An above average first book, with lots to like for urban fantasy fans and people who enjoy time period fantasies. It reminds me of Maxine Hong Kingston crossed with Snake Agent.A young widowed woman, Xian Li-lin, with ‘ghost eyes,’ is living in 1898 in San Francisco with her emotionally distant father. They are priest and priestess in the Maoshan tradition: “we are ghost hunters, spirit mediums, and exorcists. When creatures out of nightmare trouble Chinatown, people come to the Maoshan for prot...

2.5/5 starsThe things I liked:*The cultural/folktale aspects of the book. *Mr. Yanqiu – because he is a rad little eyeball.*The spirits. Especially Mr. Yanqiu and the cat.*Bok Choy- because he is an unpredictable character.Not so much:*The monotony of the story. After a while the story fell into a boring rhythm of fight, look for solutions, fail in obtaining/getting solutions, fight some more. At first this was exciting, but by the end I was eagerly waiting for the story to wrap-up.*Certain aspe...

If you like historical fiction and you enjoy a good, well written fantasy then this is definitely the book for you. Set in Chinatown, San Francisco in 1898, the story shows much of the way of life of Chinese immigrants at that time as they struggled to maintain their cultural beliefs and customs and yet still adapt to their new home.That's the historical fiction aspect and it is very well done. As for fantasy, the author uses for his main character a very strong, feisty Chinese girl. Li-Lin is t...

Brilliantly written, endlessly fascinating story about Japanese-American people who deal with the spirit world on a daily basis. Adorable characters (Yes, especially the eye!), and a well written plot, drive this novel straight through to the end. I adored every second of it, and I hated for it to end. I cheered for the good guys, and reveled in the endlessly wondrous worlds they traveled. Definitely highly recommended...!!5 stars, and please read this soon!——————3 years later and this is still ...

And to think I almost missed this one. Normally Book Bub is a hit or miss (they're terrible when it comes to offering more diverse reads and I know for a fact that there are a LOT of great books with lead characters of color just waiting for a chance to be discovered), but somehow this ended up as an offering and I'm so glad I grabbed it. Needless to say, this would make a killer Netflix series. Strong Asian heroine, a sense of the lives of Chinese immigrants in turn of the century San Francisco...

Wow. I just loved this book.It was so well-researched and embedded with culture from many sources. So, first of all, hats off to the amazing work that must have gone into crafting such a well put together story while respecting the culture whence it came. The story's gist, while not revolutionary, brought a few new twists and kicks to the "character can see human world and spirit world" that I'm used to, which was greatly appreciated. The characters themselves were wonderful. So fully-formed and...

"My name is Xian Li-lin...and I am a Maoshan Nu Daoshi of the Second Ordination." Li-lin is also a grieving widow, a devoted and obedient daughter. She has yin eyes. She can see ghosts and must hide her ability in order to continue being an obedient daughter. No nasty magic allowed. Although the Maoshan tradition is keeping malevolent spirits away, actually seeing ghosts is unacceptable, so Li-lin is trapped straightaway in an impossible situation, set in an insoluble conflict with unfathomable ...

DNF at 23%No one really likes slow-paced stories. But with this one, everything happened so fast that at the end of the first chapter I was likeThe second chapterThe third chapterYou see where I'm going with this?I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy such pace but me no. From the start I need at least a little background story, some set up, maybe even a little filler to understand the character, so I can care for him/her. but in this case, all sorts of shit were happening to Li-lin and I was allI ...

The Girl with Ghost Eyes is such a cool novel! It invents a whole new genre, a blend of kung fu, Daoist magic, crazy monsters, tong wars, immigrant narrative, female empowerment, spiritual journey, and social realism.

I googled to see what things look like.

19th-c Chinatown:



Yellow paper talismans:


Peachwood sword:


Creatures:

Excellent, action packed read. Strong female character.