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Black Water Sister

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Black Water Sister

By: Zen Cho
Narrated by: Catherine Ho
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About this listen

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 Fantasy Fiction Ghosts Horror United States World Literature Haunted Scary
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I loved about 2/3rds of this book. It was a fascinating immersion into Malay culture and belief. A breath of fresh air for me off the back of reading too many of the same sort of western fantasy series. I lost a bit of interest towards the end but the journey there was worthwhile. Excellent performance by the Narrator.

Really interesting

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Zen Cho delivers! Character driven and full of folklore, Black Water Sister is funny, dark, and strong.

Trigger warnings: kidnapping, sexual assault, domestic violence.

4 stars

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This was a great listen. The narrator was terrific and I enjoyed the multi-layered, cross cultural coming of age story.

A privileged young, Harvard educated, Malaysian woman returns to Malaysia having grown up on the US. She finds that in the end her self imposed politeness is not so different to the oppression of the women who have gone before her and she can choose not to be a victim.

Oh yeah, and there are ghosts and a pantheon of little gods that a lot of people don’t really believe in, until they do.

Something different and surprising

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This was not what I expected, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it would be darker, spookier - but it was funny, modern and insightful. The family relationships were the real star of this book. It's very character rich and quite touching. Not taking itself too seriously helps. The performance was really great. I seek out books with Asian characters and this was the best narration of a book set in Asia so far. I will be looking for more by both the author and narrator.

A lovely surprise, lots of fun

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Suspense, fascinating cultural backdrop, gripping emotions, intrigue. Started listening and couldn't stop! Now I want more!

This novel has everything

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I loved everything about this book. So much suspense and adventure. It was everything I hoped for.

Fantastic read

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