Book Review: Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho
Length: 382 Pages
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

"You can submit yourself to me, or you can meet an ugly death at the hands of cruel men.
You can kill, or you can die."

A special thanks to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Trigger Warnings in this book for Violence and Gore and Attempted Kidnapping and Rape

Jessamyn Teoh has a lot on her plate: A secret girlfriend (plus keeping the truth of her sexuality from her traditional Chinese parents), trouble finding a job after graduating from Harvard, and who could forget the ghost of her Grandmother haunting her?

After spending the majority of her life in America, Jess's parents have decided to move back to Malaysia, and out of a growing listlessness and filial duty, Jess tags along. Little does she know, she's got even bigger problems coming in the form of family secrets, gangsters, and a dangerous God known as Black Water Sister.

I loved learning about all the Gods, especially the titular Black Water Sister, who's tragic past reminded us that she was once human, too, and experienced one of the most human emotions: Rage -- sometimes justified, oftentimes not. My favorite character of the book was Jess's Grandma, Ah Ma, whose grumpy exterior hid a long suffering hurt. She was intelligent and funny when she wasn't being downright rude. Cho's writing brought the heat and wildness of Malaysia, the bustling, crowded city streets and hipster cafes to roaring life.

Black Water Sister is a poignant story of finding where we comfortably belong, of making painful choices to get the outcomes that let us be who we truly, authentically, are, and maybe even more importantly, letting go.