Contemporary fantasy. The protagonist and her parents had lived in the US since she was a toddler, but now they have moved back to Malaysia and are living with her aunt and uncle. She just graduated, she has no job, she has no money, she’s closeted to her family, and she has started hearing voices…well, one voice, and it claims to be her recently deceased maternal grandmother, whom she never knew. Gentrification, gendered violence, gangsters, ghosts, and gods. Interesting worldbuilding and engaging storytelling. I’m no expert, and of course I know pretty much nothing about Malaysia, but it seems to do quite a clever yet subtle job of subverting the simplistic colonial frame that no doubt many of its white Western readers would be inclined to bring to it. Good stuff.
Originally posted by Scott on Goodreads.