This was an exemplar of the unsettling, creeping horror genre. The horror was really superbly done—the atmosphere foreboding, the relationships skewed and unsettling, and all the bugs were just wildly creepy—and I like bugs! The horror genre is a perfect home for the exploration of main character, Jade's, relationships: with her parents, who each immigrated from Vietnam not entirely willingly; with Vietnam itself as a country she both does and does not belong to; with the ongoing effects of colonization and western exploitation of Vietnam, which serve as the catalyst for the story of her family and their different levels of displacement, and for the events of the novel specifically; and with her own queerness and her fears that this fact of herself will only increase her alienation. Between this and Mexican Gothic, if 'colonialism as an encroaching parasite' is going to be an ongoing genre, I'm here for it. I kind of lost track of the action near the end—I found the events at the climactic showdown, and of its epilogue, to be difficult to follow, engage with, and understand—but up until that point the book had me firmly under its spell.

“I am an ambitious gremlin, so of course I want it”

“I feel inadequate in ways I can’t put into words….”

“It’s easier to be a stereotype. It hurts when you are yourself”

This is not just a traditional haunting, it’s the haunting of a family- a generational haunting- all the things said and left unsaid, the memories, the missing moments, the distance and the yearning for wanting to be accepted and loved.

I find that YA books with trauma and healing themes, really resonate with me. Similar to House of Yesterday, I really felt the main characters confusion, hurt and anger and commiserated with her.

“Anger is what she deserves to hold in place of self-depreciation”

“Hate is too simple a word; what I’ve always felt is pain”

“ Even within families, love is an impossible thing to pin down. How can strangers”

Thank you to the author, Trang Thanh Tran, publisher Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, and NetGalley as always, for an advance digital copy of SHE IS A HAUNTING.

Jade agrees, as a favor to her long-suffering mother, to stomach a five-week visit to Vietnam, to her father's ramshackle estate that he's trying perpetually to fix up. But the house is full of shifting things and soon Jade's feelings start to shift-- feelings about her time with her father and other family, her time in his house, her time in Vietnam, who's Vietnam she inhabits and inhabits her.

This YA book builds a sophisticated narrative with an interesting form. It's a story about imperialism and violence against an entire people, as much as it is about skittering insects and spoiled food on the dinner plate. Though, I'm not sure I caught all the symbolism.

Unfortunately, I didn't favor the writing style. Also, I got lost in this story more than once, and was forced to backtrack to gain my bearings, and the ending felt abrupt. I still recommend SHE IS A HAUNTING because the concept is original.

Rating: 🦗🦗🦗 / 5 bugs in the kitchen
Recommend? Yes
Finished: February 25 2023
Read this if you like:
🌏 Stories about Vietnam
👩🏻 Diverse voices and stories
🏚 Haunted houses
👻 Possession
☠️ Horror stories

She Is a Haunting follows Jade as she arrives in Vietnam and struggles with a complex and unhappy relationship with her father. As soon as she gets there she has an odd feeling about the house and there are a lot of strange things with bugs... This one was just not my cup of tea. I unfortunately found myself pretty bored and not spooked at all by the strange happenings going on. There were certainly a few moments that I thought were a bit creepy and the author does describe things in a good way but there just wasn't enough for me. Thank you to Bloomsbury YA for the opportunity to `read and review this book.

I literally walked around living my life while holding and reading the book, I fould not put it down! Thank you Bloomsbury and Netgalley for an early e-book!!

First this book is written so beautifully without going over the top. It gives an creepy atmospheric vibe going between daily life, dreams, memories, and odd things with bugs around this house.

You follow Jade as she visits her estranged dad to help receive money for college, following the difficult relationship between them and each family member, unfolding some generational trauma. Another main focal point of the book is Kade explaining how she always feels like an outsider being raised in America and not feeling like she fits in because of being Vietnamese, and then not feeling liem she fits in there because she does not speak the native tongue well enough.

On top of all of this, as if it's not enough Kade has a secret of being bisexuality and dealing with the fears of coming out. As she struggles with all of this the house is haunting them and she is trying to save her dad and sister and make them see this.

Though I’m undecided on whether or not I believe in ghosts, I do enjoy a good ghost story every now and then. Usually, the book I end up choosing is YA or middle grade fiction and is pretty low key. The new YA book She Is a Haunting fulfilled my craving for something a bit on the spooky side for a while and also had some more mature themes, most of which just added to the creepy vibe.

Little known fact about me: I love big, old houses. So, books that are set primarily in a big, old house are always something I look forward to reading. If the houses happen to be haunted, that just comes with the territory sometimes. 

Jade and her sister, Lily, are staying with their father for several weeks in Vietnam. The deal is: spend some time with her dad and sister at the old house he’s finishing up restoring and collect a nice little sum of money to go towards college tuition. Sounds easy enough. But Jade can’t help remembering some of the last moments she shared with her dad before they became estranged. She blames herself for how things played out and though she doesn’t say it, there are lots of moments in the book where it’s clear Jade is dealing with some complex emotions. 

Jade is trying her best to ignore the nightmares and eerie things that are happening to her and around her, but eventually it’s no longer avoidable. Something is different about the nightmares she’s been having, and it has something to do with the house. Though Lily is young and gullible, even she tries to poke holes in the haunted house theory, accusing Jade of trying to escape her time with their dad. What if Lily is right and Jade is just seeing things?

As the story continues, Jade confronts her father about the bad spirits she senses and sees around the house, but unsurprisingly, her explanations are futile, her father is focused on finishing up the house project and making sure everything is perfect so he can show off all of his hard work. 

Things started getting a little bit more complex and harder to follow at this point in the book. Jade’s nightmares and reality started to blend, and it was difficult for me to keep track of what was and wasn’t really happening and what was Jade having a vision. The last half of the story was pretty intense, lots of confrontations with characters both real and ghostly. For all of the buildup about the house being haunted, the story ended quite abruptly and I found myself reading the last few pages over again just to be sure I was getting it all. If you’re looking for something that will make your skin crawl and might give you nightmares or a bit of trouble falling asleep at night, consider giving She Is a Haunting a try!

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books

unfortunately not my cup of tea. i was looking forward to reading this story, but i was sorely disappointed. it did not get me hooked at all and i found myself frustratingly bored and confused rather than creeped out, extinguishing any enthusiasm i had for the book. if it wasn’t for the fact that this was an advance copy, i likely wouldn't have finished it (i settled for skimming the last hundred or so pages)

thank you to Bloomsbury YA and Colored Pages Tours for the e-arc!

[SHE IS A HAUNTING is a horror novel that involves a lot of body horror, insects, and colonialism. Please check the author’s website for a full list of content warnings.]

SHE IS A HAUNTING, Trang Thanh Tran’s debut, has so many of the elements I love in a horror book: family secrets, past wrongs, compelling descriptions, and a desperation to protect people you love. Trang does a fantastic job of allowing the dread to collect around Jade in an uneasy slow burn that kept me turning pages, worried all the while that Jade wouldn’t realize how much everything was escalating until it was far too late. (The body part interludes were delightfully creepy and incredibly worrisome.) There were so many complicated and intertwined layers of what was happening (and had happened) inside the house, Nhà Hoa, that the reveals felt earned even if I had guessed some of them ahead of time.

I really liked Jade as the main character. She had nearly as many secrets as Nhà Hoa did, and having Jade uncover the house’s secrets while her own escaped her grasp was a great way for the story to unfold. Jade’s first-person narration was very well done, and I appreciated how much character Trang could pack into Jade’s internal thoughts and observations. There were some very lovely (and sometimes also horrifying) bits of prose in SHE IS A HAUNTING that helped establish Jade’s character in fantastic ways.

Sometimes romance can undercut the narrative in a horror story, but I very much enjoyed Trang’s development of Jade and Florence’s relationship. Jade and Florence served as foils for one another in many ways, and I looked forward to them falling for each other just as much as I looked forward to uncovering more about Jade’s family secrets and learning about what had happened in Nhà Hoa. Where Ba’s character had to be kept more mysterious to preserve tension and Lily’s served more as the person Jade had to protect, Florence was the one Jade could be messy and honest with—and be believed when things started going very wrong.

There’s so much going on in SHE IS A HAUNTING regarding colonialism in Vietnam, diaspora feelings, and identity, but a lot of it I can’t talk about without going deep into spoilers. I’ll just say that this book grapples with big, important ideas, and the author used horror to better explore them. That kind of complicated exploration is one of the strengths of good horror, and Trang did a great job of it.

Recommendation: Get it now, especially if you are a horror fan. Trang Thanh Tran’s debut novel is filled with secrets, past wrongs, and the repercussions of colonialism. Jade’s struggles to sort out her present while she tries to unravel the secrets of Nhà Hoa make for a tense, compelling read. SHE IS A HAUNTING (and its haunting prose) is going to stick with me for a long time.

This is a very haunting read. Geddit? No? Okay, I'll stop. 'She Is a Haunting' by Trang Thanh Tran is an evocative story with a lot of beautiful, creepy and truly haunting imagery. This wasn't as much of a horror story as it was a spooky one for me.

Often times the worst and most horror-inducing parts were the reminders of racism and colonialism and it's very real influence all across the world. The french white supremacist "neighbours" in this story should watch their backs.

I wish this book kept me captivated longer. The introduction was very strong with the poignant imagery and the chapters that are from the POV of the house. However, it felt like it got muddled along the way. This might just be due to the nature of the story and it's eerie, haunting feeling. Jade is a teenage girl in the midst of all this spookiness so sometimes it felt like I was reading a running stream of thought and description instead of a cohesive plot. Overall, it was a slow read and once my interest waned, it was hard to get back into reading it.

I love the concept of a horror house where there are layers of trauma, tragedy, and history to unpack. This one was a bit hard to follow and stay focused on throughout. I wish I enjoyed it more, but I know this story will reach the hearts of the folks who enjoy it.

Thank you to CP Tours, Bloomsbury USA and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Jade Nguyen visits her estranged father in Vietnam, she only has to do one thing: pretend they're a happy family for five weeks. If she can do that, Jade will make it out with that college money he promised her - she will make out of that French colonial house he's restoring alive. But, what if that house has other plans?

I'm not a big fan of horror novels. But, if I'm going to read horror, THIS is what I want to read. Why? Because She Is a Haunting is so much more than a horror novel. The themes of family dynamics, sexual identity, racism and colonialism gave a lot of dimension to the story. And I love how Tran puts these issues in the novel; it makes you reflect on how horror isn't always the supernatural - even in a story about a haunted house.

All in all, this is probably one of my favorite horror books. Definitely would recommend.

What a unique and fascinating novel. It was gruesome, powerful, terrifying and poignant all at once. It is refreshing that the MC, Jade, is unlikeable, and yet you're still rooting for her. The added elements of history, colonialism and racism is executed well. I found the family dynamic interesting, as well as Jade's discussions about her sexuality. Highly recommend for older teens.

3.75 stars, but rounding up to 4.

If you've ever heard a noise and thought, "oh, it's just the house", well, after this book, you won't be able to listen to those words and not feel your stomach drop!

This book is a perfect blend of supernatural horror & historical horror.
We see our young Bisexual heroine deal with a house possessed and taking control of her family and her waking moments and the racist history that is at its structure. Also, I enjoyed how we, as readers, see her callout (in her mind) the investor having a degree in colonialism and thinking it's delightful history.
It's trippy seeing her lose her sense, and we, the reader, lose it too, as the ghosts use her trust and feelings against her.

While it was a tad slow in some areas, I think the lack of control displays a truth to the story and the affects the ghosts have.

This is such a captivating and creepy book. It kept me up way too late trying to reach a good spot to stop, it was so hard to put down. The way the classic gothic horror elements blended into the history of colonialism and racism within the home was so well done. The mystery elements were also very well written it was difficult to full wrap your mind around what was going on, which made the moments things clicked into place so satisfying. The setting was beautiful, oppressive, deep in your bones creepy immaculately done. The characters were also well written and complex and it was interesting seeing the personal history of Jade and her family unfold alongside the larger mysteries of the house. All around a well written book. I am so curious what Trang Thanh Tran will write next.

It was a slow read. I couldn't get into this book at all. There were too many descriptions instead of actions for me.

An interesting horror novel where the house is the one haunting not necessarily a ghost. There was a lot of history and culture to unpack in this one that made it pretty intense and dense to get through. The story was hard to follow at times, but as it was a supernatural tale that is a give and take. Overall not bad, just not for me.

Ever since I first heard about this book, I’ve been eagerly anticipating it. Bisexual Vietnamese-American protagonist, dealing with a complex family situation and living in a haunted house, sounds like exactly my thing. Lush and haunting, She Is a Haunting follows a girl as she and her sister join their estranged father in restoring a colonial home, a house that turns out to be haunted with secrets.

When Jade Nguyen realizes she’s short on tuition money, she agrees to join her estranged father in Vietnam, where he’s renovating an old French colonial home to turn into a bed-and-breakfast, along with her sister Lily. The house immediately seems off to Jade, proven days later when ghosts and bad dreams plague her. She and Florence, her father’s business partner’s niece, decide to prove to her father that the house is haunted, which only upsets the house and its ghosts more.

Personally, I’m not much of a horror person (I’m too easily scared), but I couldn’t help but be intrigued by this premise. I also love to see new Vietnamese voices in literature, especially in YA! This book is set in Vietnam, and it was interesting to read how this adds to Jade’s identity crisis, for lack of a better word.

Jade is Vietnamese American and constantly feels torn “other” is both cultures. In the US, she feels too out-of-place, especially with her family situation and trying not to upset her mother, who works long hours as a nail tech to support their family. Yet in Vietnam, she doesn’t feel at home either, since she doesn’t speak the language very well. It doesn’t help that she’s staying with her father, who left their family four years ago without so much as a backward glance.

Jade is also bisexual, something she hasn’t explicitly told anyone. This all amounts to her feeling “too much” everywhere, not fitting in anywhere. I liked how her sexuality isn’t necessary something she has to come to terms with, but instead, she has to learn how to open up to others in general. I feel like Jade is generally in a self-destruct phase right now, and I just loved following her character. Tran really balances both Jade’s finding herself with the plot so well.

As for the plot, I was creeped out yet couldn’t stop reading. The house Jade’s father is restoring is a French colonial house in Đà Lạt, so of course it has its secrets. As she learns more about the house’s history, both through research and dreams one of the ghosts shows her, she’s horrified by the injustices the Vietnamese people living in the house experienced, including her own great-grandmother. Even now, she learns a little about the French family who built the house from a condescending white couple who are funding her father’s work.

I also liked the side characters and Jade’s dynamics with them. Florence, in particular, proves to be a tricky character; she’s very bold and agrees to Jade’s plan to “haunt” the house despite the fact that Jade was continually rude to her. The two of them do click very easily though, and I really liked their scenes together.

Other than her father, Jade is very close to her mother and younger sister. She feels the need to protect all of them, including her hardworking single mother, which is very eldest-daughter-of-immigrants of her. Even when she fights with Lily, who’s determined to forgive their father, she knows she has to keep her out of trouble and protect her from the horrors going on in the house. Jade’s complex relationship with her father, whom she hates for leaving their family yet can’t help but love him, was interesting to unravel throughout the story.

She Is a Haunting explores a complex identity and the scars colonialism leaves behind, even decades later. I enjoyed the story and really liked the characters, especially the protagonist’s characterization. If you’re in the market for a horror novel with intriguing characters, I think you should pick She Is a Haunting up!

A slow-burn YA horror set in a crumbling French mansion in the highlands of Da Lat, Vietnam. 17-year-old Jade and her younger sister, Lily are spending the summer with their estranged father at Na Hoa, a mansion he's restoring in order to turn into a fancy BnB. Jade, sullen, angry, and full of bisexual panic, doesn't want to be there but she has no choice - her father is holding the tuition money she needs for college over her head, so she has to stay. But something's not right with Na Hoa. Food rots in a perfectly good fridge, dead bugs accumulate on all surfaces, and there's a weird thumping sound in the walls. The house seems to be...alive somehow. Things get worse when Jade starts seeing the ghost of a young Vietnamese bride who gives her a cryptic warning: don't eat.

That can't be good. You kind of need to eat in order to live.

I'll admit it took me a while to finish this book - it took me forever to finish the first half, but then only a few hours to finish the second. The writing can be a bit vague and clunky at times, with some weird transitions that had me re-reading entire pages to see if I'd missed something, but those are regular flaws seen in ARCs, and likely won't be around in the finished copy. As with a lot of horror stories, the ending feels a bit rushed - I always wish we could see more of the aftermath of a horror story but that tends to be how the genre goes. In all, this is a delightfully creepy haunted-house story with a little big of body horror to seep into your nightmares. Highly recommend for anyone looking for original YA horror!

Thank you to Trang Thanh Tran, Bloomsbury YA, and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. There were equal parts I loved about it, but also did not like about it.

I loved the father daughter relationship and to see that dynamic fleshed out.
I also loved the atmospheric setting of the creepy gothic house, and the story being told in Vietnam. There are also important topics discussed in the book including: colonialism, finding yourself, and broken family relationships.

However, as a YA Horror story it was just not as scary as I would have liked, and that might have to do with the writing style. At times it was just too lyrical and hard to follow. I had to reread certain sentences again to make sure I did not miss the meaning of what was going on. The story also unfolds slowly, at some points a little too slow for my personal preferences. Jade was not a likable character but she was easy to relate to, and I can see a younger audience (who is the target audience) will like her.

Overall, I think I would recommend this book to fans of YA, YA horror, and those who like more lyrical writing styles.

This book is complicated in a good way. I can see this being to teach about colonialism and diaspora. Jade visits her father in Vietnam for college money and is prompted to help him with the family home which he is trying to restore as an inn. The house is haunted with a history of colonizers, and Tran creates a beautiful symmetry between the colonizers of the past and the ones trying to lay claim to the house in the present day.

In some ways She is a Haunting feels like Rose Red or The Winchester House because of the way the home itself is personified. But there are actual ghosts haunting the place as well. One of the scariest parts, for me, was the way the character experiences sleep paralysis. Damn terrifying, and it was like I was living in the character's skin. *shivers*

I, personally, do not feel adequate to review the aspects of Vietnamese culture and history contained in this book. I will say, however, it was eye-opening at the very least. Jade and her family are a painful collection of various hurts, each and every one a difficult obstacle in their lives. There were several times I had to look something up but, I’ll be honest, I kind of love researching things. We don’t have many Vietnamese restaurants where I am and it is definitely not something that my parents would choose to eat – especially when I was younger. So, I had to look up some of the food items in this book and the one that I definitely wouldn’t be able to force myself to eat (although I’m sure it’s tasty) is Hột Vịt Lộn. The descriptions and world-building (even if it is fairly narrowed to one area) make you feel as if you are there experiencing everything with Jade.

Memories mar the wood, pencil in the heights of children, and wear the scuff marks of well-loved feet. There are echoes that do not stop echoing, trapped in nooks and old curtains, until they’re found again — still screaming or laughing, voices dead or gone.

There were different levels of horror in this book and even different kinds of horror. Haunting, creepy, atrocious, and atmospheric – a wonderful blend to keep you entranced and reading with the lights on. Whenever I thought that I had a handle on what was going on with Jade and her family I was surprised by something else. I did guess a couple of things but not all the details that were entangled with it.

It sounds ridiculous and yet real and threatening — every house learning as you lean to live inside it. Every house listening.

If you enjoyed Horrid by Katrina Leno (review) and/or House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland then I HIGHLY recommend you preorder or pick this gem up day one. This is their debut novel and they blew it out of the water! You won’t be disappointed- I know I wasn’t. A very big thank you to Bloomsbury YA for the chance to read this one – all opinions are my own.