A beautiful premise with strong characters, yet the book felt both convoluted and too complex to piece together and understand. I wanted the characters to make more sense together and as a reader, I need more gaps to be filled in order to enjoy the story.

DNF 60%
This had my interest in the beginning but after a while it was just tedious. I usually enjoy jumping around in timeline but this one leaves me with no idea where it’s going and ultimately taking too long to get the point.

A sprawling tale of epic proportion, I went into Build Your House Around My Body expecting it to be straightforward supernatural tale set in Vietnam, but in fact it is beyond any sort of conventional classification; while horror is definitely one genre it covers, it is also part historical fiction, magical realism, character study, and literary fiction. I was at first overwhelmed by its unexpected complexity, and at one point, questioning whether I should ditch the effort. But at the end of its 400 pages, I had to admit it was truly a heartfelt, haunting, and at times, grotesque experience.

Spanning more than fifty years, trauma is one of the pivotal themes explored in Build Your House Around My Body, an emotion not only felt by its characters, but also the country itself, as it went through various political turmoils. And from that physical/metaphorical wound came rage and hurt, and the story dives deep into how this intangible force takes possession of people and place, making them haunted and cursed.

Told in a nonsensical, nonlinear fashion (8 days before, 14 years before, 16 days before, 3 hours before... etc.), I question if the narrative fragmentation of such extreme is necessary to an already complicating plot (spanning across at least 3 generations of characters), because I have lost/confused characters along the way, and when it came to the closure tying everything together, it was more confusion than satisfaction as I couldn't recall who's who.

Build Your House Around My Body gets a cautious recommendation, because what it has accomplished is quite astounding; the Eastern attitude towards the supernatural, the history lesson, the bleak atmosphere and ghoulish imagery, and the sympathetic, but broken characters who are being led towards the path of doom. But it is also a novel that can be easily misunderstood and disregarded as boring and 'too much work'. Worth a try if you're in the mood for something substantial and unusual.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. This is an amazing read easily the best book I have read in years, I was soo sad when it ended, I so wanted it to continue, I can't recommend this book more. a must read!

I looooove a multiple-timelines story. You may not love the characters in this all the time but you will be rooting for them regardless.

This book was unlike anything I've ever read. The layout takes quite a bit of getting used to, but once you've settled in with that, the story truly shines.

Build Your House Around My Body primarily follows Winnie, a Vietnamese-American woman who has recently moved to Vietnam to passively work as an English teacher and frankly, live out her days lost and wandering. However, we get multiple timelines and follow a cast of intertwined and interesting characters across different landscapes and eras of Vietnam. I will say, I think the synopsis sets this up to be something different than it is. Yes, we are following the time leading up to and immediately following Winnie's disappearance, and we do touch on the disappearance of another woman in 1986, but the scope is much wider than simply following dual timelines. I was expected the typical thriller trope of old unsolved case meets eerily similar present day case and secrets come out, but that really isn't at all what this is. In fact, I'd characterize this more as horror or magical realism than mystery or thriller.

I loved this book so much more than I was expecting. I kept putting off reading it because I was intimidated by the size, the scope, and the extremely mixed reviews this was getting. I wasn't entirely sure what sort of story I'd be getting into and was worried I wouldn't be able to quite wrap my head around it, but this was smart and effortlessly immersive. It is a complicated web of a story, no doubt there is a lot to keep track of and sometimes you feel like you're missing something, but immediately upon finishing this book, I wanted to reread it. Violet Kupersmith has said she wanted to write a book about Vietnam that was about more than the big cities or war, and I think she really succeeds here. The varying landscapes, characters, and timelines we get here paints a full and fluid picture of a complicated and vibrant country.

I had my favorite sort of reaction to the characters in this book, and that's where I absolutely hate all of them, but am rooting for them at the same time. I especially felt this way with Winnie, a sense of disdain yet deep understanding. The male characters in particular are absolutely the worst on so many levels, but they're written so smartly that I couldn't help but admire them. I didn't understand the title of this book until the end, but then it really hit me. Build your house around my body, a thing that is not mine, a thing you can shape your life, your love, your fear around, a thing both of me and not. The discussion of gender and autonomy or lack thereof in this book is ever-present, but not so on the nose. I think thematically this is a brilliant, brilliant book.

This was one of my top reads of the year. I hardly ever give out five stars, but I knew not even halfway through this was a five star book. It impacted me so strongly and is such a full-bodied book. Like I said, I immediately wanted to reread it. I can't stop thinking about this book and don't think I will for a very long time. It was unexpectedly scary and dreamy, rich and layered, eerie and haunting, dense but entirely worth it. Highly highly recommend to readers who enjoy books with a sense of ennui, complicated historical fiction, and gritty horror. I can't believe this was a debut novel, and I definitely can't wait to see what Violet Kupersmith writes next.

Build Your House Around My Body is not the kind of book that I generally gravitate to, but for the kind of book that it is (which really defied description for me - historical semi-magical realistic mystery horror? It's hard to encompass it in a genre), it was executed exquisitely. I really enjoy books with a lot of different connected pieces where you gradually see the connections; throughout the process of reading, I had "aha!" moment after "aha!" moment. The gradual and subtle reveal of the connections across generations was satisfying and well paced - I felt satisfied by the rate at which I was learning things, but enough was kept opaque that I constantly felt the need to read more.

The end, while potentially unsatisfying to some, felt very appropriate to me. The pieces came together in a way that felt right, an apt conclusion to a multi-generational tale of women who had been abused by men and the world. It's not a happy ending, per se, but I found it uplifting for what it was. Throughout the novel we met characters who were trapped - by their family, their relationships, their identity, their depression, their trauma, their ghosts (real and metaphorical) - and in the end, some of the characters were set free.

That being said, I'd be remiss not to note that this is a dark book. The dominant theme is the trauma inflicted upon women by the world (although it certainly does not gloss over the traumas that some of the men face as well!), and the dangers of the world, both real and spiritual, are laid bare. The incorporation of Vietnamese mythology, particularly as it involves ghosts, is masterfully done, and the result is chapters that are long, atmospheric, and incredibly creepy. I felt both completely compelled and deeply unsettled by the writing, which I would imagine was the author's goal.

To sum up, it's hard to say that I "liked" the book, because it's such a dark and intense book, and not necessarily an emotionally easy read. However, I am very glad that I read it and found the reading experience engaging and worthwhile. Fans of similar books (multi-generational, steeped in culture, atmospheric, otherworldly, etc) will certainly appreciate Build Your House Around My Body.

An interesting and very experimental take on Vietnamese history and current reality, though I can see how it can't and likely won't appeal to all readers.

I don't think I've ever read another book quite like this. The story centers on Winnie, a Vietnamese-American young woman who travels to Vietnam to teach English and then disappears - but quickly spirals out into a series of interconnected settings and folklore stretching from the Highlands to Saigon and going back years. I struggled a bit, especially early on, to keep track of all the characters and understand how they were connected, but I ultimately thought that was the book's greatest asset. Pieces of plot weave together so beautifully as the book unfolds, and ultimately you don't need to perfectly track every piece to appreciate the depth and layers of the plot and the sense of atmosphere Kupersmith creates.

Heads up: If, like me, you are mildly terrified of snakes, this book does have a couple pretty intense snake-related scenes in it, so might be worth keeping in mind.

This was a great read. I enjoyed it so much that I went and bought it right after I finished it. It has many characters and storylines to follow but all compelling and sometimes even quirky. It definitely stayed on my mind for a couple of nights and gave some interesting dreams!

I didn't get it.....

Winnie is an American woman living in Vietnam, trying to find herself. There is also Binh, a young woman who lives in Vietnam. How do these two stories intersect?

Build Your House Around My Body should have been the perfect book for me. It had some fantasy, some strong prose, and it felt non-American. However, it was very long, and I didn't understand the ending. The book is told in alternating time periods and involves different characters. Even by the halfway point, I was still wondering what was going on and how all of the characters were related. By the last 90 percent of the book, I had a good idea how all of the characters were related but then I didn't understand the ending at all and felt really disappointed that I actually stuck with this book all the way to the end and didn't give up, only to be letdown with no payoff.

Tip: If you are interested in this book, I would HIGHLY recommend the audiobook version. It was delightful, and I could not have pronounced all of the words without it.

*Thanks, NetGalley, for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest opinion. Please note that the Kindle version of this book kept crashing so I had to read this through the NetGalley app.

I enjoyed this book. I ended up listening to it.
It felt longer than 400 pages! The beginning starts slowly and introduces really different characters, and at very different timelines too. At first I had no idea how they were connected, but as the book continues I started piecing it all together. And, there are smoke ghosts and snakes and ghost snakes! At one point I was trying to sleep and had to chase the smoke ghost out of my mind because it was creeping me out.

By the time I got 70% into the book, I could not stop reading. Things were making sense and remaining creepy. The final few pages really closed it out with a good a-ha moment too.

*Note - my eARC wouldn't stay open on my kindle and just crashed the app repeatedly. So I got the audiobook from the library after the publication date.

Loved the descriptions in this book of the different settings and the past and recent present. The folklore of Vietnam was interesting and I loved how the story slowly unfolded in so many different ways and came together at the end.

This is definitely my type of book: weird, creepy, complex, and magical. It takes place across time periods in Vietnam, with a cast of characters who are all connected in some way by the area's legends and curses. A character does go missing, yes, but the book for me was more about connecting everything and enjoying these terrifying and fantastical stories like a smoke cloud that eats and/or inhabits people, or eyes that can fly through the forest and watch people, and that type of thing. I felt the ending could have been better, but it was still great.

I’m half-Vietnamese so when I saw this #OwnVoices read on NetGalley, I didn’t even read the whole summary before I requested it. It’s so hard to find books with Vietnamese mains and because of that I so desperately wanted to love this book. Really, it should be a book I’d adore. It seems like it’s right up my alley: missing persons and ghost stories; I read those a lot, why shouldn’t I like them together?

Winnie is half-American, half-Vietnamese, living in 2011 Saigon looking for some kind of meaning to her life. Binh has lived in Vietnam her whole life, and in 2009 she dies in an accident. And in 1986, a teenager referred to only as “Old Ma’s daughter” survives a mysterious night in a snake infested plantation. These three women’s stories become inextricably linked as the men in their lives connect them to each other. Long is Binh’s childhood friend; Binh is the sole obsession of Long’s older brother, Tan; Tan has a drug fueled one night stand with Winnie; Winnie is dating Long and teaches English to a man under the employ of The Fortune Teller; The Fortune Teller helped find Old Ma’s daughter.

The connections are flimsy, and often hard to connect. The story progresses non-linearly starting with Winnie’s disappearance. We explore Binh, Long, and Tan’s childhood while branching out to what almost feels like Vietnamese folklore: two Frenchmen build the rubber plantation where Old Ma’s daughter is found, years after the pair commit suicide. The Fortune Teller is a mixed French-Vietnamese man who comes into his own while abandoned in the forrest at the start of a war. It’s hard to string all the different narratives together, especially since this is a generational story…about women. It’s so easy to forget that because, aside from Winnie, there are no other points of view from a woman. Binh’s story is told through the eyes of Long and Tan, and Old Ma’s daughter doesn’t even have a name; her story is sprinkled in various other men’s like the ghost story she’s become. Already, the story loses power because the women are sidelined in their own narrative.

I wanted so much more from this book. It didn’t get very interesting until about 90% through, but even then nothing is explained and there’s no resolutions, for any of the stories. As readers, we have more information than the characters because many of them don’t directly interact. Even when they do cross paths, and there’s a strange, deja vu like feeling, no one dwells on it and they basically walk into a trap. Build Your House Around My Body is reminiscent of Yume, and I found Yume so tedious. There’s so much being said, but nothing happening.

While I didn’t care for the characters or plot, I liked the imagery Kupersmith created of Vietnam. The story spans the whole country, from the high mountains, to dry plantations, all the way to the ocean. While the story is blurry, the images are clear and beautiful. Kupersmith’s writing is overly flowery but while it detracts from the story, it adds to mysticism she’s trying imbue in her characters and location.

This book is phenomenal. It's really enjoyable for two main reasons: the flawless and beautiful prose, and the gripping story it tells.
It's about two women that go missing decades apart from each other, At one point, both timelines (1986 and 2011 intertwine and we discover how that fates were linked. I would highly recommend this book to those who enjoy a good read with lots of supernatural elements and flawless literary prose.

This book really wasn't for me but I think it could be great for many others. The book is vividly written, which for me was not a positive in this instance. Much of the story felt like gore, which didn't feel necessary.

2/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an interesting and unique story. I absolutely loved the structure and formatting of the story, how we jumped around in time and perspectives until it all came together at the end. I heard this book described as a puzzle, which is a perfect description. The writing style was lyrical, atmospheric, and strong. Even from the chapters and perspectives with characters we didn't know, we got such a full and vivid picture of their narrative. I love stories that are rooted in reality but have speculative elements, which is what this story did well. I have nothing but good things to say about this book. The story style may not be for everyone, but I recommend everyone read it and see for themselves.

Intricate, detailed, and innovative. Those are the words I’d choose to describe this beautiful debut. The timeline jumps around a lot and there's a lot of characters to remember but the way they're introduced to us allows us to see a character's younger self and their future self without really knowing, which was quite clever.

The book takes place in Vietnam, shifting between a cast of interconnected characters, and moving from the 1940s to early 2011. Framed around a present-day disappearance, it weaves together supernatural, Vietnamese stories.

In 1986 the daughter of a wealthy Vietnamese family gets lost in an abandoned rubber plantation as she flees from her father, and the incident changes her forever.

Twenty-five years later Winnie who is American-Vietnamese, decides to move to Vietnam to live with her aunt and teach English. Winnie feels like her life is a dead end with a job she hates teaching English in Saigon and no friends, family, or significant other insight. When she goes missing, connections past and present emerge pulling significant details into the focus of how this development occurred and might even be a blessing. Exploring estranged families, unreciprocated love, and the relentless battles of womanhood, this story unfolds layers of biting, illuminating histories.

If you like feminist tales, horror, magical realism then this is the book for you.