Black Water Sister

By: Zen Cho

Narrated by: Catherine Ho

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.

Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke, and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there's only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she's determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god - and she's decided Jess is going to help her do it.

Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she'll also need to regain control of her body and destiny. If she fails, the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.

©2021 Zen Cho (P)2021 Recorded Books

A wild afterlife romp

A dead grandmother inhabits her young adult granddaughter. What could go wrong? Apparently a lot. This book was pretty great, with humor, violence, secrets, cultural observations and consequences of differences, family dynamics, criminal activity, spirits, gods, almost gods.

The main character is from Malaysia, but grew up in the USA. Now she is back in Malaysia with her parents and strange things are happening. You might have to suspend disbelief and just let this be. I loved the book and the narration. I listened quickly because I had to know the ending!

STRUGGLE

I really struggled in the first part of the book that dragged on way too long. I’m really grateful that I hung in there with the story . It eventually hooked me in and the story became entertaining. I hate that it took so long to get to that point of enjoyment because it really is a great story. The narrator was wonderful and probably kept me listening even when I wasn’t invested! Thanks for that Catherine!

Great story

I haven't bothered with writing reviews on Audible before but feel compelled to add my 5 stars to this. Admittedly I am biased being of Malaysian origin and of the same dialect group as described in the story though from the other side of the country, not Penang, but this story is so emblematic of Chinese-Malaysian families. Never mind the ghost aspect, which is funny and not really the main point, the interactions between the protagonists are straight out of the late 20th century SE Asian family playbook. Some film producer shuld snap up the rigts to this book - its funnier than Crazy Rich Asians, more realistic (no tycoon heroes, thank god) and has a more nuanced female central character. Just listen to this !

Generations collide whit ghosts gods and gangs

I really felt the generations colliding in this story and the longer it went on the more my fondness for all the characters grew. I just really enjoyed this, excellent narrator too.

Another all-star from Zen Cho

I loved everything about this books- the characters and setting were lush, dynamic and fully realized. The story was both esoteric and approachable- this may be the most identifiable ghost and god story I've ever read. There are also layers to this tale which come together in a delicious tiered cake wrapped in phenomenal narration. Nothing was unnecessary but it never felt sparse, the stakes felt real and the anxiety, helplessness, power and thrills were all beautifully rendered.
I like to go into a familiar author without knowing anything about the story and recommend you not seek spoilers either. This is a 10/10 recommend.

slow start but

It was slow to start but a third or halfway in, I got really into it

Sometimes confusing

I really liked this book, not loved it . Sometimes stuff dragged on. Some scenes were confusing . Good characters

Great story, but...

This was mostly really really great. I recommend it to anyone, and particularly certain Asian Americans might enjoy it. I liked the story and the duality of being not quite Malay, Chinese or American...

The narrator really was very off on Malay words. It was grating and hard sometimes as someone who speaks bahasa malayu and lived in Peninsular Malaysia recently. And I understand that narrators can't learn a new language everytime...and most people wouldn't notice it. It's just a shame.

Incredibly well done on the storyline, characters, and integration of myth from that part of the world.

Another thought is that there was a small missed opportunity to be really forthright and show more about the racial relations in Malaysia since this book also expresses other progressive themes. I can see it being controversial, and there are moments of very light racism in the book. It was surprising that there werent as many colorist remarks. From my experience, there is a complex experience too of religion with race because of the theocratic government. I'm guessing that is definitely too controversial if she wants to be allowed to distribute copies for sale in the country itself though!

underwhelming

I bought this book for a book club and really struggled reading it from all the broken English. got it on audiobook, the narrator did a good job and I understood it more hearing it read to me. the main character was wishy washy and immature and I felt like we were cheated out of the ending we deserved.

Really well written

It is a joy to find a book where the story is engaging & the language weaves a compelling picture. I love to learn a little about other cultures than my own too, so the point of view character gave me a great window into the folklore this story was steeped in, since she was half way a visitor herself.Some scenes were intense and frightening but I like scares with my ghosts.