will react. When her and her younger sister stay with their estranged father in Vietnam for the summer doing up an old French colonial house into a guest house, Jade is meant to be dealing with it, but instead, the house seems to be warning her and things feel very wrong. Her sister and dad don't believe her, so with the help of Florence, who Jade has just met, she sets about making the house seem haunted, but the house has other plans.

The book is told from Jade's point of view, with interjections focusing on the house, and you don't quite know what is going on. There's ghosts, there's a romance with Florence, there's Jade managing all her anger and family issues, and there's a lot of dead insects around. Jade has plenty of complexity, a teenager about to go to college who has to face up to how she feels whilst also dealing with a haunted house with a dark past, and it's interesting how she sees the other characters, particularly her dad. The story is tense and is creepy, with a claustrophobic feeling and a scary sense of not knowing if you're in control of your own actions, though the ending doesn't feel quite a resolution.

Queer horror is a great genre and She Is A Haunting combines a coming-of-age, caught between cultures story with an unsettling ghost tale that explores how a place can turn people against each other. For a young adult book, this is genuinely a pretty spooky horror novel that has very menacing undertones and some creepy bug moments.

She Is A Haunting is a horrifying, intelligent and touching tale. The main character really resonated with me, taking me back to a time where crossing that bridge from childhood to adulthood can be so difficult to navigate. There are several things happening in this story and I love how Jade’s internalised struggles start manifesting into her reality. Amongst all the horror and mystery, there is so much great representation which is not swallowed up in the story. What a fantastic YA debut novel. THIS is a haunting as I have no doubt it will stay in your mind after reading.