Spoilers: None
Genre: Fantasy
Format: e-ARC
Source: NetGalley (in exchange for an unbiased review)
Rating: Mixed
Together, Kiamling and her grandmother fight ghosts, spirits, and other monsters who threaten the citizens of British Colonial Hong Kong. No one appreciates the work they do. Everyone believes that the pair brings bad luck.
When her grandmother is spirited away, Kiamling continues to scrub pots by day and fight monsters by night, while trying to keep her sister untainted by association with her ‘bad luck’ so her sister can have a happy married life.
To Kiamling, this is a loving burden to carry, but to her sister, it comes across as resentful.
And initially, I thought her personality was just a reaction to her grandmother’s constant corrections. But after seeing her solo encounters, I think Chan wants to heavily reinforce that her sister is the light and Kiamling is the shadow – and went full grimdark to prove it.
Chan piles on the pressure. She relentlessly places the main character’s acerbic, headstrong personality in situations that shouldn’t cause conflict for anyone else, but of course for her that’s exactly what happens. Kiamling doesn’t build relationships, so her jobs don’t go well. She generally upsets people. The love triangle feels forced and painful, though maybe with good reason. She’s not a likeable person; she keeps showing herself up. She’s like a grimdark Buffy, and that made reading it feel like a slog.
I think I’m too old for it. I think its audience is younger, or people who like grim late-teen/early-twenties characters grumping around while doing the right thing.
And what makes me grumpier is that this is obviously what the author wants and intends: to make the characters and the world grim and to give the reader an exhilarating yet grim time.
Chan shows how the British are there for profit and exploitation, and they believe they are superior. Because of this arrogance, they have no regard for local traditions, which goes against everything she and her grandmother represent.
This sets up some great action scenes, including the opening, where a soldier almost kisses a corpse; an event for the dead, where the British don’t realise the consequences of their actions until fires start burning buildings; and another, where Kiamling has to bring stone statues to life to save the day. More generally, it felt like a real place. All this shows what the author is capable of.
There are also some structural issues. The pacing and urgency don’t seem right, and if the character grated less, I think I could have forgiven it more. It is mostly me, despite the issues. Maybe book 2 will smooth things out.
Throughout, Chan presents ‘tests’ for Kiamling, culminating in the final exam question, ‘Will she grow as a person?’
If you can stand an annoying MC, then read it and decide for yourself.
Note: I rate on a four-tier scale: Loved (4.5–5★), Liked (3.75–4.25★), Mixed (2.75–3.5★), and Not for me (1–2.5★).
Gav Reads 