Black Water Sister
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Black Water Sister
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Narrated by:
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Catherine Ho
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Written by:
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Zen Cho
About this listen
A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.
Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke, and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there's only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she's determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god - and she's decided Jess is going to help her do it.
Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she'll also need to regain control of her body and destiny. If she fails, the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.
©2021 Zen Cho (P)2021 Recorded BooksWhat listeners say about Black Water Sister
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lindsay B.
- 2022-11-03
A rich, multi-layered read!
There's a lot to unpack about this book. We have the job hunt post university and how it wears down on Jess's energy and self-esteem (relatable, amirite?). We have some complicated family dynamics — Jess's relationship to her grandmother, to her parents, to her extended family, and their interpersonal issues with each other. With that comes the weight of expectation, the factors that lead a person to conform to a shape that doesn't fit.
The family aspect is one of the strengths of this book. The members of the family have such a complex history, which comes out piecemeal as the book unfolds. We learn about Jess's grandmother, about Jess's mom, and how the interplay between them led to them being the people they are. (Were? Jess's grandmother is dead throughout.) We see facets of family members that make others uncomfortable, like how Jess's cousin has a best friend who is gay, igniting some good ol' holiday homophobia over the dinner table. It helps to show exactly why Jess is so reticent to tell her family that she has a girlfriend, a reticence that of course brings tension between her and her long distance girlfriend.
And these are just the layers in the background, bracketing the central thread of the Black Water Sister, the vengeful goddess who wants Jess as her medium. Jess's relationship to religion is as complex and nuanced as her relationship to her family. Her relationship to the goddess even more so. And although I'm always extra critical about attempted sexual assault in fantasy, because it was not about Jess's motivation or about showing the grittiness of the world but about understanding the goddess — her past, her pain, her thirst for vengeance — this is one of the few times that I think it might have been necessary for the depth of her character and her relationship to her devotees and the living world to truly be understood.
I think it's pretty clear that I enjoyed this book! The ending hit just the right notes to satisfy, too.
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