Brown Girl Ghosted

January 15, 2020
When the school bully is murdered, Violet Choudhury is tasked with finding her killer. As one of the few kids of color in her small Illinois town, Violet works hard to blend in. She's an expert at flying under the radar, joining the right clubs, maintaining the right grades, and staying on powerful mean girl Naomi Talbert's good side. But despite pretending to be ordinary, Violet has a secret life: She's a descendant of the Aiedeo, Assamese warrior queens. For years, the ghosts of her ancestors trained her in their ancient, supernatural techniques by putting her through a series of deadly tests of strength and will. In seventh grade, after almost dying, Violet refused to continue with her lessons. But when Naomi is murdered the Aiedeo tell Violet that it's up to her to find the culprit, a ravenous demon. Violet wants to refuse, but if she doesn't find Naomi's killer, the Aiedeo will kill her so her powers can't be taken over and used against them. Das (Storm Sisters: The Frozen Seas, 2017, etc.) deftly weaves an intricate and believable set of parallel worlds, expertly using Violet's relationship with the Aiedeo and her own powers to explore tough issues of racism, misogyny, and sexual assault. Unfortunately, the prose is often heavy-handed and preachy, and the characters lack much development until the final quarter of the book. An ambitious, socially conscious fantasy that needs more showing and less telling. (Fantasy. 14-18)

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February 24, 2020
Violet Choudhury, 16, is one of the few people of color in her very white, very middle-American Illinois hometown, where she works hard to fit in, getting grades that are good (but not too good) and participating on the student council, tennis, and poms. But the Indian-American girl is hiding a big secret: she is descended from a powerful supernatural Assamese warrior queen tasked to “protect the world by destroying the destroyers.” Dead members of the Aiedeo, as they are known, trained her to join their ranks until a near-fatal accident at 13 caused Violet to turn her back on her legacy. When Naomi, the head pom and cruelest girl at Meadowdale High School, is murdered, the Aiedeo present Violet with an ultimatum: help Naomi’s spirit find peace by taking out the demon who killed Naomi, or be killed herself. Das (Storm Sisters) peppers her prose with pop culture references to build scenes and provide character development; while some are chuckle-worthy, many may go over young readers’ heads, and worldbuilding and characters—with the notable exception of Violet’s nanny, Dede, who is by turns funny and authoritative—can feel one-dimensional. Ages 14–up.

March 1, 2020

Gr 10 Up-A small Midwest town, an Indian girl, and formidable supernatural powers add up to a book with a lot of promise, but which fails to deliver a believable story. Violet Choudhury, a junior in high school, is one of only a few brown people in her small Illinois town. Although she works hard to blend in, her ability to see spirits and talk to the dead make her anything but average. She is descended from a long line of female warriors who have tried training her, but she has become resentful towards them and has lost most of her powers as a result. When the local queen bee is murdered after a sex tape scandal, Violet will have to reconnect with her supernatural abilities to help solve the case-because her own life now depends on it. Although this story touches on relevant issues such as microaggressions, racism, and sexism, the writing is unpredictable and often feels forced. Some passages are hard to understand because the established premises vary; for example, spirits cannot touch or interact with objects, but that rule changes in the following chapter. A big issue with this book is the inconsistency in narrator; sometimes it's first person, sometimes it's third, but there's no clear pattern to this change. There are a few plot holes that make the final product difficult to enjoy. VERDICT Although it is refreshing to see a female protagonist of color in this paranormal mystery, the story ultimately does not live up to its potential. A secondary purchase.-Carol Youssif, Taipei American School, Taiwan

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2020
Grades 9-12 Violet Choudhury lives in Meadowdale, Illinois, where the most interesting things happening are her high school's parties in the middle of un-GPS-able cornfields and, most recently, the death of mean girl Naomi Talbert. Meanwhile, Violet is coasting along unassumingly; she's not the prettiest, she's not the most popular, and she totally does not see dead people?or so she tries to convince herself. The Aiedeo, a line of supernatural female Indian warriors, however, aren't fine with her dismissal. They force Violet to solve Naomi's murder or pay for it with her life. The author's U.S. debut brings forth major Mean Girls vibes. While the plot feels a bit hazy and suffers under the weight of excessive exposition in the first half of the book, Violet's zesty voice has a way of balancing the story and driving the narrative forward in the second half. A touch of the paranormal, a dash of sass, and loads of high school nostalgia make this an entertaining read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)