In other words, this is the type of novel I would more expect to find in science fiction than in fantasy: a thriller that flies by while making you think and feel extremely deeply. It flew on by and was an absolute page-turner, but at the same time, it wasn't a light or breezy read-this book digs into some serious themes regarding the sanctity of family, how hard it is to feel courageous when you want acceptance from your family, why people have faith in religion, the complex interactions between different religious faiths, and so much more, all in under 400 pages. Besides one scene toward the end of the book, there was not a weak link to it.
This book had pretty much perfect plot structure, pacing, character relationships, dialogue, everything. What follows is a fantasy thriller in which Jess tries to fix the mess she's gotten herself into while managing her large extended Asian family's constant drama and her secret long distance relationship with her girlfriend. While here, she becomes haunted by her grandmother who passed the previous year, who gets Jess involved with gangsters and a fearsome vengeful god, the Black Water Sister. We follow Jess, a Harvard-graduated closeted Malaysian-American girl who moves with her parents to Penang in Malaysia while she is searching for a job and helping her family out. I mean, one of the taglines alone is enough to make someone want to read it-gangsters, grandmas, ghosts, and gods-but the execution of that premise was beyond anything I could have expected. So yeah, I had a really good time with Black Water Sister.
So this is a book that a friend of mine recommended to me years ago, and I just kept putting it off because I'm an idiot who doesn't listen to my friends even though they clearly know what's best for me, and finally she complained that I never read anything she asks me to, and I felt guilty, so I put this on my January TBR and HOLY GOD OF SWISS CHEESE do I feel like a moron for not reading this earlier.
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