The Ghost Bride: A Novel (P.S.)

A lushly descriptive adventure through the spirit world as Li Lan endeavors to take control of her life before it is taken over by those around her. Be warned, the authors descriptions of food will make you hungry and the story itself will leave you unable to put it down.

The story of the Ghost Bride pulls the reader into a world almost completely unknown in the west. The author Yangsze Choo creates a story of an alternative world that still has connections to this one. The use of details makes it very believable and easy to suspend disbelief.

I've checked with some of my Vietnamese friends and they said they have the same thing in their culture but they didn't like to talk about it. This seemed so much like the book.

I truly enjoyed the book and loved learning about a cultural tradition in such a creative way.

A very unusual and eye-opening view of life through the travels of a young woman half-dead in Chinese/Malay society but interacting with people in various stages of extinction. Fully accepts a complicated traditional view of existence/death to weave a suspense story across an unseen world. Intense and suspenseful. The character development is uneven compared to descriptions of the various realms of death that, the heroine finds, are all around us. Never read a book like this before, stays with me and reshapes my thoughts about life.

Reading a brief description of this book piqued my interest. I ended up really enjoying this book and I didn't expect the twists and turns of where the characters ended up. The title itself will make you curious to read it and you won't be disappointed!

Fabulous! If you love ghost stories, this one is for you. The Chinese afterworld is heavily represented and I certainly learned a lot about it. Entertaining to the last page. The author is to be congratulated!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book even though part of it was spent in "the underworld." The author spins a good tale and the characters, especially the fantasy ones, are well described and outlined. The human characters, along with the fantasy ones, are sometimes piteous and sometimes mean and untruthful and weird and sometimes very loving. Is there a sequel possible?????

A deep dissection of motive, desire, acceptance, longing, love, and forgiveness. Beautifully written and carefully drawn, this novel will transport your mind, heart, and spirit across unknown and boundless planes. It's a cherished story which will haunt the reader for days, weeks, months, or years after the last page is read.

Li Lan finds herself balanced between the worlds of the hereafter and the present, while a ghost from the afterworld tries to make her his ghost bride. Not a big fan of fantasy, but somehow this plays well. Because it is Asian, it seems easier to believe somehow. Fun read.

This is such a beautiful and well written book. The author has an amazing way with creating a world the reader can visualize in their heads. The plot is amazing as well and will keep the reader on their toes, not knowing what to expect next.

This book was not what I would consider within my usual genre. I tend to lean towards historical romance or fantasy, though I do suppose you could say this could be considered fantasy. The characters were well developed and the plot was well written. The storyline flowed very easily; the self discovery of the main character, Li Lan, was well thought out and executed. I enjoyed the book very much, I learned about. Chinese beliefs and superstitions, as well as folklore.

I usually like fantasy books, but I just couldn't seem to get into this book. I finished it, but it never really grabbed me. Seemed that it just went on and on. I never connected with the characters. Read this for a book club and am anxious to see what everyone else thought.

Fanciful, imaginative imagery, complex characters with their own virtues and flaws, and a delightful, uncertain yet determined young heroine, who will stop at nothing to do the right thing, regardless of the difficulty and cost to herself.

I couldn't put it down--well done!

Not many (non-SciFi) novels succeed in creating a world from scratch, populating it, filling it with structures and landscapes, and then leading the reader through this world while the story spins out. The ghost world invented for this novel was fascinating and I found it to be utterly plausible. (Another book that accomplishes this amazing feat is The Bees, by Laline Paull, btw.) I loved it and will probably read it again sometime in the future.

Lovely book that started out fantastic and then began dragging a bit towards the 2/3 mark. That didn't stop me from finishing it, but it just lost that "can't-put-it-down" steam of the beginning. Very glad that I read it though.

A totally new reading experience for me...charming, multi-dimensional, fine story telling, culturally deep and well planned out and written. At first, I wondered how Ms Choo was going to keep me engaged in what seemed to be a simple story, but, it is anything but simple as her story unfolds. I thoroughly enjoyed the read and will look forward to the next story of Yangsze Choo.

It shifted from what I thought would be a historical fiction to an after-life experience with gods and goddesses that was not ridiculous or unbelievable. Pleasantly entertaining. I'm usually not into ghostly experiences but this was well done with an Asian twist.

Based on the reviews, folks seem to either love or hate this book. I enjoyed it but it certainly wasn't what I expected. I liked the story of the afterlife and Er Lang. I would recommend this to anyone who want to read something a little different.

Unexpectedly a very fun story, I enjoyed the heroine. I wish there had been more information on the traditions and myths, but even without that, and without knowledge of those, it was still a delightful story.

EXCELLENT! "The Ghost Bride" is such a fun twist on the old romance theme, and so, so incredibly neat to learn the blend of cultural and spiritual beliefs of the anthropomorphic soup that was ancient Malaysia. Masterfully done.

I really enjoyed this read. I enjoy time travel books and although this wasn't a time travel it bore a lot of similarities. The characters were very well developed, the writing and story will pull you in and keep you.

Interesting story, very sci-fi with an overarching historical theme. I read it with my book club and most people liked it. Some didn't like it because they didn't understand the cultural references.

Looking for something fanciful and light led me to this story... it was interesting and written well to keep a lively pace yet sprinkled with cultural tidbits. The tale has just enough mystery, adventure, and human frailties to where it could almost be an age old story told to children like a fairy tale. BRAVO.

This story was not your conventional love story and I learned a lot about the Malay Chinese. The story moved along well and was interesting, it's not every day you get a glimpse of the after life. I will never look at dragons the same way again, either.

The Ghost Bride was a very interesting read. I was surprised by the ending and entertained throughout. The writing is clear and easy to read, and the story gives insight into Chinese culture and mythology. I recommend this one!

I debated between Dark and Suspenseful for the mood, but think that Dark is just a bit more appropriate. This is a wonderful story and while the pace is rather slow, it doesn't seem that way because the time is used to develop the characters.

Thought this was fabulously inventive and enchanting. Wonderful read, especially if you want something light enough to zip through in the summer, but not classic cheesy YA. Really an excellent book, hope to read more from Yangsze Choo!

I debated between Dark and Suspenseful for the mood, but think that Dark is just a bit more appropriate. This is a wonderful story and while the pace is rather slow, it doesn't seem that way because the time is used to develop the characters.

Thought this was fabulously inventive and enchanting. Wonderful read, especially if you want something light enough to zip through in the summer, but not classic cheesy YA. Really an excellent book, hope to read more from Yangsze Choo!

I really enjoyed this book! The story is engrossing and kept me wanting to keep on reading long after I should have stopped to do other things. This would be a great beach read or vacation book. I would definitely recommend it .

it tells a lot about their religious beliefs and how what they believe after death. I wanted to add I was disappointed that i could not find twere any more books by her. I wish they would make a movie out this !!

I enjoyed The Ghost Bride very much. The characters were deep and interesting and the settings vivid. This is an intriguing coming of age story mixed with Chinese folk lore and mystery. I'd love to see this story made into a movie!

A little bit dragged out but fascinating accounts of Chinese mythology and traditions. Expected more eeriness with the hauntings. Overall, a good read and a simple introduction to the Chinese spirit world.

If you like ghost stories, love stories and mysteries this is the book for you. A page turner that unfolds in 19th century Malacca and in an Asian version of the afterlife. I've never read anything like it.

This wonderfully well written book took me on a fascinating journey to the land between life and death. Using fiction and fantasy, the author captured the emotional and spiritual essence a culture whose understanding of death differs greatly from mine. This is a book that exceeds its reviews.

It was a pretty easy read, kept me entertained, tho a few times it felt like it dragged a bit.

It conveyed the emotions that the main character was feeling really well and I was actually a little afraid during some of the scenes.

Overall I liked it :)

A wonderfully detailed and fantastically entertaining story! A bit slow at the start, but I loved the Chinese and Malaysian folklore, which made this story culturally interesting and different. It was fast paced and adventurous as well. Definitely worth reading.

Enjoyed the mixture of the ephemeral, spirit world and conventional story. I wish the main character had been a little more developed--more time spent on her family life and the conventions of her world.

3.5 stars, actually.

This is a detail and language history-rich setting of Malacca (Malay) with insight into Peranankan Chinese (Straits chinese) culture, expecially customs dealing with death. However, for me, it spent way too much time on to-ing and fro-ing and not enough time with the main character after she grows up or her relationship with the most intriguing of the male characters.

Li Lan lost her mother at a young age, and her scholarly father is lost in an opium haze. She has only her caring Amah for support. When she starts dreaming of the recently dead heir to a prominent merchant Chinese family in her city, and gets word of a prior engagement, Li Lan will have to venture into the complicated and bureaucratically corrupt world of the dead in order to save herself.

Li Lan's exploration of the world of the dead as a half-ghost is really interesting in a social anthropology kind of way....but she's quite young, naive, and a bit dense, a bit like the burnt-paper servants that appear as puppet servants in the afterlife in this book. So I didn't really start liking her character until she showed more character-- about 2/3's of the way through the book. She has the opportunity to really test what kind of person she is, as well as come to a realization about some nefarious doings in her and the rich merchant's family.

Also at the end, she loses her star-eyed naivety in terms of the romance and sets her sights on the mysterious, bamboo-hatted magical dude who keeps helping her out of tight spots. Then, at the end, when she's interesting and her relationship with the mysterious dude is about to get interesting...it ends. And I'm not a fan at all of the way it ends. This ending (abrupt because it summarizes instead of shows, and not fulfilling the promise of her emotional/character development) pretty much made me want to throw the book across the room. So much promise! So little reward for me, especially since I'm a romance-lover.

So cool historical/cultural details, a bit of a plot too concerned with moving around in the world of the dead instead of emotional development, and a frustrating ending for me.

A carefully crafted tale of love and choices with a supernatural twist. The descriptions of the places evoke a longing to travel, and the characters are well developed. Overall a very enjoyable story.

This novel transported me to another world... so many other worlds, and I can't recommend it enough! Never a dull moment; a dynamic story full of suspense and the supernatural. Also, the audible narration is mesmerizing!