I kept waiting for the moment when Li Lan would agree to become Lim Tian Ching’s wife, but she never did. Certain plot beats I was anticipating (based on my idea of what a story like this should contain) never came to fruition. In many ways, this book was far from predictable. I didn’t anticipate the main thrust of the novel. She is drawn into the ghostly realms against her will, however, and she must navigate the world and new relationships in order to save her own life. Although such a marriage would settle her father’s debts and set her up for life, Li Lan has no interest in marrying into widowhood, especially since she falls in love with the dead man’s cousin, Lim Tian Bai. Set in 1893 Malaya, the story opens when 17- year-old Pan Li Lan is told that the wealthy Lim family wants her to become a ghost bride to their recently departed son. The Ghost Bride is Yangsze Choo’s 2013 debut novel. Look out for reviews of Yangze Choo’s The Ghost Bride and Lisa Maxwell’s Unhooked, as soon as I get around to them. Millie - My newest niece was born on Labor Day! She’s beautiful and I’m going to see her on Tuesday when I go up for my first orthodontist appointment (ugh - and I’d like to complain that there’s not a single in-network orthodontist within 50 miles of my town of 190,000 people ? ) The Holy Rosary - I’ve been praying it a lot and I’m finding a lot of comfort there.īuttered Toast with Honey - Seriously, I can’t get enough. The stories set in Jace and Clary’s time had me snort-laughing. I’m not in the habit of reviewing short story collections, so I’ll just leave it at saying that this collection has something for every history lover, as long as they are also a lover of Magnus Bane. Why? Because Cassandra Clare has me under her thumb, okay? It took me forever to read The Bane Chronicles, but I ended up loving them. The Bane Chronicles - There are now six volumes in the Shadowhunter Chronicles that I haven’t read (Chain of Gold and then most of the companion/short story collections), and yet I continue to collect them. I truly love these two books and am looking forward to revisiting them in the coming years, as well as following whatever else Kat Cho publishes.
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The finale was much stronger in this book than in the first it didn’t have the lull that Wicked Fox did. Vicious Spirits has a few flaws, but I was swept along on the journey. I don’t object to Junu’s strong reaction to abusive fathers, but the way Changwan and Jihoon’s fathers are written lacks subtlety. His father tried to kill him when he became a dokkaebi and ended up killing himself and the rest of his family. Junu’s side of the coin was more of a mixed bag. Somin’s father died of cancer when she was young her story was very sweet and well done. Cho continued to do that with Junu and Somin, with the focus switching from mothers to fathers. One of the strengths of Wicked Fox was how the characters’ layers were pulled back slowly. Strong friendships are a huge selling point for me. His friendship wasn’t limited to Lee Somin, his love interest, but extended to Jihoon and Miyoung. Junu was a little too willing early on to sacrifice himself for the sake of his guilt, but I grew to appreciate how much he wanted to be friends with the group. They offer Junu very little time in which to heal the rift himself.
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Her life is in danger the reapers are concerned by the passage of ghosts into the mortal world and warn that killing Miyoung may be the only way to heal the rift. The trouble started in the first novel by the loss of Miyoung’s fox bead causes a problem with farther reaching consequences. The story also offered some redemption for Yena, Miyoung’s mother, that both surprised and pleased me. Thankfully, there was a villain that was able to make up for that lack. I also missed a lot of Miyoung’s Gumiho-ness that I fell in love with in Wicked Fox. Since Jihoon was not-himself for a large portion of the novel, I was even more deprived. I did grow to love Somin and Junu, but I wanted more from Miyoung and Jihoon’s perspective. I can’t decide if the change in focus from Miyoung and Jihoon to Somin and Junu was a negative or positive change. Sanity is questioned, loyalty is tested, and another race against time begins. As the characters mourn their losses from the first book and try to move on, Somin starts seeing ghosts and Junu is contacted by reapers who warn that Miyoung’s fox bead - which was never recovered - is causing a rift in the veil between worlds. Instead of alternating between Jihoon and Miyoung’s viewpoints, we hear most often from Somin and Junu. Vicious Spirits is the companion novel to Wicked Fox, but it’s more of a continuation with added perspectives.
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Reviews are hard enough to write without the faultiness of memory to contend with. Immediately after finishing a book is too soon to write a review, but I really need to stop waiting weeks to write anything down.