Did not finish (sadly). Unfortunately I could not get into this the multiple times I tried to read it. I think the writing style just wasn't clicking with me. That being said, the concept, the characters, and the setting are so cool. While this isn't for me,. I think my teen patrons would enjoy it.

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran in exchange for an honest review. It is comforting to me that the complex nature of father and daughter is present in every culture and country. I really liked this book and found it fascinating to read about a Vietnamese American girl going back to Vietnam and how anyone can feel like an outsider no matter where you go.

This horror novel has a one two punch of where the horror is coming from, and Tran mines the depths of both of them to great effect. The first is the classic haunted house story, with teenager Jade going to stay with her father along with her younger sister as he tries to renovate a French Colonial house in Vietnam. Things are almost immediately out of whack and unsettling, whether it's the way that all the food in the house seems to turn very quickly, to the unrelenting insect corpses that come through her window sill, to the sudden sleep paralysis that she starts experiencing. And then there are, of course, visions of ghosts, one of whom is a mysterious bride who seems to be trying to warn her. All of this was pretty well done horror, with scary imagery and a building tension and a disoriented feeling. The other horror aspect is, however, far more grounded in reality, as we also look at the history of French colonization of Vietnam and the way that Westerners came in to take advantage of a country and its people, exploiting the Vietnamese and how that legacy is still seen today through the commodification of it (aka the bed and breakfast Jade's father hopes to create, in the home that his family had worked in under wealthy French people). It was this aspect that worked the best for me, and the way a an oppressive presence can feed upon others until there is nothing left, be it a haunted house, an angry spirit, or imperialistic conquest.

SHE IS A HAUNTING is scary and unrelenting, and I will be very interested to see what Tran brings the horror world in the future!

SHE IS A HAUNTING is such a unique and atmospheric book that is sure to unsettle many readers (in the best kind of way)! I loved how unapologetically Vietnamese it was and already can’t wait to see what Trang writes next!

3.5 - so glad I read this ARC and when I tell you I am literally booking a flight to Vietnam I'm not lying lol

I LOVE haunted house books even though I'm a baby - this was not my favourite kind of that subgenre. It never scared me because the 'haunting' is all kind of vague and ethereal, even when it's horrifying (ie. Lily's head) it's written so atmospherically that it's hard to believe it's really happening.

I really did love the Vietnamese representation and the interpersonal conflicts in this, so overall I'm really glad I read it!

This was a creepy, fast-paced, atmospheric, complex, and emotional story! I loved the haunting so, so much. And I really appreciated the complexity of Jade's self-discovery, both in exploring her queerness and her relationship with her family. The side characters were written beautifully. I especially enjoyed Florence and her banter with Jade.

She is a Haunting is propulsive all the way through, and lands 100% with a stunning ending. Absolutely stellar read!

Such a unique novel in terms of plot, concept, and inspiration. The action scenes were very well done; the haunting(s) were eerie af and the way the house was personified in terms of body parts/organs in those alternating chapters was bone chilling. I loved Jade as an MC; she wasn’t perfect and she knew it, but you could see how she wanted to protect her family at all costs. On the occasion the timing felt slow, but all other aspects made up for it in the end.

Creepy. Bone-chilling. Sinister. A must-read for Gothic horror fans.

Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam, needing money from her estranged father so she could pay for college. Her father is in the middle of restoring an old French manor where his family had once worked in. Jade reluctantly agreed to help her father with the renovations for tuition money. Jade still harbors a lot of anger and confusion towards her father and herself. It was the summer where maybe, just maybe, she’ll be able to sort everything out.
However, the house has other plans. The house has an appetite for broken families and broken people. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed and sees disturbing visions. Dead bugs. Ghosts. Cryptic warnings. The house is haunted, consuming her and her family until there is no more.

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran had been one of my most anticipated books of the year. I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this. Jade wasn’t a likeable character, but you couldn’t help but felt sympathetic towards her. I enjoyed the character development and the complexity of the story. It wasn’t formulaic, which is my usually complaint for horror books. However, I didn’t enjoy the ending, I felt it was a little rushed and I had too many unanswered questions. The writing style was also a little difficult to read, and I had to reread sentences to make sure I didn’t miss any details. Overall, I did enjoy this book and would recommend it to others.

Jade, our main character is faced with problems that only she can see. Her estranged father needs help and who is she to say no when there's something in it for her? She doesn't fit into the traditional ways they're stuck in and has always felt out of place wherever she goes. But at night the house takes her into the deepest, darkest parts of its past. This gothic horror beautifully encapsulates the horrors of french colonialism and the struggles she faces just being who she is. It's the way generational trauma can manifest and set our worst nightmares alive. Gorgeous spooky vibes that have you questioning reality at every turn. This book is so important because it's not just about the horror, it's about the poetry lying in between our author's words.

"This house eats and is eaten...

A House with a terrifying appetite haunts a broken family in this atmospheric horror, perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic.

When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She's always lied to fit in, so if she's straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised.

But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don't belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can't ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves cryptic warnings: Don't eat.

Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house - the home they have always wanted - will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house's rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all."

Sometimes a good haunting is what's needed for the truth to be set free and for you to find yourself.

Jade is forced to make a deal with her dad. If she stays with him for five weeks over the summer, he will pay her college tuition. Jade reluctantly agrees, still harboring anger towards him for leaving her family. While staying at her dad's fixer-upper bed-and-breakfast, she starts to see ghosts, and hear things. Determined to prove to herself and her father that something is haunting them, she enlists the help of the girl-next-door to get physical evidence, Only, things don't go quite as she planned...

If you are going to write a book based around a haunted house, you need to sell that it is haunted. Atmosphere is so important in horror novels, and the way to build that is with the writing. The descriptions in this book were lacking. It felt plain and like the house was just in dis-repair. At no point did I get chills or feel even slightly unnerved. It is all described at face value, so much so that I was laughing at how unscary it was. If you cannot make your setting for a horror novel scary, it just sets you up for failure.

Unfortunately, the basic writing style translated into every aspect of the book. There were important discussions around colonialism, finding yourself, and broken family relationships. Jade's anxiety about not wanting to disappoint her mom is something that a lot of girls relate to. The author did a good job of weaving these topics into the book, but the conversation around them was stale and bland. There is no passion behind the writing.

This book had the potential to be a great discussion-starter, all while being a thrilling horror. Unfortunately, I think Tran's writing style did not lend itself to this specific genre.

This lyrical, graceful work of generational trauma and colonialism is an exemplary take on YA horror. Jade and Lily are staying with their estranged father over the summer for very different reasons: Lily wants to mend the rift between them, and Jade wants money. Their father is restoring an old French Colonial house that their family worked at as servants, but there's something wrong with the house itself. Dead insects appear in Jade's windowsill, and she suffers from sleep paralysis and disturbing visions. Jade enlists the help of another teenage girl to determine what's going on in the house - and how the house's history is currently poisoning its present.

I really enjoyed this one! It was a slow, creepy, dream-like horror tale, less overtly frightening than a building fright. There's body horror and a lot of infection/insect imagery, so mind that if you're sensitive to it. I've seen comps to "Mexican Gothic" and honestly, save the themes of"colonialism is poison" and "spooky house" they don't have much stylistically in common. "She Is a Haunting" is dense, poetic, less tongue-in-cheek than "Mexican Gothic"'s pulpy horror.

I docked a star because sometimes the unique writing style comes off as a little purple and can be difficult to parse, and I had to reread sentences multiple times to figure out what was happening. When it works, it's wonderful though.

This book is absolutely beautiful and stunning. The horror is a slow build until the end of the book where there is a crescendo. She is a Haunting tackles a lot of different topics from finding yourself as a young adult to the brutal and violent legacies of colonialism, yet they all fit and feel appropriate in how they are handled.

I kind of wish I had waited for the audiobook, because I have no doubt this will be a stunning audiobook as well.

Really looking forward to what Tran puts out next.

Though I appreciate the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this novel, I regrettably will not be finishing it.
Bits of the writing are gorgeous, and completely sucked me in, but the issue that held me back from finishing is that I feel I was dropped into the story and kept scrambling to figure out what was going on.
I do feel as though I am possibly not the target audience for this book, as it is YA. I hope it reaches the right person and look forward to working with the publisher in the future.

A disturbing and delicious reckoning for French colonialism wrapped in gothic horror. I loved the exploration of identity and belonging and that Tran kept ratcheting up the scaries right to the very end. A must read for fans of Mexican Gothic and The Hacienda.

Formatting on the ARC was a little wonky, so it took me a minute to catch on to the wallpaper interstitials.

This was a deliciously (ha) spooky, creepy YA horror novel, but also a mature meditation on colonialism, immigration, and family. I didn't find myself as scared as other books but I really enjoyed the setting, the history, and how steeped in the horrors of the past it was.

This is such an unique, bone chilling, gothic, haunting house story! The creepy sense, slow burning tension at each chapter hook you up to its claustrophobic, spine tingling atmosphere!

Jade and Lily are sisters, flying to Vietnam to spend their summer with their Ba( dad) in a French colonial house he’s restoring. Jade has been harboring long time resentment for his dad. The reasons are obvious: he didn’t take care good care of his family, abandoning them, ruining her childhood. Jade stuck between two cultures she couldn’t embrace completely. She’s not American or Vietnamese enough. Her father didn’t let her embrace her own sexuality. Being gay is still a taboo for his traditional sense of thinking.

Jade is forced to spend her summer in this house in exchange getting extra money for her college application and she will also help to create a website for the house with Florence: daughter of her father’s business partner.
Spending 5 weeks as a prisoner in this house will be her ticket to her future freedom.

But as she spends more time in the place, she realizes they’re under the threat of angry spirits haunting the house and she’s the key to bring her family together to fight back. In the meantime she has to deal with a ghost of beautiful bride lurking around the house, leaving disturbing notes as “Don’t eat!”

I liked the blending of French colonialism criticism with gothic thriller elements. The writing style was a little compelling for me to focus with lots of different pronoun usage and quick transitions. It affected my consideration.
But I still find the concept unusual, unique, intelligent!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books, Bloomsbury YA for sharing this brilliant digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

She is a Haunting gave me the creeps in the best of ways. Tran creates a compellingly emotional, creepy atmosphere that draws the reader in and holds them prisoner in the best of ways. The story is original and fresh, carving out a new space for itself in the YA horror genre.

This one dug into my skin, crawled into my lungs, and then set me on fire. Compulsive, heartwrenching and beautifully creepy. I'm holding Jade Nguyen and all her prickly, haunted, desperately soft pieces close to me forever. Food and hunger play such a vivid, resonant place here, for a queer girl with a fraught Asian family grappling with the wreckage of colonialism.

Some body and building horror a la Mexican Gothic (as is referenced in some advertisements for the book) and mix it with a girl who is never enough with who she is (Vietnamese enough, American enough, happy family enough, straight (because she's gay) enough)-- all the enoughs.

Jade is trying for five weeks at her dad's estate that he's fixing up to be a B&B in Vietnam to get what she ultimately wants at the end, but it's certainly NOTHING she's bargained for when the house and ghosts begin to haunt her. She's paralyzed at night. There are bugs. Things telling her not to eat.

I LOVED the intermixing of the chapters of the body (larynx, eyes, stomach) to heighten the anticipation of what the house and ghosts will do to Jade. Atmospheric and ghastly in all the best ways possible.