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.

Cracked

Author: Eliza Crewe
Series: Soul Eaters, #1
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Release Date: November 5, 2013

Meet Meda. She eats people.

Well, technically, she eats their soul. But she totally promises to only go for people who deserve it. She's special. It’s not her fault she enjoys it. She can't help being a bad guy. Besides, what else can she do? Her mother was killed and it’s not like there are any other "soul-eaters" around to show her how to be different. That is, until the three men in suits show up.

They can do what she can do. They're like her. Meda might finally have a chance to figure out what she is. The problem? They kind of want to kill her. Before they get the chance Meda is rescued by crusaders, members of an elite group dedicated to wiping out Meda’s kind. This is her chance! Play along with the "good guys" and she'll finally figure out what, exactly, her 'kind' is.

Be careful what you wish for. Playing capture the flag with her mortal enemies, babysitting a teenage boy with a hero complex, and trying to keep one step ahead of a too-clever girl are bad enough. But the Hunger is gaining on her.

The more she learns, the worse it gets. And when Meda uncovers a shocking secret about her mother, her past, and her destiny... she may finally give into it...

What kind of crap have I been reading?

Never had I been blown away by book as much as Cracked. That was in first person, present tense, no less. If I had, it must have been centuries ago, because I honestly can't remember. Mida's voice was so believable, so wonderfully refreshing, that I questioned if any of the young adult novels I've read and loved in the past actually deserved their place on my favorites shelf. Have I read so many generic books with bland point-of-views that I actually—gasp!—had set myself to low standards all this time and liked whatever managed to get a hint of emotion out of me? Because that is how I felt after setting down this novel. Thank you, Ms. Crewe, for saving me, then.

Mida, as the summary so aptly explains, eats souls. Of course, to get them, she has to kill people. Bad people but people nonetheless. She is not a good person. She doesn't delude herself into thinking she is. The only thing that stops her from not slaughtering every unfortunate human that comes her way is the memory of her dead mother, who tried to raise her to walk the high road, as they say.

When Mida accidentally finds herself swept up in a possibly literal battle between good and evil, she rides along in hopes to find more about her past and ends up having to masquerade as one of the good guys. Being the devil that she is, she has no qualms about manipulating her knights-in-shining-armor or throwing them to the wolves when the need arises.

I consider the many tools at my disposal, eyeing his large blood-splattered frame, and settle on my weapon of choice—one so infrequently used I need to dust it off first.

My eyes fill with tears. "Wha—" I swallow hard "—what were those things?"

"Demons." Thanks, Einstein. I got that part. I let a tear trickle over.

He hurries to reassure me. "Don't cry—I'll protect you."

Humiliating. Absolutely humiliating.

Mida is not my usual brand of heroine, but I found her to be hilarious, smart, and rather sympathetic, despite her selfishness. I giggled (giggled!), cried, and cheered throughout her journey and growth as a person. Sure, there was some cliched self-loathing at what she is, but I didn't mind much and when bigger reasons behind it were revealed, it wiped any eye-roll inducing feeling I had away.

Her friends were absolutely wonderful, as well as the other characters not fortunate enough to make it past the background, and she maintains a great connection with them built on respect, especially concerning her mom and her best friend Jo. Hooray for strong female relationships! The villains, oh, the villains, were excellently depicted and were possibly one of the first to send shivers down my spine. I loved the interactions between each and every character. They didn't feel like props the author put in for this reason or that. They felt real.

"I just get so mad sometimes. I'm never going to be a Crusader, never get married, never do anything. But who do I get to be angry at? The demons? They're constantly trying to destroy mankind and, if at all possible, Heaven too. There's enough reasons to be angry at them–my leg's superfluous. The other students, the Crusaders for how they treat me? They're not trying to be cruel, I am damaged. They're so very kind, so full of pity. I'd rather they hate me than feel sorry for me."

Speaking of relationships, perhaps it is time for me to move on to the romance. Although there is an attempt at seduction on Mida's part at a certain, unavailable "hero", a legitimate love interest for her has yet to be introduced or if my suspicions are correct, yet to be given a bigger role. Even though I am a huge lover of romance and an unreasonable romantic myself, I'm okay with that. I'm actually glad that she wasn't given a relationship yet. Constant kissing and I-love-yous can get very annoying when I have to sift through pages and pages of it, especially if it happens to be in a trilogy and the main character's single status is gone by the first book.

For die-hard fans of amour who disagree, I'm happy to report there is a side romance between Mida's companions Jo and Chi, who were best friends since childhood. That is, until Jo lost her leg. Since then, their relationship has been distant, although they still bicker like an old couple whenever they're together. Jo constantly strives to prove herself of being worthy to fight in a society of do-good warriors but for Chi, she already had a long time ago, handicap or no. For those who don't know me, I'm a sucker for these types of things. Best friends, childhood friends, and a tragic event that put some space and inner angst between the two? I never knew such an amazing package could exist. Best of all, it has none of the insta-love or love triangles that run rampant in young adult literature.

However, Cracked isn't as spotless as I'd like it to be. The usual tropes of paranormal fiction are there, such as the main character being a certain kind of special and having to integrate herself into high school for the first time. But much like Mida's inherently "evil" aspects of her personality, I had little to none complaints. The devices may be recycled, but I commend the author for her exceptional character development, engaging writing, and fast-paced, action-packed plot that made it worth it. I only wish that I had read it sooner.