The Ghost Bride audiobook

A Chinese Folklore tale, told using such dreamy words!My second by this author ( I loved The Night Tiger). I really enjoy her writing style. I'm not a big fan of the fantasy genre, but in her hands it was a success. The ghostly, creepy and strange worlds she wrote about created the most atmospheric journey. I found myself captivated and wanting to keep listening to one more chapter.The four parts include Malaya in 1893, Afterworld, The Plains of the Dead, and MalaccaA marriage trying to be arranged between a dead person and a living person so a spirit might be placated. There is also plenty of suspense, shrieking, ghosts (and hungry ghosts)!, shadowy forms, demons, fairies and ox-headed creatures, YIKES!I listened mostly, read a bit too. Narration was by the author and was amazing! Around 12 hours long.I recommend, but ONLY if you enjoy fantasy, imaginative world-building, supernatural and a tad of romance.

Beautifully written book with a beautiful cover. It captured my attention from page 1 and it was very hard to put down. There was a not a single page that I did not want to read. The long and short of it is that Li Lan, the daughter of opium addicted and bankrupt man (her Mother passed away when she was a child). Her father receives an offer by a wealthy and powerful family. The Lim family want her to become a ghost bride for their recently deceased son, Lim Tian Ching. After a visit to the Lim family home, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be husband, but also by her desire/crush/interest for the Lim's handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is haunted by Lim Tian Ching - a suitor who disturbs her in many ways. After visiting a medium and feeling she has no options she "accidentally" takes to much "potion" and slips into a coma. This is really where the magic begins and the story becomes more and more interesting. She is drawn into the Chinese afterlife, full of ghost cities, deceased ancestors, hungry ghosts, demons, magic, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits, and, surprisingly, bureaucracy. In this Chinese afterlife she meets Er Lang, a type of official who becomes/acts as her guardian spirit. With Er Lang she learns that there is more to death (and life) than she ever imagined. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets and in the process learns about her own ancestors and their family history.Such a fantastic book. Highly recommend.See more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

Library ebook....It seems two or three times a year I must read a tale that journeys me into the Asian afterlife...the Asian History...the culture....and the family at hand. I enjoy other Asian books by authors Lisa See, Janie Chang, Alice Poon, Tan Twan Eng, and others. This is my first novel by Yangsze Choo. She grew up in Malaysia...and is a 4th generation Malaysian of Chinese descent. She received her undergraduate degree at Harvard....and I’m thrilled to learn she is living here in the Bay Area ( with her family and several chickens). I have an advance copy of her new book “The Night Tiger”, which I also look forward to reading soon. Back to “The Ghost Bride”....... The wealthy Lim family approached Li Lan’s father about a ghost marriage. Li Lin was 18. Her mother died when she was a child. The Lim family was one of the wealthiest in their town of Malacca.....( later known as Malaysia). Malacca was a port, one of the oldest trading settlements in the east. In the past few hundred years it had passed through Portuguese, Dutch, and finally British rule.....during the 1800’s. Recently the Lim’s family son died...a young man named Lim Tian Ching. It wasn’t a ‘normal’ practice to marry the LIVING to the DEAD. It was rare.....but usually held in order to placate a spirit. Li Lan’s father was addicted to opium. He was withdrawn and bankrupt. She spends a lot of her time with her nursemaid Amah ( almost like an ‘acting’ mother)...but what I found interesting was that Li Lan’s father and Amah had very different ways of thinking. Amah was a shrewd & superstitious woman. She didn’t find the old customs and traditions a joke like her father did. So...at times Li Lan didn’t know what ‘she’ believed. Li Lan seemed very frail to me - not strong. I liked her but she didn’t have much inner strength of who she was for a long time. She cried constantly- at ‘every’ juncture. Cried ... and cried... and cried! ..... when Lim Tian Ching began haunting her ......when she learned of Tian Bai’s arrange marriage... ......and when she was disembodied and wandering the streets of Malacca.Li Lan ‘becomes’ a stronger heroine .....but not until she overdosed on some medicine that puts her in a coma that takes her into the spirit underworld. She becomes a ghost herself. ( I know sounds corny)....but it’s here where we begin to see her strength and bravery. She meets deity Er Lang.....and together they uncover corruption—- a twisty gripping intense story kicks in. Love is found in all the unexpected places to boot! The atmosphere in this novel is captivating and lovely. Some scenes are ghostly creepy. Being transported into a dreamworld adds that magical fantasy element. This was an intriguing tale based on ancient Chinese myths. In the back of the book the author explains some of the Chinese myths....which for me adds to the appreciation of the entire mystical experience between the living and the dead. Utterly original.....beautiful prose...and the story had me wanting to know what was going to happen next.

I am a Chinese Malaysian, born about a hundred years after the period this story takes place, and even I, jaded as I am about the state Malaysian is in now, find The Ghost Bride fascinating. It's interesting to remember how people lived back then, before Malaysia was Malaysia, when it was still Malaya and under the British rule, how the various immigrants and cultures intersect. What I enjoyed most is imagining how this story could've very well been my own family's story. Not the ghost bride part, of course. It is a rare occurrence in itself, but I believe by the time my own grandfather migrated to Malaysia, the practice of marrying a living person to a dead one had all but disappeared. I have heard of a recent case of a marriage between a dead Chinese couple though. No, what I could imagine was the family intrigue, the head of the house with his many wives and concubines, the many children spawned between the wives and concubines, the family politics as the wives and children all try to win their husband/father's favor. The competition between the wives to produce a male heir, the hatred and jealousy between each wife and their children.My own grandfather had three wives and a concubine. My father, the youngest son of the Second Wife, had 7 siblings by his own mother. I am not sure of how many children my grandfather had with his First and Third Wives, but there were many. His concubine produced one son. Although I have heard many stories about my father's childhood, this book really brought to life my imagination of how my grandfather and his family lived, and I assure you, it was a lot more dramatic and quite frankly, uglier, than the family dynamics in the book. My uncle's second wife actually chased my mother around the house with a kitchen knife. However, let's get back to the book; I loved the whole Ghost Bride theme, Yangsze Choo's depiction of the Chinese's beliefs about the different levels of Hell and burning offerings to the dead ancestors. I love how Choo brought the ghost dimension, the Plains of the Dead, and all the other ghostly denizens to life (no pun intended). It felt a little bit like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, and is written just as well as Neverwhere was, perhaps even better. But I might be biased. However, Neverwhere is one of my favorite Gaiman books, and this is me giving really high praise to The Ghost Bride. I can't recommend this book enough. It's amazing and I loved it.

Oh, oh my. The ending left me breathless. I loved this so much.Okay, so I'm going to keep this short and without a personal recap or summary. Let me tell you what I loved: the writing (lovely), the mystery + mythology, ER LANG AND ALL HIS SCENES, and pretty much the entire beginning, where Li Lan is thrust into the mystery of Tian Ching, what happened to him, and how she's going to get rid of his ghost. Unlike the tv show (not impressed, Netflix), Li Lan herself goes into a kind of coma and must figure out how to return to her living body. I did struggle with the middle portion of this book, but it didn't take away my love for the characters or the story. I think I missed some key information (my fault?), and I felt like I was wandering around in the dark more so than Li Lan herself.That's where I got lost. I couldn't figure out what all her goals were and why some of the stragglers we meet along the way mattered. I just wasn't following.BUT. Er Lang entered, and I'd already heard so much about him, so I had to keep reading. And oh, I am so glad I did. Once her goals became clearer and the mystery with Er Lang deepened, I was hooked. I loved everything about their interactions and banter.SoooOOooo if you love mystery, romance, beautiful prose and EXTREMELY satisfying endings, please pick up this gorgeous book. Legit, the last line gave me the best kind of chills. The best kind.Ps. Visit me on Instagram @reverieandink!

An enthralling story about the afterlife in Chinese myths, with unexpected twists and turns, though in some places it dragged a little and in others the sensibilities a tad too modern. The writing was vivid and evocative.I'm giving this novel 4.3 stars.

This was a beautifully written and touching novel. Fans of Peony in Love or Hayao Miyazaki's film Spirited Away will not be disappointed. The heroine of this story grows from a demure and spoiled girl into a confident and courageous woman. The world that Yangsze Choo creates is fantastic, more so because they reflect actual beliefs about the afterlife. This book has romance, terror, adventure and even some humor thrown in too. Ghost Bride earned every one of its stars

[Reseña en Español - English Review]|Español| “Estaba enfadada, desesperada, y ya no me importaba nada. Pero realmente no creo que mi intención fuera morir.” La Novia Fantasma es uno de esos libros que no me hubiera esperado que me enganchara tanto.Ha sido una lectura totalmente adictiva, siempre necesitaba saber más sobre Li Lan.Por no hablar de la magia de Yangsze Choo. Pocos autores (en mi experiencia) consiguen el efecto del final del capítulo, ese último párrafo o últimas líneas de un capítulo que te provocan tal intriga que tienes que saber qué es lo que va a pasar. Literalmente, me leí casi 300 páginas del tirón. Malasia, 1893.Li Lan, es la descendiente más joven de una gran familia de apellido reconocido. En el pasado su familia era muy rica, pero ahora gran parte de su capital y negocios se han perdido por el camino. La muerte de la madre de Li provocó tal luto en la familia que su padre dejó de interesarse en nada más que no fuera su pipa de opio. Y así pasa el tiempo, hasta que la edad de la joven Li Lan se considera la adecuada para casarse en la época. Pero su padre no ha estado lo suficientemente atento al futuro de su hija, y ha transcurrido tanto tiempo que apenas hay familias a las que les interese un matrimonio entre sus hijos y Li Lan. "Las horas, días y años que se habían desvanecido en su neblina de opio exigieron un pago por mi futuro." Hasta que un día la petición de matrimonio del hijo de una de las familias más ricas de Malaca llega a su hogar, el problema es que el joven con el que proponen casar a Li murió hace un año en extrañas circunstancias."Esta práctica de organizar el matrimonio de una persona muerta era poco común, generalmente sostenida para aplacar un espíritu. Una concubina fallecida que había tenido un hijo podría casarse oficialmente para elevar su estatus a esposa. O dos amantes que murieron trágicamente podrían unirse después de la muerte. Eso lo sabía. Pero casar a los vivos con los muertos era algo raro y, de hecho, horrible." Indignada por la irresponsabilidad de su padre y confundida por la petición de matrimonio de la familia Lim para convertirse en la novia fantasma de su fallecido hijo Lim Tian Ching, Li Lan se desespera ante la idea de no tener el futuro que ella soñaba.El señor Lim invita a la familia de Li Lan a su mansión. Allí ella conoce a un joven interesante por el que hubiera vendido su alma por haber conocido antes.Pero en la mansión Lim nada es lo que parece, y el espíritu de su fallecido heredero ronda entre las paredes de esa casa, incluso en los sueños de sus habitantes. Y ahora también en los sueños de Li Lan.Atemorizada, evita caer rendida y no dormir, pero es inevitable y Lim Tian Ching la espera en sus sueños.Una serie de malas decisiones conducen a la joven Li a arriesgar demasiado con tal de huir de su acosador en sueños, pero acaba arriesgando lo más valioso que tiene, su vida. Atrapada en el mundo entre la vida, lo espiritual y la muerte, Li Lan deberá de aventurarse en las tierras de los muertos y encontrar una salida con ayuda de un personaje misterioso, ya que cuanto más tiempo transcurra menos posibilidades tendrá de volver a la vida de nuevo. Lo que menos esperaba era acabar en el mismo paraje inhóspito en el que se encuentra Lim Tian Ching, la razón por la que ella está en el limbo espiritual, y que ahora que sabe que se encuentra en su mismo mundo no parará hasta encontrarla.Li deberá ser muy cuidadosa, muchos secretos están a punto de revelarse, relacionados con su família y los Lim. Si no mide sus acciones, sus actos se verán reflejados en el mundo de los vivos."Porque, cuando el ciclo de violencia escapa de sus confines en el infierno, provoca terremotos, riadas y otras calamidades en el mundo de los vivos."**¡Gracias a la editorial por enviarme un ejemplar anticipado a cambio de una reseña honesta!** |English| “I was angry, desperate, and I didn't care about anything anymore. But I really don't think my intention was to die.” The Ghost Bride is one of those books that I wouldn't have expected to get so caught up.It has been a totally addictive read, I always needed to know more about Li Lan.Not to mention the magic of Yangsze Choo. Few authors (in my experience) get the effect of the end of the chapter, that last paragraph or last lines of a chapter that make you so intrigued so you have to know what is going to happen.I literally read almost 300 pages at a stretch.Malaysia, 1893.Li Lan is the youngest descendant of a good family with a recognized surname. In the past his family was very rich, but now much of his capital and business have been lost over time.The death of Li's mother caused such mourning in the family that his father ceased to be interested in anything other than his opium pipe.And so time passes, until the age of the young Li Lan is considered the perfect one to marry at the time. But her father hasn't been attentive enough to his daughter's future, and so much time has passed that there are hardly any families interested in a marriage between their sons and Li Lan."The hours, days, and years that had bled away in his opium haze demanded a payment from my future.." Until one day, the marriage petition of the son of one of the richest families in Malacca comes to their door, the problem is that the young man they propose to marry Li died a year ago under strange circumstances."This practice of arranging the marriage of a dead person was uncommon, usually held in order to placate a spirit. A deceased concubine who had produced a son might be officially married to elevate her status to a wife. Or two lovers who died tragically might be united after death. That much I knew. But to marry the living to the dead was a rare and, indeed, dreadful occurrence." Outraged by her father's irresponsibility and confused by the Lim family's marriage petition to become the ghost bride of their deceased son Lim Tian Ching, Li Lan despairs at the thought of not having the future she dreamed of.Mr. Lim invites Li Lan's family to his mansion.There she meets an interesting young man for whom she would have sold her soul for having met before.But in the Lim mansion nothing is what it seems, and the spirit of his deceased heir hangs around the walls of that house, even in the dreams of its inhabitants. And now also in Li Lan's dreams.Frightened, she avoids falling exhausted and not sleeping, but it is inevitable and Lim Tian Ching awaits her in her dreams.A series of bad decisions lead young Li to risk too much in order to flee her dream stalker, but she ends up risking the most valuable thing she has, her life.Trapped in the world between life, the spiritual and death, Li Lan must venture into the land of the dead and find a way out with the help of a mysterious character, because the more time passes, the less chance she will come back to life.What she least expected was to end up in the same inhospitable place that Lim Tian Ching is in, the reason why she is in spiritual limbo, and that now that he knows that she is in the same world, he won't stop until finds her.Li will have to be very careful, many secrets are about to be revealed, related to her family and the Lim. If she doesn’t measure her movements, her actions will be reflected in the world of the living."For when the cycle of violence escapes its confines in hell, it causes earthquakes, floods, and other calamities."**I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

Nuestra protagonista Li Lan vive una vida relativamente humilde, después de que su familia, anteriormente rica, haya ido perdiendo esta riqueza al pasar los años. Estamos a finales del siglo XIX en Malasia, época en la que no había mejor futuro para una mujer que concertar un buen matrimonio con algún hombre bien posicionado. A Li Lan no le va a resultar fácil, a causa de esa falta de buen posicionamiento. Todo esto dará un giro cuando reciba una propuesta de matrimonio de una de las familias más ricas de Malaca, la región donde viven. ¿Cuál es el problema? El novio acaba de morir, y existe cierta tradición, poco habitual, que permite la unión de una pareja, aunque uno de ellos dos este muerto.Esta es la sinopsis, no desvelo nada de la trama. El caso es que el libro empieza pareciendo ir por un camino y acaba yendo por otro. No quiero entrar en detalles, para que no sé sepa bien porque camino va la trama, pero me ha gustado ver un personaje femenino que pasa de "damisela en apuros" a mujer fuerte que toma sus propias decisiones. Ha sido mi parte favorita.También he disfrutado mucho aprendiendo cosas de la cultura malaya, el gran mestizaje que hay con China, tanto que se crean hasta nuevas tradiciones y supersticiones. Y son estas supersticiones una parte fundamental de la historia, y la he disfrutado muchísimo. También vemos, aunque más sútilmente el choque de cultura con Occidente, ya que Malasia perteneció a Reino Unido hasta hace apenas unos 70 años. Para colmo, el final ma ha encantado. Sobre todo por encontrarlo tremendamente atípico en este tipo de novelas. Se nota que está escrita en 2013, y si llega a ser de hace más tiempo hubiera terminado de forma totalmente diferente. En definitiva, es de esos libros que además de aportarte una trama entretenida y disfrutable, te dan conocimientos en cuanto a otras culturas, que al menos para mí, son fascinantes.