The Girl with Ghost Eyes

De: M. H. Boroson

Narrado por: Emily Woo Zeller

It's the end of the 19th century in San Francisco's Chinatown, and ghost hunters from the Maoshan traditions of Daoism keep malevolent spiritual forces at bay. Li-lin, the daughter of a renowned Daoshi exorcist, is a young widow burdened with yin eyes - the unique ability to see the spirit world. Her spiritual visions and the death of her husband bring shame to Li-lin and her father - and shame is not something this immigrant family can afford.

When a sorcerer cripples her father, terrible plans are set in motion, and only Li-lin can stop them. To aid her are her martial arts and a peachwood sword, her burning paper talismans, and a wisecracking spirit in the form of a human eyeball tucked away in her pocket. Navigating the dangerous alleys and backrooms of a male-dominated Chinatown, Li-lin must confront evil spirits, gangsters, and soulstealers before the sorcerer's ritual summons an ancient evil that could burn Chinatown to the ground.

With a rich and inventive historical setting, nonstop martial arts action, authentic Chinese magic, and bizarre monsters from Asian folklore, The Girl with Ghost Eyes is also the poignant story of a young immigrant searching to find her place beside the long shadow of a demanding father and the stigma of widowhood. In a Chinatown caught between tradition and modernity, one woman may be the key to holding everything together.

©2015 M. H. Boroson (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"A brilliant tale of magic, monsters, and kung fu in the San Francisco Chinatown of 1898." (Publishers Weekly)

wasn't what I had hoped for but wasn't horrible

the story at times, feels very much like a light novel... which is disheartening, as I abhor light novels. though, in general it has a great supernatural vibe.

also a bit disappointed with the narrator, at times it seemed as if she was over acting - there was a lot of the mournful, upset kind of reaction that I didn't think was always warranted. I've heard her before and she's done such a better job with other books.

interesting

interesting. its a good story, just not really my style. narrator did a good job.

Kick a** characters, action & emotional punch

The narrator's native fluidity with Chinese was the cherry on top of a kind of story we never get to hear. Her range nearly encompasses very distinct voices female and male, young and old. As a historical fiction/fantasy about immigrant Chinese told through the eyes of a young female Daoist priestess, this is the first exploration I've read of what gender, duty, spiritual and generational assimilation struggles might look like among Asian immigrants. I LOVED it.

definitely worth a listen

well researched and written. the voice actor does exceedingly well at making you feel the love, pain, and sorrow of the main character of the book.

Phenomenal

this was a beautiful story about a strong woman saving the day even though we rushing is working against her. From the social dictations to her own mental limitations, she fights. it's amazing and well told.

Unique and thoughtful

The concepts and seeing are really what drew me in. I love the culture being San Francisco Chinatown in the 19th century. The author does a phenomenal job with the cultural norms while also spelling it out for us who don't know the nuances. It also highlights the real world hardships that Chinese immigrants faced then and how an ancient culture adjusted to/fought the change of a new culture.

The power system is consistent and new ideas introduced don't feel out of place or overpowered. I also really love that her abilities are not solely for combat. Early on we see her sending items to the spirit realm and guiding those in the afterlife.

A few things I didn't like as much are the protagonist's inner monologue. At several points in the story it just feels like she's crying how it is all her fault. I get it, and that it is a valid emotion, but it was so consistent that I put the book down from time to time bc of it. She does express other emotions as well and I loved that. She seems very well rounded.

The other aspect is that she seems a little too forced to be an outcast. Her internal monologue tells us several times that she is an outcast. She had this eye ability and it's considered a terrible thing so she was an outcast.... But no one knew about it or they thought it was healed long ago....?
Then she is a young widow, which in this book they say is a bad thing.... But everyone loved her husband and cherished him? So I don't see why they would suddenly not be there for her?
And she was a woman and that made her an outcast.... Ok I get that one but why doesn't she have any other women friends?
She had an admirerer who wanted to wed her after her husband died and she rejected him.... Just bc. That's not a knock at her, she doesn't need to be married but she makes a huge deal about how she's so lonely all the time. Like why not remarry?
She meets another woman mage character who wants to connect and share her magic with her, but our heroine just shoves her off.

This concept of her being all alone and lonely is really hammered in hard. And I just don't see why we need that? I get she can't get help in the combat and battle but why make it so she literally has no one to support or love her except her dad? And even he isn't affectionate with her. He shows it in his actions but never words or reassurances.

I thought it was juvenile.

this seemed more like a preteen or teen novel to me. it was not something I would have chosen if I had known. also, the histrionic bent of the narrator had me rolling my eyes many many times. she had a whiny, on the verge of tears, overly dramatic way of reading that I found very hard to appreciate.

A genuine delight, captivating

I found this book to be very immersive I found myself incredibly captivated by the storyline and the reader's way of reading it. Others May say that the protagonist internal monologue could seem irritating at times, but personally I found that it added more depth to her I told you what she really felt and showed you how that changed her actions. She was fighting with this sense of internal Good and evil which actually mattered because they were talking about the yin and yang how her father had to give her some Yang energy to balance out her yin eyes. She was an entirely sure if these monsters were something to fight against or to see as helpful tools that had a rightful place. I felt like her internal monologue added so much to her character without it it would be more bland she'd be more two dimensional. Anyways I really liked it I think that everybody should give it a listen it's really nice.

Surprising Twists Throughout

I enjoyed almost everything about this book. The cultural intertwining of various beliefs, the magic system, the character development, the historical commentary, and the pace. I think some parts were passed by too quickly, however, and I wish there was more content, as this was a fairly short novel by my standards. Emily, the voice actress, also did very well in representing the characters, creating immersion, and representing Chinese culture in a fairly accurate way.

The Girl with Ghost Eyes

This book was excellent in all three categories. I love the author's note as well.