Beautifully creepy. Like all ‘ghost’ or haunted house stories, this nicely balances the internal conflict of the MC with the supernatural aspects so that the latter mirror the MC’s state of mind. The setting was great and the family dynamic was complex and satisfying.

She is a Haunting is strange and eerie, featuring generational trauma and queer horror. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and I feel like it matches the atmosphere of this book perfectly, and I loved seeing how our main character Jade takes a stand against colonialism and ghosts and racism in order to save her family. The horror doesn't focus so much on a scare aspect as much as it does on a gross aspect - there's lots of rot and decay and infection and death throughout that made this quite uncomfortable to read, but in a clearly intentional way.

However, I just think the execution didn't quite work - the creepy house in this story is a character in its own right, but I don't think it quite had enough description; I couldn't point this house out to you if I tried, and same with the characters. But I just think these are elements that can just do with a bit of polishing, and then the whole book would come together much more neatly, because everything else is so great, especially the involvement of so much Vietnamese culture woven into the plot.

I would definitely say that if you're a fan of queer horror and flawed families and creepy vibes, you should definitely check this book out. It was perfectly unsettling and I think a lot of people are going to really love this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for gifting me access to this eARC!

I was so grateful to have the opportunity to read this, especially in the week prior to Halloween. It was the perfect spooky read for the Autumn season; ominous and eerie from the very first page, a feeling that doesn't let up even after the book is long finished. This is definitely one that will stay with me.

The writing is beautiful. Undeniably flowery and purple at times, which some may dislike, but which felt thoroughly correct for the story within the pages of this one. When a house is seen as a living, breathing thing, it seems only right that the writing be more poetic than not.

There are moments of true horror in this. Plenty of moments that I can only describe as gross, in the most shocking of ways, without being too obvious or too much. Themes of rot, decay and infestation are strong throughout. I loved, loved how the author was able to integrate the house at the heart of it all, the experiences being the same for a home as for a person, at times.

Knowing little about Vietnamese culture, I really enjoyed reading from the POV of a young Viet-American girl, who feels never one or the other of anything. The writing really lent itself to the setting, beautiful images conjured up of the Vietnamese countryside, even when followed by those more terrible. I really liked the main character and related to her in some ways; in others, whilst I couldn't relate, I could empathise and feel for her, as you want for a character that is written well.

The interludes from the perspective of the house itself were particularly creepy and wonderful; the link to a body part for each one just utterly perfect metaphorically!

I struggled with the pace of this one, if anything, and the use of foreign language without always having the translation; but that's not a fault of the book, per se. I loved that this book really focused on the history and colonisation, which was really at the root of the haunting.

Definitely would recommend!