Cara can see ghosts, not that she wants anyone else to know. She has spent years ignoring the spirits that haunt her days, literally. Between arguing with Zach, her mother, and her grandmother, it's all Cara can do to get through the day. When Zach winds up dead, Cara is the only one that can return his spirit to his body. Despite her dislike of him, she embarks on a journey through the liminal world in search of the cure to join his body back to his ghost. Along the way, who knows, she might find out Zach isn’t so bad after all.

Enemies-to-lovers is a bit of a stretch when it comes to Zach and Cara. I’d say it’s more of an annoyed-to-lovers situation. Zach and Cara’s first interaction were screaming at each other, over school posters. We never get a full explanation as to why they despise each other so much. I mean, it’s implied that this rivalry has been going on since they were children. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why six-year-olds would have already declared each other arch-nemesis and stuck with it. If the rivalry had developed in junior high/high school because of academics, sports, or friend groups, I could understand that. Teenagers are vicious and petty. Of course, it only takes a week of close proximity for these two lovebirds to overcome at least a decade of hate.

The fantasy element was more prevalent than I thought it would be. Cara and Zach travel through the liminal world in order to save him, which was a lot of fun. It's an equal combination of good and bad, with fantastical creatures and cannibals. It wasn’t so much a separate world, but another dimension on top of the real world. I wish we had gotten to spend more time building those fantastical sights. Most of the world-building is minimal in favor of using those words for dialogue.

The coincidences in this book are a little much. Our protagonist and Zach get themselves in a lot of scrapes along the way, which, makes sense. Instead of getting out of these using wit and invention, we conveniently discover something to save the day! On three separate occasions, a power, person or excuse steps in at the last second. It was like mystery-mouseka-tools took over.

Cara’s relationships with her family were well-written. Her grandmother and mother have different ideas for Cara’s future, and she finds herself caught between the two women. Her Grandmother wants her to embrace her ability to see ghosts, while her mother's convinced she should hide it. The tension between the three women was believably written, and relatable. Generationally, a lot of women feel pressure from matriarchal figures. Cara’s anxiety and deep-seated desire to please both women are a big trigger for her self-growth throughout the book.

This is not a standalone, unfortunately. While the main plot wraps up and is given a solid conclusion, there are still so many unanswered questions. Quite frankly, I don’t see how this can be a series. There is not enough substance to drag the overall plot out. It’s hinted that Cara’s grandmother is keeping some huge secrets, the beginning scene isn’t explained, and the story behind how the curse came to be isn’t clear. There is also an epilogue that threw me for a loop! If the author had answered these big questions, I would have enjoyed the story more and probably rated it higher.

Overall, this was a solid debut. I think this will work great for younger teens trying to find some spooky books, and for those who want a more light-hearted Halloween read.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for the advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

NOTE: there is racism in here. Twice, Cara (Asian-American) and her friend (Black) are both called slurs. Cara recalls several encounters where she and her mom were treated differently for how they looked, and how her mom spoke English. Please check trigger warnings for the whole book!

I loved this teen fictional supernatural/fantasy coming-of-age with a sprinkle of romance! Cara was a super relatable character for me in her struggle between her mom and her grandma's approval, all while trying to figure out what *she* really wants too. The slow-burn, antagonists-to-lovers romance between her and Zach was fun and full of delightful banter!

Cemetery Boys meets Legendborn feels like an accurate way to describe it so I think fans who enjoyed those, will absolutely enjoy this! The Chinese American representation was so nice to see :) I'd absolutely read from Miranda Sun in the future.

4 ☆

if I have to be haunted is a thrilling story that takes readers on a captivating journey as cara, a ghost speaker, and zach, her newly-deceased high school nemesis, try to find a way to bring him back to life.

although it doesn’t have the strongest start, the book quickly picks up in pace and stakes and by the 40% mark it becomes quite unputdownable. cara and zach’s quest is beautifully written, the descriptions of the places they visit are vivid, and their interactions are filled with humor and exquisite tension, which I adored (meaning: they often had me crying.) also tear-jerking: cara’s strained relationship with her mother and the toll it has on her, and the reflections on her identity that follow.

something that I really appreciated is how the resolution wasn’t rushed or came out of nowhere: they had to fight for it; they earned it. for that to happen they had to tackle a lot of obstacles, resulting in a book that was more adventure- and action-packed than I had anticipated.

honestly, this was such a great debut. miranda sun did an amazing job in developing and executing what is such a cool concept and I have no doubt in my mind that she will go on to even greater things.

thank you to harperteen for the arc in exchange for an honest review! all opinions are my own.

Enjoyed the asian rep-- it's always good to see a FMC of Chinese descent and have their culture represented throughout a book. I think our YA readers will find this a fun, engaging read. Adding to our collection!

Three things I liked about the book:
Always love a Chinese MC and being able to see myself represented!
The book was well paced and the romance felt like it progressed at a good pace and didn't feel forced
I always love seeing pinyin in stories- it feels like it was made for me and all my other Chinese school girlies

Sun's debut book is fun and a good mix of character and plot driven. The main characters have great banter and are both charming characters and I always like seeing a mixup of texts and letters in a story. This book would be good for people who are looking for a low fantasy To All The Boys or something similar to The Mediator series by Meg Cabot!

Would I purchase it: I pre-ordered this book for my own library!

I weirdly hated the first half of this book but then loved the second half. It gets better as it goes along, ending on a banger cliffhanger that has me wanting to read book two already. I think my problem with the first half is I hated the male love interest, Zach. It felt like he was very lacking in personality, but something shocking occurs a few chapters in with him that made me keep going. Because I wasn't really connecting with the romance or half our important characters, I wasn't really finding the humor funny either, but by the end I was laughing. Also, there's a Percy Jackson reference and lots of greek mythology references which is cool. I love the contrasting creation/destruction and ice/fire in this book. It was a bit all over the place, but overall a fun adventure and a strong YA paranormal debut

I received a free e-arc of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

I give it a 4.5/5
Absolutely fun, cute yet serious adventure. When the main characters are 16 it can be "to highschool" but Sun does an amazing job with them being young but like cliché. The relationship the main character has with her mother is realistic and easy to relate to. The tension throughout the whole book with the FMC and the MMC is so wonderful to read and I loved how cute yet set in their ways they were with each other. I was not expecting the adventure to be what it was and it was a lovely surprise. The small cast of characters makes it a joy to read and to really learn how they are and not to busy. Wonderful read can't wait to own a physical copy!

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While the premise was interesting I didn’t connect with the characters or the story in a meaningful manner. Some books just aren’t for us, and that’s alright.

This book has got a beautiful cover and a great backstory. Cara, a Chinese American who can see and speak to ghosts, has had to hide her powers since forever, as her mother hopes they will eventually go away. One day, she finds the boy she hates the most has died, but according to the story his ghost tells her, there is a chance they can bring him back if they can find the antidote to the magical snake that bit him within seven days. But for that, Cara would have not only to use her powers but also put her own life on the line.

The universe built here seems very cool if you discount the scary ghosts (and humans). Magical creatures, ghost hunters, helping people who died make the passage. Cara can actually see the deceased grandmother she never met in life, and this grandmother is a badass helping ghosts. The part of how conflicted Cara is with her mother wanting her to forget all this and with her grandmother who wants her to learn everything, it's also very relatable, even if none of us are in the art of ghost speaking. And during the development, we're taken on a journey through all the possibilities the book universe can offer: fantastic lands, terrible humans, beautiful creatures that should not exist. If you're not a fan of pure fantasy but like a book that doesn't stay too grounded, this is a great mix of contemporary and fantastic.

However, I'm not a fan of adventure. The cover and the description made me believe this book would be more centered on all the drama going on—and there's a lot. They do explore each of them coming to a good conclusion. But the focus is on the literal journey Cara and Zach must take to find the antidote. And to me that was very boring. Again, this is a me problem, who isn't into action unless I'm really in the mood for some. I wasn't.

One more thing I didn't realize until I was way past the middle is that this is written to be a series. There is so much they bring up in the story that never gets explained... To be honest, even for something that needs some loose ends to be continued, I got teased too much. For example, right in the beginning Cara's grandmother mentions Zach's grandfather. I may have not realized that they answered it, but I don't think they ever did. So did this have to have been so in the beginning, like it was a big twist to be expected? I didn't even know it was a series, if it will really become one (as of now, July 2023, Goodreads doesn't mention anything).

It's still a nice read with different elements that make it refreshing.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

The premise of this story sounded very interesting but there were a lot of factors in the book that I was confused about and just overall unsatisfied with. To start, I wish there was more personality from Cara and Zach. This book was advertised enemies to lovers but it was such an abrupt change, especially considering how genuinely annoyed they seemed of each other throughout the book. We don't really get to see how Zach has always cared for her, despite his claims, and I wanted there to be more development on this. Also, I feel like the romance came way too late and by the time they admitted their feelings, I didn't really care much for it and I just wanted the story to end. I didn't have any particular interest in any of the characters and they all felt flat to me. We barely get any background on how their rivalry started and we don't really get any details about how their feelings develop either. And speaking of characters, Brittany's role was SO confusing to me. I still don't really know what her purpose was other than to give Zach and Cara a little help but there was barely any background or lasting impression from her. Personally, I feel like they didn't really need the addition of Brittany's character.

Plot wise, I was rather bored with the story and felt like nothing really happened. There weren't many moments where I was engaged with the story and I was more reading it just to see what happens. The story was rather predictable and I would have loved to have more background on the Snakes. I did appreciate the author's dip into Cara's identity as a Chinese American but it would have been great to see more of it! And going back to the characters, Laolao's absence when they first start their journey really confused me. I feel like Laolao's character could have been used to further develop the magic system, which I was already quite unsure about (this was especially as we venture through all the different spaces/environments). I did think the epilogue was interesting and I'm satisfied with how the story ended though I did expect more from the book as a whole.

First off, thanks to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the ARC.

If I Have to be Haunted was one of my more anticipated upcoming books, so I was really stoked to get the ARC. Overall, this was a delightful read that was truly YA without trying too hard to be adult or edgy.

I loved the relationship between Cara and Zach. The slow burn, enemies to lovers was so great. There were good moments of tension and uncertainty and amazing banter.

Cara's relationship with her mom and grandmother was really well developed and helped to heighten the stakes with Cara's choices through the book.

At times the world and magic building were hard to follow, especially when they entered the liminal world, and I found myself rereading some parts to clarify what was going on.

Overall, this book was a fun YA read & I'll definitely pick up the sequel that the epilogue seems to set up.

If I Have to Be Haunted starts with Cara who suppresses her ghost speaking abilities to appease her mother who doesn’t approve of her daughter having anything to do with ghosts. Cara has kept that part of her life a secret but, her maternal grandmother—who also happens to be dead—encourages Cara to embrace that side of herself. That all changes when Cara’s nemesis, Zach, dies and she is the only one who could help resurrect him.
I loved the relationship between Cara and Zach, their years of tormenting each other are well fleshed out and the banter between them was excellently done. I loved that they were childhood nemeses and that they just never let that go.
Now, what I didn’t expect was the two of them having to go on a quest and well, that definitely was entertaining, especially when Brittany entered the mix.
It was a fun book to read although I did feel there were a lot of threads left hanging and parts I wish were a little more fleshed out. Hoping the sequel dives more into Cara’s family history because there was a lot left unsaid in that regard.
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for the arc!!

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins Childrens for an Advanced Copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own :)
Parents have their own opinions of how they want their children to grow up. Cara Tang's mother wants her to be perfect, and in her mind, that includes rejecting her abilities. She was born a Ghost Speaker, like her mother, but her mother shunned her abilities until they went away and wants Cara to do the same. However, Cara's grandmother Laolao wants her to improve her abilities. Cara is forced to make a choice when her classmate falls dead and she has the power to bring him back.
This book has enemies to lovers, forced proximity, sacrifice. Cara develops fire powers and turns out to be a pretty awesome FMC. I loved the intricacy of each realm and how they all differed from each other. The elements were really well done. There also was a strong sense of family belonging and proving oneself throughout the book that is not often in books.

Big thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing me with an early copy in an exchange for an honest review.

“It’s easy to chase after ghosts. It’s harder to live with them.”

If I see a book that has ghosts I will read it. The story revolves around Chinese American girl Cara who has an ability to see ghosts. She often feels pressure by her mother to behave and be in a certain way which is hard for her with ghosts around her. The real plot kicks in when Zach, a guy from Cara’s school who she pretty much considers her rival, well… dies. At least in a way which leaves Cara being able to see Zack’s ghost while now also trying to help him.

I gave these four stars because to be honest I don’t have any issues with this book on its own, but for me the rating would be somewhere around 3 to 3.5 stars. It’s a nice story. It touches upon Chinese cultural elements, complex family dynamics, it explores the idea of a ghostly realm, it has cute little enemies to lovers story and so on. It was a fun read and I requested it because it got compared to Cemetery Boys which I loved so I assumed I would enjoy this too.

However, one thing that kind of took me out of it is that I would not really classify this as a young adult. To me this is more of a middle grade book, despite it following high schoolers. I understand some things it covers such as ghosts, death, passing and grief are not exactly suitable for all young readers but the way the story is written and the way that characters interact and even the way the romance is done is exactly on that level and not above it all. It’s a fantasy but a very middle grade fantasy. The “stakes” in this book don’t really feel that serious, especially on the topic of how Zack’s “death” was done. I thought it would be a result of something happening to him in our world and not like due “magical elements” because he was ugh… walking through the woods?? Even the ending hints at the possibility of a big bad villain rising which leaves it with space to make it a kid’s fantasy series. So I wouldn’t really compare it to Cemetery Boys or Legendborn because those are a bit more mature. To me there is a big difference when what I'm deciding to read gets compared to something like Cemetery Boys vs let's say Percy Jackson. And in vibe this is closer to the second.

In the end I would definitely recommend this to any young readers, especially those who love ghosts. But the age range this is intended for is definitely lower. Marketing is obviously not the author's fault so I won't rate it lower than 4 stars.

IF I HAVE TO BE HAUNTED by Miranda Sun tells the story of Cara, a teenager who can see ghosts, when she has to save her academic rival from death by accepting her role as ghost speaker and taking him on a quest in another dimension of myth and magic. The slow burn of the romance is realistic and delicately done, and the incorporation of Chinese mythology and culture is beautiful. The world building, tonal shifts, and ceaseless gauntlet of obstacles in the fantasy world, however, make the story a bit incoherent. That said, this is a fun fall read and completely original.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

This book was very cute and filled with tender moments that really put a focus on the romance between a ghost and a human as well as family relationships. I thought the story was well-paced and the romance natural. It was a overall good young adult coming of age novel that was suspenseful and enjoyable to read.

Cara Tang is a Chinese American Ghost Speaker. She communicates with her dead grandmother LaoLao. LaoLao is also a Ghost Speaker who hasn't moved on. She prefers to stick around and help other ghosts pass on and hopes that one day Cara will step up and take on the responsibility. Cara's mother encourages her not to accept the role as Ghost Speaker and has taught Cara how to ignore the ghosts. She wants Cara to live in the real world and puts a lot of academic pressure on Cara to succeed. As long as Cara doesn't let the ghosts know she can see or speak to them, she is safe, and Cara always plays it safe. Living up to her mother's academic expectations is hard enough but she also has to deal with Zach, her archnemesis at school. When one day Cara stumbles upon Zach's dead body in the woods, she accidentally lets her secret slip out when she acknowledges him. As it turns out, Zach who was bitten by a Signet Snake, can reverse his death, but there is only a small window of opportunity to do so. They have to find the Signet Snake's other half to obtain the antidote and reverse death. During their journey through the bizarre and dangerous underworld, they both start to see each other differently. If they succeed Cara thinks that they could become friends or maybe even something more. Thank you, Net Galley, for providing this book for free in exchange for an honest review. The book was fun and engaging. I enjoyed the characters and the enemies to lover's storyline.
Cara's character really evolved as she grew bold and started taking chances.

Miranda Sun's debut touches on the power and conflicts in a mother-daughter love, first romance. thrillingly romantic, irresistibly fun YA contemporary fantasy debut following a teenage Chinese American ghost speaker who (reluctantly) makes a deal to raise

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was so excited to read this book but it fell flat unfortunately. It had a promising start but went downhill for me.

I honestly think I would have liked it better if they were just in high school competing for grades or in sports than learning the whole magic system. Cara and Zach’s relationship had potential, but I didn’t care so much about the ghost plot line. The magic system was abrupt and not explained very well. Suddenly people had powers and immediate control over it with no practice. It randomly brought in Greek Mythology at the end as well but didn’t touch on it further.

The characters talked like high schoolers, which was good because they were in high school so it seemed relatable for people around that age. It did read for a younger audience, which is why I had a harder time getting into it.

Cara and Zach had really cute banter. I loved how they bickered but when it mattered they cared about each other.

I do wish it was shown better that Zach liked her all this time. He seemed really snappy at her at first and not really in a teasing way. He seemed equally annoyed with her, to then act like in the end he’s always loved and cared about her even as they fought before he was a ghost. I know we aren’t in his head so we are biased by what Cara thinks and feels, but there could have been ways to subtly show that and I didn’t get that.

I could see throughout the book that he slowly started to chip away at Cara and she realized he may not be as annoying as she once thought, but it still felt really abrupt that they were suddenly super in love with each other at the end. I was hoping for more of a build up of reading about them being forced to work together and in turn finding out that the other wasn’t so bad. Instead it was almost an instant “I don’t hate you anymore but I am going to deny my feelings because there is no way the other person likes me.” It didn’t feel natural, even if I liked them together.

Zach had some really good lines to her though, like how much he cared about her and wanting her to make him real. There were a few lines of dialogue that got a reaction from me, that pulled at my heart strings, but most of the time I couldn’t fully commit to their relationship.

Brittany was a really fun character. She was funny and I loved her teasing Cara and Zach about their relationship which they denied every time.

The relationship between Cara and her mother and grandmother was so interesting. I wished we had more time to see Cara and her mother work on their relationship in the end, but it was a nice touch to the story to have that in there.

A lot of the plot was: something is attacking them, let’s run away, oh now something else is attacking, let’s run away again. Answers came to them very easily as well it seemed. There just wasn’t a lot of substance to the plot. It was kind of repetitive and not very interesting.

I think if things were fixed up I could have really enjoyed this book! But the plot seemed kind of all over the place and didn’t flow smoothly.

I did think it was nice that the story had a bit of an open ending that it could have a sequel. If you want to read more the opportunity is there but if you only want to read this book it is not like you are yearning for more. I was satisfied with how it wrapped up; I don’t feel like I need to read the second book.

This was such a fun read. I thought the story was cute and touching and a great YA story.
The entire plot was intriguing, but THE ENDING!!? Yeah I couldn’t get over that.

I loved the characters. Cara was such a beautifully written character, but what I really loved was the way Zach’s character evolved throughout the story and turned into someone everyone would adore. I loved the connection between Cara and Zach and how well they just seemed to fit. Their chemistry and growth with each other was so enjoyable to read.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.