She is a Haunting is an exploration of grief, colonialism, and identity— both regarding the MC’s queer identity and feeling alienated from her heritage.

I enjoyed the main plot and the use of the haunted house and bugs as a metaphor for colonialism. The writing also really shone at times— particularly during the interludes as different body parts. That being said, I found that the pace was slow and the story meandered for a portion of the book and thus it was hard at times to stay fully engaged.

While I didn’t quite like this novel as much as I liked They Bloom at Night, I will happily read anything Trang Thanh Tran writes. I would love to see an adult horror book from her.