The Girl with Ghost Eyes

By: M. H. Boroson

Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller

It's the end of the 19th century in San Francisco's Chinatown, and ghost hunters from the Maoshan traditions of Daoism keep malevolent spiritual forces at bay. Li-lin, the daughter of a renowned Daoshi exorcist, is a young widow burdened with yin eyes - the unique ability to see the spirit world. Her spiritual visions and the death of her husband bring shame to Li-lin and her father - and shame is not something this immigrant family can afford.

When a sorcerer cripples her father, terrible plans are set in motion, and only Li-lin can stop them. To aid her are her martial arts and a peachwood sword, her burning paper talismans, and a wisecracking spirit in the form of a human eyeball tucked away in her pocket. Navigating the dangerous alleys and backrooms of a male-dominated Chinatown, Li-lin must confront evil spirits, gangsters, and soulstealers before the sorcerer's ritual summons an ancient evil that could burn Chinatown to the ground.

With a rich and inventive historical setting, nonstop martial arts action, authentic Chinese magic, and bizarre monsters from Asian folklore, The Girl with Ghost Eyes is also the poignant story of a young immigrant searching to find her place beside the long shadow of a demanding father and the stigma of widowhood. In a Chinatown caught between tradition and modernity, one woman may be the key to holding everything together.

©2015 M. H. Boroson (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A brilliant tale of magic, monsters, and kung fu in the San Francisco Chinatown of 1898." (Publishers Weekly)

wasn't what I had hoped for but wasn't horrible

the story at times, feels very much like a light novel... which is disheartening, as I abhor light novels. though, in general it has a great supernatural vibe.

also a bit disappointed with the narrator, at times it seemed as if she was over acting - there was a lot of the mournful, upset kind of reaction that I didn't think was always warranted. I've heard her before and she's done such a better job with other books.

interesting

interesting. its a good story, just not really my style. narrator did a good job.

Kick a** characters, action & emotional punch

The narrator's native fluidity with Chinese was the cherry on top of a kind of story we never get to hear. Her range nearly encompasses very distinct voices female and male, young and old. As a historical fiction/fantasy about immigrant Chinese told through the eyes of a young female Daoist priestess, this is the first exploration I've read of what gender, duty, spiritual and generational assimilation struggles might look like among Asian immigrants. I LOVED it.

definitely worth a listen

well researched and written. the voice actor does exceedingly well at making you feel the love, pain, and sorrow of the main character of the book.

Phenomenal

this was a beautiful story about a strong woman saving the day even though we rushing is working against her. From the social dictations to her own mental limitations, she fights. it's amazing and well told.

Absolutely Riveting

I loved this novel. It was simple but so powerful, and I love that it's making the world of Chinese mysticism accessible to those who otherwise would never be privy to it.

Emily Woo Zeller did a fantastic job narrating (seriously, her performance is worth it just by itself), and M.H. Boroson's writing transported me effortlessly into another world, where eyeball monsters exist and snake-like demons can recreate an amputated limb.

I felt every moment of our main character's struggle, and I fought alongside her up to the very end.

Bang-up job.

it was ok?

CW:Spoilers

The reader didn't really do the book justice and that might color my opinion a little. I'm not saying she was a bad reader, she just wasn't a good reader. On the upside she could actually pronounce the Chinese words that were used so there's that. Otherwise it was incredibly overdramatic and really broke the story for me.

Aside from the reader, the story was okay I guess. The historical context and the tidbits about Chinese mysticism and whatnot and the ghosts and the goblins was fun and nice to read about. The main character was annoying and I really got tired of her self-deprecation and her constant comparing herself to men. She was a very incomplete character and not at all what I would consider a strong female character. I need male writers to quit assuming that just because they make a female character who can kick ass that doesn't make her a strong feminine character. She had no self value and it showed, and I'm not sure if that was a intentional characteristic or just how male writers tend to write female characters.

Either way, the final part of the story dragged on forever. The constant self negging of the main character during the final Conflict just got on my nerves to no end. Even skipping the final Conflict where her father had to come save her or else all would have been lost, what even was the point of her being there? The more I think about it and putting my thoughts into words here. I don't even understand why the main character was female when she was so obviously less then every male character in the story? in the end she couldn't even win unless her father boosted her power, and then I assume dies, I don't know I skipped it. It just wasn't a good story I guess.

I stuck with it as long as I did because the setting for the story was very interesting and the lure of the story is very interesting. I honestly can't think of any character I like the except for the one named Bok Choy which is a horrible name, even as a snarky name in a book. Even he was basically a stereotype and not a complementary one at that.

I honestly don't feel like I'd be comfortable giving this book to my friends are Chinese? Maybe I should just to see what they would have to say, but I didn't like it really.

The Girl with Ghost Ryes

I found this book particularly interesting because it gave me the opportunity to learn about another culture I was not familiar with. I am a teacher whoI taught English as a Second Language for many years. Many of my students were from China. The idea of family fielty is still strongly practiced today in China. It was an interesting opportunity to see a culture from someone else's perspective and in particular from the eyes of Chinese woman in early San Francisco Chinatown. I recommend this book.

Absolutely loved this story!!!

I can't wait to start the second book! Loved the attention to detail throughout the entire story; Especially those depicting the different spirits/demons/ghouls that were mentioned throughout the story and the different spells, talismans, and fighting styles the characters utilized. I highly recommend reading this!

Pleasantly Surprised

I'm often skeptical of books included in my subscription... but five minutes in I was hooked. The story has a wonderful vibe of history and tradition, and quite frankly it's a GOOD story!
Absolute kudos to Ms. Zeller, because her narration brought such life to the story that I didn't want to hit pause, ever. I suspect that if I had picked up this book in print I might have struggled with some of the "foreign" (to me) terms, but her pronunciation and inflection added to the appeal instead.
Also, much thanks to the author for his addendum explaining some things.