Book Title: The Ghost Bride
Author: Yangsze Choo
Genre: Historical fiction, Murder Mystery, Fantasy, Paranormal (Ghost), Romance
Synopsis
'One evening, my father asked me whether I would like to become a ghost bride...'
In 1890s Malaya, a seventeen-year-old Li Lan receives an unusual proposal: marriage to the recently dead son of the esteemed Lim family. Li Lan knows what this means for her impoverished father. She has to consider it carefully.
The Lim's wealth and grandeur is dizzying, but Li Lan has her sights set on another - surely she has to be certain of her heart's true desire before committing to a life with a ghost?
Night after night, Li Lan finds herself drawn into another world. One where boundaries between reality and dreams are blurred, and where the afterlife shows itself to be place of terror, temptation...and delight.
Li Lan must uncover the mysteries of the ghost world, and be united with her true love, before she is trapped there for all time.
I was introduced to The Ghost Bride by NETFLIX as a Mandarin series, which I binged watch till finished. I didn't even know it was a book until I was browsing through Bookurve to see what book to buy to add to ever growing yet never ending TBR pile and since the Netflix series was worth watching, I decided to get it. Lets just say I wasn't disappointed.
Thus without further adieu...Lets begin.
The Ghost Bride was set in 1890 Malaya as it was known back then in the port city of Malacca. It was a time where the British Empire had extended its rule to over half the world. The story follows our dear Li Lan, a seventeen year old girl; whose family was once well off but now was on the brink of bankruptcy, as her debt-ridden father receives a proposal from one of the most wealthiest and influential Lim family. One would think that would be such a fortunate thing but the only problem was that the proposal was from Tian Chiang, the Lim family's heir, who is dead. Yes, DEAD.
Li Lan is horrified ; well anyone would be if they were in her position, even more so when her dead suitor starts to haunt her dreams as his tantrums become scarier and scarier. As if that wasn't her only problem, our dear girl is convinced that she's in love with his cousin, Tian Bai, our boy next door and who by the way is very much alive and next in line to be the heir. Riddled with nightmares and horrors, Li Lan is very desperate to get rid of her very much unwelcomed suitor, even though she knows that if she were to accept the proposal, her father's debt would be canceled. Can't blame the girl.
Faced with the mysteries and challenges ,she embarks on a dangerous journey that takes her from her city of Malacca to the realms of the dead, where she'll have to learn how to navigate between foes and unexpected allies.
I loved and quite enjoyed this book.
The vivid settings with lush imagery and palpable atmosphere, with amazing descriptions of the mixtures of the numerous Malaysian cultures, nationalities and traditions that form the society of that era in port city of Malacca. The food, oh the food, was so mouth-watering portrayed that it had me wanting to go out to the kuih stands by the roadside just to buy some.
The author is of Malaysian descent and the way she portrayed the country in her story shows how deep her knowledge of Malaysia and it's rich history which was beautifully portrayed and with a lot of respect for all the cultures and social class represented.
The superstitions, myths, legends were all beautifully told.
What I also enjoyed about the author was how she wrote both the realm of the living and the realm of the dead, how both worlds intertwined with each other and influence each other. There was vengeance from beyond the grave, love and romance that transcends mortal lifetimes, magic and wonder, lets not forget the menacing courts of hell where the departed must pay their due before moving onwards to their final stop.
I found the pace of this book to just nice, it was not too slow nor too fast, even though the middle part of the book was a wee bit confusing especially about who was who but it only lasted for a minute and I could follow the flow of the story. I never felt bored or impatient but genuinely enjoyed the book, even the middle part but wow the ending was something completely different to what I imagined would happen; I mean not even the Netflix series showed that or hinted that or maybe it but I didn't catch it....anyway I was pleasantly surprised and happy. To say I was very much invested is an understatement.
The romance aspect and Li Lan's love interests in particular. There wasn't a lot of romance in the book, just pockets here and there between Li Lan and her love interests.
The romance between Tian Bai, our boy next door, and Li Lan were little, well given the circumstances but their scenes where they were together were rare and few. I mean sure Li Lan thinks of him but the chemistry between was kind of like an infatuation/crush and I couldn't really see it blossoming into something more, which is more apparent as Li Lan grows throughout the story which is what I loved about Li Lan and the way she evolves throughout the story when the situation demands it of her, she grows. There is a love triangle of sorts but it wasn't cringe worthy, rather it was enjoyable mainly because of the interactions between Er Lang and Li Lan and their scenes together...no spoilers...
In conclusion it is not necessarily the perfect book for everyone but it was for me. I would very much recommend to those readers who enjoy this type of story and also those who have read other books by this author.
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