She Is a Haunting

By: Trang Thanh Tran

Narrated by: Emi Ray

Bloomsbury presents She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran, read by Emi Ray.

William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist
Instant New York Times and Indie Bestseller

This house eats and is eaten . . .

"A riveting debut from a remarkable new voice! Trang Thanh Tran weaves an impressive gothic mystery in which Jade's father is determined to restore a decrepit home to its former glory and Jade is the only person who feels the soul-crushing devastation of colonialism lingering within its walls." —Angeline Boulley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Firekeeper's Daughter

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.©2023 Trang Thanh Tran (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Solid story - not a huge fan of the audio reader

The story was good - a slow burn ghost story about family, culture, and loss. The reader took away from it though, because she read pretty flat in places and didn't give much emotion to the performance overall.

Bit slow, narration okay

It's billes as a horror story but it feels very boring because sprinkles the so called "horror" in and the word choices don't make it seem foreforeboding at all.

The reading is meh, some is very good, quite a bit of it had minor pacing issues and since this is on 1st person not having multiple voices is fine but they are all still samy so it's not as good quality as I am used to.

Also hydrangea or hydrangeas when the narrator says it takes me out of tbe story. i don't know where the narrator is from but I have never heard a person from Philly or the greater area pronounce hydrangea like that.

Very interesting story, awful narration

I really thought this was an interesting story about being haunted, both literally and figuratively, by family and colonialism. However, I almost did not finish this book because the narration was wooden and very often emphasis was on the wrong word or syllable. It was as if someone had handed the narrator the book and she’d never seen it before. It made the book difficult to understand and I often had to think about what was being said. That was especially irritating when the book became suspenseful, since I felt I missed part of the plot. I would definitely recommend reading this book, but I truly can’t recommend the audio book.

Enjoyed very much

The narrator mispronounced a lot of words. It was surprising but not distracting. Sometimes it feels like listening to a poem. The story is really great. Original (coming from someone who hasn’t read a lot in this genre). Loved the balance of all the issues being addressed.

Amazing.

I was actually scared to get into this. Paranormal stuff is a bit creepy. But this story was actually really detailed. Jade had my emotions going. I was rooting for her then I was annoyed with her. But I get it. Not to get to deep. This was a great story and I am happy that it’s finally over. I got the heebeejeebies. Don’t read at night lol.