Black Water Sister
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Narrated by:
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Catherine Ho
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By:
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Zen Cho
About this listen
A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy.
Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke, and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there's only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she's determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god - and she's decided Jess is going to help her do it.
Drawn into a world of gods, ghosts, and family secrets, Jess finds that making deals with capricious spirits is a dangerous business. As Jess fights for retribution for Ah Ma, she'll also need to regain control of her body and destiny. If she fails, the Black Water Sister may finish her off for good.
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John Docherty’s mother has just been taken into a nursing home following a massive stroke and she’s unlikely to be able to live independently again. With no other option than to sell the family home, John sets about packing up everything in the house. In sifting through the detritus of his family’s past he’s forced to revisit, and revise his childhood. For in a box, in the attic, he finds undeniable truth that he had a brother who disappeared when he himself was only a toddler.
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Dr. Trisha Raje is San Francisco’s most acclaimed neurosurgeon. But that’s not enough for the Rajes, her influential immigrant family who’s achieved power by making its own nonnegotiable rules: Never trust an outsider, never do anything to jeopardize your brother’s political aspirations, and never, ever, defy your family. Trisha is guilty of breaking all three rules. But now, she has a chance to redeem herself. So long as she doesn’t repeat old mistakes.
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Charlotte has everything in life that she ever could have hoped for: a doting, artistic husband, a small-but-thriving flower shop, and her sweet, smart five-year-old daughter, Daisy. Her relationship with her mother might be strained, but the distance between them helps. And her younger brother Rocco may have horrible taste in women, but when he introduces his new girlfriend to Charlotte and her family, they are cautiously optimistic that she could be The One. Daisy seems to love Ruth, and she can’t be any worse than the klepto Rocco brought home the last time.
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Should be "Something Almost Happened"
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Quinn Victoria Caine is back in her quirky town of Vienna, Virginia, starting her new life as a bookbinder in her family-owned bookshop. With her trusty German Shephard RBG - Ruff Barker Ginsburg - by her side, what can go wrong? Okay, sure, bumping into her ex Scott or her former high-school nemesis Tricia is a drag. It certainly doesn't help that they’ve acquired the new hobby of shoving their recent engagement in her face every chance they get. But that doesn't mean Quinn wanted to find Tricia dead in the road. So why does half the town think she may have done it?
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AMAZING NEW COZY SERIES
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Final Cuts
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From the secret reels of a notoriously cursed cinematic masterpiece to the debauched livestreams of modern movie junkies who will do anything for clicks, Final Cuts brings together new and terrifying stories inspired by the many screens we can't peel our eyes away from. Inspired by the rich golden age of the film and television industries as well as the new media present, this new anthology reveals what evils hide behind the scenes and between the frames of our favorite medium.
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Not Poor, Not Rich
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What listeners say about Black Water Sister
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- just asking for some common sense
- 04-27-22
A wild afterlife romp
A dead grandmother inhabits her young adult granddaughter. What could go wrong? Apparently a lot. This book was pretty great, with humor, violence, secrets, cultural observations and consequences of differences, family dynamics, criminal activity, spirits, gods, almost gods.
The main character is from Malaysia, but grew up in the USA. Now she is back in Malaysia with her parents and strange things are happening. You might have to suspend disbelief and just let this be. I loved the book and the narration. I listened quickly because I had to know the ending!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lynn Boyles
- 08-27-23
STRUGGLE
I really struggled in the first part of the book that dragged on way too long. I’m really grateful that I hung in there with the story . It eventually hooked me in and the story became entertaining. I hate that it took so long to get to that point of enjoyment because it really is a great story. The narrator was wonderful and probably kept me listening even when I wasn’t invested! Thanks for that Catherine!
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- Mary
- 06-09-21
Another all-star from Zen Cho
I loved everything about this books- the characters and setting were lush, dynamic and fully realized. The story was both esoteric and approachable- this may be the most identifiable ghost and god story I've ever read. There are also layers to this tale which come together in a delicious tiered cake wrapped in phenomenal narration. Nothing was unnecessary but it never felt sparse, the stakes felt real and the anxiety, helplessness, power and thrills were all beautifully rendered.
I like to go into a familiar author without knowing anything about the story and recommend you not seek spoilers either. This is a 10/10 recommend.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Alex
- 04-30-23
slow start but
It was slow to start but a third or halfway in, I got really into it
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- Denise R
- 10-02-23
Sometimes confusing
I really liked this book, not loved it . Sometimes stuff dragged on. Some scenes were confusing . Good characters
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- Rori Song
- 05-30-21
5 Stars across the board!
Couldn’t put this one down! If you’ve even thought in passing of checking this one out, DO IT! Jess moves to Malaysia with her parents, only to wind up possessed by her grandmother’s ghost. Ah Ma was the medium for the god Black Water Sister and is determined to have Jess become the god’s next medium so the god can take revenge on a developer who plans to redevelop her temple. Of course Jess, who spent most of her life in the US, has no idea what she’s agreeing to and quickly gets in over her head. To be fair, she does try to bargain with Ah Ma, but knowing the duplicitous nature of many spirits, we were anticipating betrayal. If only Jess had read the Dresden Files! 😂 Jess must figure out who to trust, while juggling complicated family dynamics, cultural expectations, and a secret lesbian romance. Zen Cho does an excellent job balancing insider and outsider cultural perspectives, making this story accessible to any reader. She keeps the twists coming and the ending is unforeseen, powerful, and satisfying.
Catherine Ho does a brilliant job narrating. So brilliant we’re disappointed she’s not narrating Zen Cho’s upcoming short story collection Spirits Abroad. Emily Woo Zeller, who seems to be Audible’s go-to for female Asian narration, was tapped instead. And Zeller is great. But Catherine Ho really gets the potent combination of emotion, magic, and gritty reality in Black Water Sister and brings it all out for the listener. While she does use accents for some characters, it’s never difficult to understand and all the voices are distinct.
The very first sentence was confusing because it ends in a Hokien word. We weren’t expecting that and at first thought we had misheard. Keep going; the word will be explained. This was the only instance where the experience suffered from being audio, simply because we couldn’t tell it was a non-English word and not terrible narration or our hearing by looking at the text.
A Word to the Wise (Content Warnings)
Major: Sexual assault, homophobia, violence, manipulation/gaslighting, religious abuse.
Moderate: Heteronormativity.
Minor: Brief mention of drugs.
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20 people found this helpful
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- Nico Chuka
- 01-09-24
I LOVED this book
Holy cow I LOVED this book. It’s a paranormal story about a woman, her grandmother and gods in Malaysia. It was a ride and I quickly finished this. It often has a humorous tone that resonated with me, but it tackled some heavy issues as well. I didn’t absolutely love the novella I read previously by Cho, but this put them on the radar for me.
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- Stanley Sim
- 08-29-21
Great story
I haven't bothered with writing reviews on Audible before but feel compelled to add my 5 stars to this. Admittedly I am biased being of Malaysian origin and of the same dialect group as described in the story though from the other side of the country, not Penang, but this story is so emblematic of Chinese-Malaysian families. Never mind the ghost aspect, which is funny and not really the main point, the interactions between the protagonists are straight out of the late 20th century SE Asian family playbook. Some film producer shuld snap up the rigts to this book - its funnier than Crazy Rich Asians, more realistic (no tycoon heroes, thank god) and has a more nuanced female central character. Just listen to this !
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4 people found this helpful
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- Anomaly6
- 12-16-23
Generations collide whit ghosts gods and gangs
I really felt the generations colliding in this story and the longer it went on the more my fondness for all the characters grew. I just really enjoyed this, excellent narrator too.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Michael G Kurilla
- 06-12-23
Malaysian fantasy with annoyed gods
Zen Cho’s Black Water Sister is the tale of a recent Harvard grad who returns to her native country of birth, Malaysia, with her parents. Shortly after arriving, she begins to hear the voice of her deceased grandmother in her head. Her grandmother has some unfinished business that involves a dispute be-tween a wealthy real estate developer and a long-standing temple over property rights. Her grand-mother had served as a medium for the temple deity. At the same time, she is looking for employment and dealing with her stateside lover, but also learns that some of her local relatives are involved in organized crime.
Cho crafts an engaging tale of a young woman dealing with quite a lot. While much is made of her lesbianism, that plot element merely serves as angst over her possible parents’ reactions. There is the classic modernity versus ancient adherence to rituals with the interesting twist that the son of wealthy tycoon is more old-fashioned that his father.
The narration is well done with excellent character distinction. Pacing is brisk.
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