The Ghost Bride

Author: Yangsze Choo
Series: None
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Release Date: August 5, 2014

"One evening, my father asked me if I would like to become a ghost bride..."

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

It's been said before, but "The Ghost Bride" is basically "Spirited Away" if it were a novel and set in colonial Malaysia. Which is not a bad thing. It's been a while since I've done a review, so forgive my rustiness and the major spoilers ahead.

First, the bad. I found myself getting irritated with our main character Li Lan a lot. Whenever it's the right time, she always does the wrong thing, but whenever she does the right thing, it's always at the wrong time. For example, when she has a problem, she generally refrains from telling the people she loves but later on, she readily hands out information to people she knows she shouldn't trust.

When she discovered major revelations about certain characters, they felt very predictable, and I could easily spot them from a mile away. I couldn't help but shake my head at Li Lan for not realizing them any sooner herself. There were so many hints, girl. Should you really be surprised?

I did not appreciate how critical Li Lan was of appearances. If it was Tian Ban that haunted her dreams and not pudgy Liam Tim Ching, I swear Li Lan wouldn't mind. I am not justifying what the latter did—he was entirely spoiled and self-entitled—but really, the way Li Lan saw the whole situation...

Ahh, Er Lang. Er Lang! My darling, my love. The smooth dragon bastard that had me cracking up at every page. I did not expect for there to be a love triangle until Li Lan started ogling him way into the novel. Even then, I thought the romance between them wouldn't actually be serious. As much as I believed her love for Tian Bai was nothing more than a school girl crush, no matter how much she thought otherwise, I really thought Er Lang would amount to nothing more than a side character, forever mooning our heroine from the sidelines.

I loved Old Wong, Chendana, and even the Dutchman, Willem Ganesvoort. I enjoyed the richness of the setting, which has inspired me to do better in my own works. However, I wish we were able to explore more of the spirit world.

The ending, although for the most part, satisfying, was a tad disappointing. It was almost as if the author wanted to breeze through the last chapters and be done with it. I felt the whole plot with corruption in the underworld was wrapped up too neatly, and there were still questions that were left to be answered.

Why was the Second Wife sneaking around? If Li Lan would disappear without notice, wouldn't her father smoke himself into an opium haze while her Amah worried herself to death? I actually wanted Li Lan to spend a lifetime with Tian Bai before moving on to Er Lang, so that her family wouldn't have to experience having a missing daughter.