4 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this! At first I wasn’t sure I could get into it, it’s a YA book and it definitely fits with the genre. But I really liked where this book went and wasn’t expecting that level of adventure. It was a very fun read! I thought this was a standalone for some reason, but the ending makes it seem likely that there will be a second book—I’m not sure if I’d pick up book two, especially because I suspect I know what the ‘reveal’/twist is (SPOILER DO NOT READ IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW MY THEORY: I think that Cara’s mum or grandma was the ghost speaker involved with Ambrose and that the life snake maybe erased the mum’s memories? Not 100% sure but the snake recognised the FMC bc her eyes look like her mum & Gmum, plus the grandma was acting super sus every time the snakes/the info about Ambrose & relationship was mentioned).

Anyways, it was a good read!

I received a free copy from Netgalley all opinions are my own.

I really enjoy urban fantasy and ghost stories. So this book was right up my alley!
I'm also a fan of rivals to lovers, so you bet I ate this one up.
I thoroughly enjoyed everything in this book, and I don't particularly have any cons that I can think up to lower my score.

The world building was really cool, and the magic was also cool. I'll really look forward to going more in depth with it in the future books. As the epilouge gives me thought that this is definitely not the end.

I really liked Cara and Zachs banter. I enjoyed them as individuals. And I loved the journey of disliking each other from the get go, to getting closer. Saving and protecting each other, eventhough they want to rip each others head off, to not wanting to lose each other. To finally realising their real feelings for themselves and the other person.

Yes I did squeal and scream a couple of times, which always means the book is getting a good rating from me lol.

This book was so good and I'm so happy I had the privilege of receiving and arc!

This book was utter perfection. The Halloween / autumnal vibes were immaculate and I can't wait to re-read this curled up under a blanket with a hot chocolate. I found it an addictive and fast-paced read with so much heart.

It has a slow-burn enemies to lovers romance between two high school students who have hated each other since they were children. Cara is Chinese-American and a ghost speaker who has tried to deny her powers whilst Zach is the golden-boy himbo who has to rely on Cara to save his life. The banter between them was fantastic and left me smiling so many times.

Their journey through the liminal space was reminiscent of PERCY JACKSON whilst the evocative writing style was similar to Maggie Stiefvater. This works as a standalone as there's no big cliffhanger but the epilogue definitely suggests a sequel is planned. I honestly can't wait!

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: If I Have To Be Haunted
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Yes
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Miranda Sun
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: YA Fantasy Romance
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 26th September 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 9th August 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★

“America likes to pretend its ghosts don’t exist. That its sins are safely buried in the ground. But pretending something isn’t there doesn’t make it go away. It just makes you less prepared for when the time finally comes to reckon with your own haunting.”

The poor asian girl has to save the rich white boy in this one and I enjoyed every minute.

This young adult paranormal fantasy is the perfect enemies-to-lovers autumn read for those who enjoy lighthearted fantasies with deep, tender moments. I found this very easy to read, in fact I accidentally kept finding myself skipping ahead with my eyes because I was so addicted to knowing what happened next! There’s tension galore in this book, both adventurous and romantic, which made it easy to stay completely hooked.

I was bowled over by the crazy wonderland Cara and Zach found themselves in on the hunt for an antidote. I loved the world building and I also loved the mythological components to the story. The Greek ideology of unity of opposites—depicted as creation and destruction in If I Have To Be Haunted—is to bring about balance. In this book this is enforced by the two snakes on the caduceus belonging to Hermes. Entwined with this is the Chinese mythology of the red threads of fate, which is one of my favourite beliefs due to the sheer simplicity and the romantic connotations.

Within the enchanting prose, there was also thematic exploration of Chinese generational trauma, xenophobia, a light sprinkling of Asian fetishm, wealthy privilege, and going hand in hand with ghosts: death.

This does read like the beginning of a series due to the way it ends. It does not end as a cliffhanger but there was some setting up for a sequel towards the end of the novel. Additionally there are a lot of unanswered questions that will haunt me until I get answers. I can’t wait to see what this author comes out with next and I hope it’s as every bit adventurous and romantic as If I Have To Be Haunted.

—Kayleigh🤍

Casper the Friendly Ghost meets Percy Jackson! This was such a good, gripping story! I loved the interplay between characters, the magic and the adventure. A truly fantastic YA read that I will absolutely be recommending to students.

3.5 haunting stars

Don’t let the rating fool you! This was an absolutely beautiful debut:
— the writing was gorgeous;
— I really enjoyed the family dynamics and how Cara struggled to meet the discordant demands and expectations foisted upon her by her mother and grandmother;
— above all, I absolutely loved the sweet rivals-to-lovers, banter-fueled romance with Casper vibes. Zach has the right stuff to become your next book boyfriend!

Why only 3.5 stars then?

Two reasons this book failed for me:
— the blossoming romance felt quite abrupt. Before he died, Cara and Zach were at each other's throats. While the tension between them was palpable, there were no signs he harboured feelings for her, especially since, following Cara’s POV, the reader never has access to his thoughts and emotions;
— ultimately, the main reason for the low rating is that I found the worldbuilding and the magic system - albeit lush and vividly imaginative - a bit confusing and messy.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating:2.5/5

Two things you should know before reading this book that I didn't:
1. It's not a cute and/or emotional romance . It's a fantasy adventure with a quest as its main theme. The cover gives off a completely different vibe than the one this actually has.
2. It's not a standalone, and the epilogue confirms this. While almost all things are wrapped up neatly, there is one plothole that'll probably be dealt with in the sequel.

I loved the beginning and ending of this book. I enjoyed reading about Cara's interactions with Laolao and her relationship with her mother and the familial pressure she feels was easy to relate to. I loved her banter with Zach as well.

My biggest complaint was the concept of the liminal world. It was the most confusing part of the book, and was not very well explained. The lord surrounding the Signet snakes was quite weird, and the worldbuilding was an under-explained, convoluted mess. The other character introduced at the 50% mark, Brittany, felt like the only purpose she served was to save our MCs from some of the most dire situations. The romance did not have sufficient time to develop.

This book definitely falls under the 'It's not you, it's me' category, and I'm sure many people will love it. This is just my personal opinion and I think the book will be well loved by many!

Hmmmm…I struggled a bit with this one to be honest. I know it’s aimed at a teen audience, so I have tried to take this into consideration.

For me personally, I just found all of the characters really annoying, and I struggled with the slow burn hate to love thing. I also struggled with Cara’s mum and their relationship.

I think some teens will love this, I know when I was a teenager wouldn’t have, but we are not all the same, and teenage me would never have picked up this book. The storyline is excellent however, plenty of twists and turns!

My thanks to Netgalley and Fiction Marketing for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

i was very pleasantly surprised with this read. i had different expectations for it, more of a fluffy contemporary than an adventure fantasy. still, i really liked it! the main characters were well done, i really liked cara, zach, and brittany. when it comes to the side characters, however, they felt a bit one dimensional to me. still, that isn't really a big deal as they aren't present for most of the book. i really loved the vibes of their adventure — it honestly reminded me a bit of percy jackson! you know, the funny villains, the different challenges? that was a very unexpected treat. also, the romance! i didn't expect to love cara & zach as much as i did. they were so cute. a little bit instalovey for me, but well, i enjoyed it so ! the writing was very flowery & poetic, which kind of threw me off when they were still in the "casual romcom" vibe, but i think it made sense when they crossed over. in terms of the fantasy world, i felt like the worldbuilding was a little blurred. i wish some things were better fleshed out and explained, and some things also felt just a bit too convenient. i enjoyed the ending, but with the cliffhanger, i can see that there are more books to come. i don't know though, i am quite pleased with how cara & zach tied everything up, so it remains to be seen if i will be interested in the sequel. still, this is a very solid young adult fantasy read & the author is definitely one to watch out for!

This book was just so beautifully written - the cover fits with that very well!
I read this book so fast, a truly magical read!
Would love to read more by this author!

4 very solid stars

Thank you to Harper Collins for my eARC! I had a great time reading this story!

If I Have to Be Haunted is a very entertaining, fast reading story with a ghost speaker, ghosts, a ghost hunter and magical beasts and monsters.

I read that book in record time as I really wanted to know if Cara and Zach’s “quest” would be successful!

The story begins with Cara and Zach bickering, as they’ve been doing for years now! Cara is a Chinese American girl whose now dead grand-mother could speak to ghosts and passed her gift to her grand-daughter.
But Cara promised her mother that she’ll never use her ability and would keep it a secret, just blending in and getting good grades.
Zach on the other hand is the town golden boy. Coming from a very wealthy family, a real charmer, he also is Cara’s nemesis.

When Zach dies unexpectedly, Cara is the only one who can see his ghost. And despite the promise she made to her mother, she can’t resist helping Zach to hopefully resurrect.
But that means embarking on a “quest” and going to a liminal world filled with danger! They will have to go from threshold to threshold, fighting monsters, deadly mist, ghosts and many other things if they want to save Zach. It’s also a race against the clock as they only have one week to succeed!

It was really enjoyable to read all that the author had imagined as magic ordeals and fantasy worlds. Cara and Zach had to help each other if they wanted to survive that place! And of course, slowly they grew feelings for each other.

If you are looking for a fast paced, effortlessly flowing fantasy YA with an enemies to lovers trope, this might be your book!

Miranda Sun's debut novel was absolutely amazing and such a brilliant read it’s so easy to get swept away in this romantic fantasy.
The writing it’s self is just so easy and flowed brilliantly , it is impossible not to devour the whole book in one sitting.

First of all, I would like to say thank you for the review copy, which was provided to me by the publisher. This fact does not in any way affect my personal opinion of this book. This post contains advertising and the rights for the book belong to the publisher.

Of course, is this only my personal opinion of the book and just because I give this rating to the book doesn’t mean, that everyone will have that opinion.

Normally, stories with ghosts are a bit out of my comfort zone. I like to read a few paranormal stuff in between, but ghosts weren’t my thing – until now.
The synopsis sounded so interesting, that I decided to jump over my shadow and request this ARC, and here we are.
„If I Have To Be Haunted“ is a really good debut. The writing style was very easy to follow, and if I get my hands on a print copy, I will definitely need to mark all the quotes that I highlighted on my E-Reader. The book is perfect for Fall and especially Halloween Week.
Overall the plot reminded me a bit of Percy Jackson and it filled a bit of a childhood void. It’s not middle grade, but solid YA. This genre tends to get more spicey in the last few years, but this felt like a good true YA fantasy book for me.
I liked the characters a lot. The reader gets a rundown fairly quickly about all the relationships and characters. I hope there will be a second book because some questions are still not answered, but I still think that this can be considered a standalone.
The author is now on my „watch out list“ aka I will check if there are any more new books coming because I enjoyed my reading time.

Conclusion
What an amazing debut.

I give 4,5 out of 5 stars!



Name of the publication/blog/outlet where your review will be published/posted: https://paulajosina.wordpress.com/

Run date for when the review will be posted/published: 03 August 2023 (Amazon on pub day)

A link to your review, if available, so we can share your review: https://paulajosina.wordpress.com/2023/08/03/review-for-if-i-have-to-be-haunted-by-miranda-sun/

I don't always rate covers from different markets, but the UK cover is clearly superior in this case, right? Look at the way those colours glow! The American cover makes Cara look like an insipid teen girl in love, and she's so much more than that in the novel, she's strong and clever and brave when she needs to be, and she knows how to lean on other people when she needs to, which is much rarer.

In a Mini Blogging Trend, this is one of two books I've read recently with this theme. This one is very heavily fantasy based, with Our Heroes traveling through different dimensions/lands and undergoing a Quest. The other dimensions are really imaginative and well thought out and I loved reading about them.

The family dynamics here are complex and interesting to follow and I love that they evolved during the story. It was so much fun to watch everyone grow and change during the adventure. I'm not sure if this is planned as a series, but I hope it is - I would love to read more about them and the history of Cara's family and how things may change now she has not only an ally but a distraction!

If you're into fantasy at all, definitely give this one a try.

This book was so cute! Also, I haven’t enjoyed a YA romantasy as much as I enjoyed this one in quite a long time, so here are my thoughts:

The beautiful writing style made it very easy for me to get into the story and connect to the characters. I also liked how the author included the protagonist’s heritage and her family trauma in the story line. It felt very authentic, and I couldn’t help but sympathise with Cara.

Additionally, Cara’s story and her character development was super enjoyable. She can be stubborn at times and doesn’t always make the right decisions, but that was what made her character so loveable. Also, it was heart-warming to read about Cara’s self-discovery and her journey to acceptance.

But what I enjoyed the most was definitely her relationship to Zach. These two were so cute and even though the slow burn was frustrating at times, it just kept me reading on and on and on. Their banter was everything, but I also liked how the author wrote the shift from haters to lovers since it felt very natural and not forced or rushed at all.

The fantasy part of the story was also well written. If you want to read this book, I really recommend you reading it in the fall because the atmosphere is magical and captivating. Moreover, I liked that the fantasy elements were not too overwhelming but still thoroughly developed. However, even though I enjoyed the fast-paced plot, there were times, where I wished the story would slow down and provide me with a few more explanations. Still, this is just a minor thing and nothing that really bothered me.

Conclusion:
If I Have To Be Haunted was a very wholesome and cute YA fantasy story with lots of great banter and a adorable haters-to-lovers romance. This is the perfect fall book if you are looking for a light-hearted but still emotional story with ghosts, magic and a slow burn romance. I rate this book 4,5 stars!

Finished this reasonably quickly. Not a bad example of the enemies-to-lovers trope as a YA novel with a high school setting; this sort of storyline I tend to find rather puerile, but this was an acceptable example of the genre. What lifted the story from the banal for me was the nicely handled immigrant sub-plot and (more importantly) the decent standard of writing.

The main plotline was also good: this involved a quest through various other worlds, but did not involve the usual urban fantasy / paranormal romance fae and faerie. Here we had Chinese-inspired fantasy as well as the standard Western fantasy which made the world-building fresh and didn’t come across as ‘been there, got the t-shirt’.

I would like to see more from this author, and wouldn’t mind reading more in the same setting - the story was self-contained, but I would say there were enough hooks to accommodate a sequel.

Cara Tang is a high school pupil with a difference, she can see and communicate with ghosts, a family trait that Cara has her grandmother to thank for.  Unable to let her friends and peers know her abilities is difficult, and makes Cara a little snappy at times, especially with Zach.  The attraction there is bubbling away from the very start!

Although I am far off the target audience for this type of book I can appreciate that it is well written, a YA book that I’m sure will be lapped up. Lovely storytelling, this author will go far.

Thank you NetGalley.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'If I Have to Be Haunted' by Miranda Sun.

'If I Have to Be Haunted' is such a beautifully written debut novel about a strong female protagonist and a ghost. Words in a review cannot do this novel justice so I highly recommend just picking it up for yourself to understand the beauty.

If I Have to Be Haunted is a fun young adult paranormal fantasy, with a generous helping of slowburn romance. It's the classic high school 'enemies' to lovers, following rivals who constantly wind each other up and get on each other's nerves. Their feelings develop slowly, but of course they are too stubborn to realise it and end up in situations that would be oh so much simpler if they would just talk to each other. It's the classic trope, but it is sweet and done very well. Cara is a brilliant protagonist and I loved following the journey through her eyes.

I have seen it tagged as Urban Fantasy, but whilst it might start that way, it definitely veers into mythological / fairytale quest fantasy for the majority of the story. I found the mysterious, everchanging liminal space that Zach and Cara were questing through interesting, but I would've loved to learn more about how Cara dealt with her powers in high school and the conflicting convictions of her family. In an early scene we see Cara having to hide that she can see and hear multiple ghosts causing havoc in the cafeteria and I think it would've been fascinating to see more of how she dealt with that as part of her everyday life. Whilst the story wrapped up in a really satisfying way, the epilogue definitely left a path open for a sequel so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for our protagonists teaming up in their home town!

Recommended to fans of YA fantasy romance.

A wonderful new YA fantasy full of emotion, adventure, angst, unexpected friendships, complicated families, ghosts, monsters and more! The world building has been done really well and makes it easy to visualise the characters in each setting. I really enjoyed the quest that Cara and Zach go on as they rush to get to the antidote by crossing through different lands and facing different challenges. The tension and bond between Zach and Cara was great. A well thoight out enemies to lovers tale with death looming and forcing them to face their feelings as the end nears. The only part I skimmed past was the creepy cannibal section. It's too freaky subject matter for me. But the rest of the book was a great young adult fantasy.