the story ‘The Perseverance of Angela’s Past Life’ alone deserves 5 stars

5/5

This book was absolutely fantastic. While I adored BLACK WATER SISTER, I think Zen Cho truly shines in her short stories. It was so much fun to get such a range of stories, genres, and themes. Some stories didn't resonate with me as much, but they're all wildly creative and enchantingly written, and I was invested the entire way through. Colorful, chilling, heartwarming, and hilarious, Zen Cho's writing never ceases to amaze me. Here are my favorite short stories, and a quote from each of them!

1. The First Witch of Damansara
- "The fresh chili red had never suited her... But the color was a protective charm. It laid monsters to rest. It shut out hungry ghosts. It frightened shadows back into the corners where they belonged."

2. The Guest
- "Yiling was riding hone on her motorcycle when she saw the cat. It was late evening and the air was thick with smells, but the scent of the cat rang out like the clang of a temple bell, cutting through the stench of exhaust and oil-in-the-nose smell of fried food wafting from notes roadside stalls."

3. House of Aunts (2 quotes because god I love this story)
- "Most of the time Ah Lee was a girl. Her body and mind were more used to it. Being in vampire mode made her uncomfortable. She avoided it as much as she could. But whenever she slipped into it, it was like putting on a pair of slippers after a long day of standing in high heels, like stepping out of a ferociously air-conditioned room into the welcoming warmth of the outside world."
- "She was dead, but she wasn't alone. There was nothing to be scared of in this new life. With six aunts behind you, you can be anything."

4. Balik Kampung
- "There were a lot of unexpected things about being dead. The traffic was one of them."

5. (Rising Lion-- The Lion Bows) (2 quotes again because this one might be my favorite!)
- "The lion blazed through the room. Jia Qi knew its legs were Simon's and Tiong Han's legs, working in unison. She knew that the tossing head and blinking eyes were operated by human hands. And yet she did not know it. The lion had changed; it was not human anymore. The spirit that had slumbered in the lion head had awakened. It was a single, strange, live creature, and the beat of the drum was the beat of its heart."
- "George had not heard of Malaysia. They drew him a map by committee.
'Is Laos between Myanmar and Vietnam? It is, right?'
'I don't think Hong Kong is so high up,' said Coco, leaning over his shoulder. 'And your proportions are all wrong! Singapore's not bigger than Hong Kong!'
'In ego it is,' said Tiong Han, who was from Johor."

Again, I loved this book so much. Highly recommend for urban fantasy lovers!

What a fragile, necessary thing love was.

When I read the previous version of this collection last year, it was my favourite of the year. I loved this version just as much, and what's more, I'm super glad that I got to experience both versions. This collection was missing a few of the original stories, but there were some additions that I really really liked (including some short stories of Cho's that I'd read and enjoyed on their own). Everything I loved about the collection still stands: Zen Cho's creativity, the melding of fantasy with real life concerns, particularly in the way she integrates it with culture, language, dialect (

To love a new world, you had to get close to the ground and listen.

An absolute delight. Everything I want out of fantasy. Spoke to me on so many different levels. Every single story in this collection was good. I didn't adore every one of them, but the ones I did love, I loved SO MUCH, I want to burst thinking about them.

One, I love stories written in and including dialect. English is never so beautiful to me as when it's put into the hands of colonised or enslaved people, and contorted and transformed and mixed with native languages, given new syntax and grammar and just made into something new. It's why I love Caribbean literature, and I especially adore it when it's in in sci-fi and fantasy. (Shout out to Kai Ashante Wison.) There's just something about dialect when used in tandem with magic and fantasy that's just... I LOVE IT! This was my first major exposure to Malaysian dialect and I loved it to pieces. Didn't take long to get used to it.

Two, Zen Cho's writing is everything. Witty, beautiful, packs a punch, simple. She writes really effective descriptions, makes wonderful lush use of nature and settings. I went into this not knowing anything in particular about Malaysian spirits or folklore, but with Zen Cho's writing and a some intermittent googling, I devoured these. I love how she melded fantasy and the modern, in rural settings, in cities, abroad, in her home, in other worlds... This was just such a creative collection, and every story had something great to offer. A lot of great interrogation on feminism, love, immigration, colonialism... this was all so good.

Also, gotta say, I went in expecting it to be all straight and... I was wrong! Wonderfully wrong!! And of course, the queer stories ended up being my faves.

A few words on a few stories:

Spoiler

The House of Aunts
My first big favourite. Mix teens girls and monsterhood and I'm THERE. It was such a sweet story of friendship, and love, and misunderstandings, and family. And powerful sense of sisterhood. "It's already suffering enough to be a woman," Ah Lee recited. "Don't need people to eat you some more."

The Mystery of the Suet Swain
I mean first off there's a pun in the title. Secondly I knew I love Sham with my entire being from her first line, and it became clear why when Zen Cho said in her notes that she's based on Holmes. Third, I LOVE stories of girls looking out for one another, and there was some great stuff in here about harassment, and how the harassers thrive on people not saying anything, and like, the moment where Belinda tells Bullet to fuck off and feels so shocked and proud of herself... this was so great. Also Sham and Belinda are completely dating now.

The Fish Pond
This was so good it hurt. A painfully accurate look at what it feels like to be in school, and depressed, and in pain, falling behind and feel like you're drowning, and everyone who's supposed to throw you a lifeline can't even see it. This one gutted me a lot.

Marvellous collection. Really can't wait to read more of this author.

Zen Cho is one of my favourite authors and I always look out for her work, which all have a strong flavour of Malaysia and South East Asian culture and this collection of short stories follows this pattern.
The stories are deeply embedded with the culture and mythos found in Malaysia, a country which embraces a wide diaspora - indigenous Malay, Chinese, Indian and also colonial influences.
The varied stories are often linked by one small detail and my particular favourites were, The House of Aunts (non-traditional vampiric tale), Prudence and the Dragon (fun tale set in London), and Monkey King, Faerie Queen. All the tales provide deeper cultural insight into the traditions around death, spirits, gods and reverence to ancestors. There is the juxtaposition of even in the most modern and sophisticated of lives the small rituals, superstitions and rites are practised- because you never know!
As short stories it is a book that can be dipped into and there is the joy of never knowing what you might find with a random selection.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC - although sometime after publication it is a good time for a fresh prompt to say how good these stories are - especially if you want something a little different than the traditional European mythos. All views are my own.

Zen Cho is one of my favourite authors and I always look out for her work, which all have a strong flavour of Malaysia and South East Asian culture and this collection of short stories follows this pattern.
The stories are deeply embedded with the culture and mythos found in Malaysia, a country which embraces a wide diaspora - indigenous Malay, Chinese, Indian and also colonial influences.
The varied stories are often linked by one small detail and my particular favourites were, The House of Aunts (non-traditional vampiric tale), Prudence and the Dragon (fun tale set in London), and Monkey King, Faerie Queen. All the tales provide deeper cultural insight into the traditions around death, spirits, gods and reverence to ancestors. There is the juxtaposition of even in the most modern and sophisticated of lives the small rituals, superstitions and rites are practised- because you never know!
As short stories it is a book that can be dipped into and there is the joy of never knowing what you might find with a random selection.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC - although sometime after publication it is a good time for a fresh prompt to say how good these stories are - especially if you want something a little different than the traditional European mythos. All views are my own.

Spirits Abroad is an absolutely delightful collection of short stories featuring modern heroines grappling with Malaysian folklore. These stories cleverly navigate how the traditional meets the contemporary for young women living in Malaysia and the diaspora, and uses folklore to explore everything from sexual harassment to family obligations to colonialism.