👥 Recommended for those who: - enjoy gory, graphic depictions of death - are interest in Chinese supernatural elements and folklore 🔖 Premise Cora Zeng, a 24 year old half-white, half-Asian living in New York City, works as a crime scene cleaner. Living with OCD and always feeling like the weird one, she has spent all her life in the shadow of her half sister. When her sister is brutally murdered in front of her in the subway station, Cora’s world collapses. As she struggles with grief and considers giving up the search for her sister’s killer, she begins to notice unsettling connections through her job, alongside an eerie power lurking in the shadows. 📌 Key Themes - Pandemic era - Anti-Asian racism / hate crime - Asian American identity & culture - Government & police corruption - Grief & healing - OCD and mental health - Friendship 👍🏻 Liked ✨ Wide Range of Themes - this horror story tackles a lot of themes, but it does bring out meaningful messages ✨ Chinese Cultural References - Chinese religion / ghost culture / Hong Kong Mr. Vampire movies 👎🏻 Did Not Like ✨ Felt Too Young Adult - though characters were in their mid 20s, their dialog and decision-making felt teen-like - story leaned towards telling rather than showing - maybe because the author is better known for her YA works ✨ Supernatural Elements were Not Scary - though some death scenes were genuinely scary, the supernatural elements were not frightening as expected ✨ Felt Preachy - certain messages were repeated over and over again, e.g. the stereotype of Asian women being expected to “stay quiet and pretty”