I liked this one. I did not know where the story was going at all, but I was there for the ride. Some of the little twists I saw coming, but others took me by surprise. The main character Jess was great (though she sure did make some stupid decisions sometimes). I enjoyed her relationships with Ah Ma and her mother. But the setting was probably the best part - with some of her descriptions I felt like I was there in Malaysia.
The main flaw is that the book just tried to go into too many directions at once. Some things didn’t have much of an impact though they really should have. It had good fantastical elements, a good "family secrets" mystery, a kind of violent horror element, a kind of coming of age/coming out story - but it would have been better if it focused on one or two of those things and ran with that. And as much as I love my queer woc representation, the girlfriend should have been cut - or greatly expanded on. She just felt flat and we didn't know anything about her. We got some resolution, but it just felt like that story never went anywhere!
Nonetheless, I did enjoy this one!
Also this may be the first "fantasy" I've read that just takes place in our world. So it didn't really feel like fantasy to me? But more like magical realism.