The Girl With Ghost Eyes
M. H. Boroson
ISBN: 9781940456362
Haunting story of a magical Chinatown during the Chinese Exclusion Act days.
Read December 2015
I'm torn. I enjoyed this story, but once I figured out the author was male, it made me feel just a little bit squicky. There's a lot to unpack here in terms of cultural and gender roles, and internalized racism and sexism, and the juxtaposition of a very traditional YA sort of tentative girl-power heroine of color with a white male author was a little offputting. I'm not sure if that says bad things about me, or about our culture, to be totally honest, because the book was really quite good, and the Author's Note seemed to indicate that care was taken with the language and the customs represented.
All that aside, this was a rollicking good ghost story, and I really enjoyed every minute of it. The nasty creepy ghosties, the relentless focus on "face" and reputation, the tensions between the old ways and the new, between China and America, between folkways and revolvers, all made for a tense and exciting story. Characters were vibrant, the plot was juicy and twisty without being unnecessarily convoluted, and our main character was flawed, desperate, and resourceful. Also I want to be a Buddist were-tiger in my next role-playing game, because YES PLEASE.
Fascinating, interesting, and a rocking good read from start to finish.
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