'What's wrong with repression and denial...its worked so far"

We meet Jess, who has just moved back to Malaysia with her Mother and Father. She is broke, jobless and also did not share she is in a serious relationship with Sharanya (who is moving from America to be with Jess....in SINGAPORE and is under the impression that Jess will also be moving from Malaysia to SG). This is also the perfect time to start hearing voices of her Ah Ma.

"Grandmother was a gangster moll"
With superstition built into her world view, Jess is not totally suprised when it turns out that she can speak to her Ah Ma, and her body can also be used by her. Jess begins a unconventional journey of (unwillingly) helping her Ah Ma to exact revenge on Ng Chee Hin; an enemy of the Gods.

"How are you going to find a job like that? Or get married? The man won't want you. The boss won't want you. You look like a bad girl"
I love the interactions between Jess, Ah Ma, and Mom; the negotiations, bickering and mutual affection. In particular the unique blend of Hokkien, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin and English has given the narration all the sweetness of linguistic diversity which I savoured throughout. This was a really fun story, with myths and cultural practices familiar to me. And of course scary gangsters, bribery, temple fight scenes and supernatural hijinks.

I love Zen Cho's narration style, they cleverly weaved in the diaspora conflict of names, aspirations, cultural lens around sexuality. This is a quick paced book and I hope I can read about Jess and her family again.