I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A sweet and incredibly imaginative story that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is action packed with plenty of mystery. Perfect for a MG child or any reader young at heart. 
A great read.

Thank you to NetGalley for this copy. I really enjoyed this middle grade, it was really cute and I'm interested to see what this author will do next.

I loved this and cried. I'll come back with an actual review once I can think past *eeee*

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I originally requested this for a readathon I was doing over Summer, but ran out of time to read it -- before (stupidly) getting my plots of multiple novels muddled up. This meant I put this off until I started my Believeathon tbr this month - and man am I glad I finally read this. This book is gorgeous. 

From the landscape and history of Singapore, to the month of the Hungry Ghost, and the intricacies of feng sui being involed in the healing of the two main girls hearts and minds. Urgh, this book was just stunning. I know it says I took four days to read this, but I didn't - I read it in two halves because I couldn't put it down when I picked it up and work stopped me from reading this quickly. 

The story of broken homes, found families, extending families and understanding more as you grow are all themes in this story - along with understanding that sometimes you forget details to protect yourself. I adored the way HS Norup explored these, through Freja having to leave her mum and her home, coming to the realisation that she can find a loving and happy space for herself in Singapore and that friends can come together in the most unlikely of ways. 

I'll also like to add that I was emotional at various points in this book but that I literally cried at the end. I even posted photographic evidence on booksta and twitter. 

Do yourself a favour and read this now! ^_^

I want to first state that there are triggers in this book for child death, death by drowning and grief that I did not expect and that did affect my overall enjoyment of this book. Please be aware of the trigger warnings before reading if you're sensitive to these subjects. 

Freja has started a new journey to live with her father, step mother and half twin brothers in Singapore. It's a world vastly different from the one she leaves behind in Denmark with her sick mother and she's anxious and lonely. But on her first night in a new home, she sees a mysterious girl in a white dress in her back garden. A ghost girl who's list her memories. 

Set during the Hungry Ghost festival, the story is filled with vibrant stories and folklores, traditions and auspicious ceremonies. We explore Singapore through Freja's eyes, as she navigates the melting pot of cultures and languages that make the country so unique. It's well described and examined, bringing to life a world I've never truly seen before. It's certainly a highlight of the book. 

While I like Freja and her relationship with the ghost girl, I found it quite superficial in places and develops too quickly without much payoff. I actually preferred her relationships with her new school friends and neighbour Jason, and would have liked to have seen more of their interactions. I also found that the plot gets away from itself in places, bringing too much mythology into the plot without enough exposition. It feels a bit messy. I will also briefly say that the overall conclusion is pretty good, although I will state again that I found it very triggering and comes without any warnings. 

Great cultural exploration, but the plot feels messy and the characters a little underused. Also, parts of the story really didn't sit well with me personally.

I loved reading this adventure/mystery/ghost story set in Singapore -- which brings to life the hungry ghost festival that is celebrated in Singaporean culture. Having never come across this festival before, learning about it through the story was what made the book complete for me.

Link to the review posted on my blog: https://thewordglutton.wordpress.com/2020/10/01/the-hungry-ghost-by-hs-norup-blog-tour/

This book follows Freja, a 12-year-old who arrives in Singapore to live with her father, step-mother and their toddler twin children. She had to leave behind her sick mother in Denmark and is supposed to start a new school and a new life with her new family. It sounds like a hellish situation even for an adult, so Freja handles it just about how you’d expect a kid to. Freja, who is an avid scout and a generally adventurous kid, holes up in her room, sulking.

Soon, she finds a girl in a white dress lurking in the backyard of their house and follows the girl into a spot of forest in the middle of the city. The forest cover turns out to be The Bukit Brown Cemetery (I later learned that it’s a real cemetery in Singapore and is believed to be the biggest Chinese graveyard outside China. Fascinating!)
Through Freja’s neighbor Jason and his very chinese grandmother, Freja learns that the girl who is been visiting her is a ghost and is probably here for the Hungry ghost festival, as it is the seventh month in the lunar calendar. Undaunted, Freja’s adventurous spirit (and frankly, her boredom😂) takes her through the Bukit Brown Cemetery again, intent on finding out who the girl is and why she keeps circling her father’s house. In the process, Freja has to confront her own guilt and grief about traumatic events from her past that are buried deeply in the corners of her memory.

The descriptions of the forest and what happens beyond a certain “important” banyan tree were richly imaginative and vivid. If you just closed your eyes, you could smell the petrichor. Or see the beautiful contrast of a blazing forest fire against the calm, cerulean sea at the back of your eyelids. I simply loved reading the parts where Freja travels to <redacted> with Ling, the ghost. Freja’s adventurous nature and endless curiosity pushes the story forward with ease. The element of mystery around finding out who Ling really is (before the Hungry Ghost festival ends) and what happened in Freja’s past kept me hooked till the end.

The best part of this book for me was how the story intertwined beautifully with the folklore around the Hungry Ghost festival. I’m hearing about it for the first time, and honestly I’m really fascinated. Like me, if you didn’t know: In Buddhist and Taoist cultures, they celebrate the Hungry Ghost festival in the seventh month of their lunar calendar. It is believed that the gates of the spirit world open in this month and ghosts roam the world of the living. The ghosts visit their living relatives seeking food and the families oblige with food and drink three times a day, to avoid the wrath of their ancestors. You can read more about the Hungry Ghost festival in this link. I found this very interesting because there is very similar tradition observed in Hinduism as well. It is ceaselessly amazing to me to learn how similar many Asian traditions turn out to be!

I don’t have any major complaints about the book but I did feel like, while Freja was a well-rounded protagonist, the other characters kind of fell flat. They didn’t have much of a character development or even scope in the story. Then again, I understand the book wasn’t long enough to squeeze in all of that.

Powerfully emotional and haunting, The Hungry Ghost is a beautiful tale about loss, grieving and remembering the dead, that had me in tears.

In The Hungry Ghost, H S Norup has created an incredible sense of place, with the Singapore setting an intrinsic and essential part of the story. This comes through so many different elements of the book, and combines to create something very special. It's in the food, it's in the shopping, in the wonderful descriptions of areas and wildlife, but most of all it's in the mythology. The mythology of Singapore is something I knew very little about going in to the story, but it is captivating and gorgeous. Contemporary/other worlds fantasies are one of my favourite types of stories and when Freja steps into an older, mythological Singapore with dragons and white tigers, it's all beautifully realised, with everything having that off-kilter, surreal, dreamlike feeling, yet at the same time it felt very grounded in the mythology of the region. The contrast between old Singapore and the modern environment was also quite startling and added to the atmosphere of a story about one place in two different times.

The mystery at the heart of the story was something I loved. I felt, throughout, that I was almost there, so close to putting the whole thing together and figuring out what was going on, and yet it kept me guessing and wondering and completely gripped to the very end. It was the perfect balance, feeding clues and hints without ever letting it become too obvious until the beautiful reveal in its own time.

Another element that really got me feeling rather emotional was the depiction of family life. Blended family stories are hard to do well, and very hard to do this well. It is complex, and complicated, and everyone has their own point of view, their own feelings and hurts and needs and, somehow, H S Norup manages to pull all of this together to show us a family that is complicated and realistic and quite beautiful in its own way. 

The Hungry Ghost is complex, mysterious and beautifully emotional. I love it.

I loved this book, perfect for adults wanting a bit of escapism. I visited Singapore during the Hungry Ghosts festival and the author describes it well, I felt truly nostalgic for my time there. A lovely story with a some surprises. I’d highly recommend.

So, I just raced through The Hungry Ghost. I could not put it down. Although I found Freja’s character equally frustrating and endearing, her story is compelling, and the mystery around her and Ling is incredibly suspenseful. Freja is the kind of girl who doesn’t take no for an answer, is outdoor-savy, but still manages to navigate her way around Singapore decently well after growing up in Denmark. It just felt like she was doing too well in this very foreign environment while also adjusting to the rest of her new life – I remember how overwhelming Singapore was to me when I visited a few years ago…

Other than that, I thought the cultural setting was well done from the perspective of a foreigner – both as a reader, and as the main character is a foreigner experiencing Singapore. I enjoyed learning more about the idea of the hungry ghosts, and the culture surrounding them, as well as the history of Singapore. However, I do have to add that my evaluation of this might be off, as I’m European!

One of the main issues the book deals, apart from the central theme of the hungry ghosts, is mental health and family dynamics. This is treated with nuance and respect, and struggles are presented as such without going into dramatics that pull the reader out of immersion. Without spoiling anything, issues are written from the perspective of the twelve-year old main character, and presented in a way that is realistic and logical to a child of that age, rather than seeming preachy or omniscient.

I would definitely recommend The Hungry Ghost for both child and adult readers as there are things that both groups can get out of the story, and I think it is also the ideal kind of book for a family to read together in lockdown – imagine reading this aloud over cups of hot cocoa or tea during spooky season!

The Hungry Ghost is a truly gorgeous read that compelled me to keep turning page after page.
A captivating ghost story set in Singapore we meet Freja who arrives in Singapore during the month of The Hungry Ghost festival where old spirits are said to roam and families leave offerings for their ancestors.

Seperated from her Mother who needs hospital treatment I really empathised with Freja, she's left her home country to move essentially around the world to be with her Father and his Wife and new Children. Freja is battling complex feelings especially after she has made a pact not to like her fathers new wife Clementine. Coupled with starting a new school in an unfamiliar country and the way she feels about her family Freja seeks adventure and excitement.

The ghost element of this story is beautifully done. When Freja meets Ling a young girl with no memory of how she died or who her family are Freja strikes up an unlikely friendship with Ling and wants to find what connects them in history. 

Singapore comes alive in this story from old traditions to the sights and smells, I really felt like I was exploring with Freja. I love how much she learns about the history of the country and how Ling teaches her so much.

Perfect for this time of year, a beautifully atmospheric story I absolutely adore this book 💕

What a beautiful and interesting story to read! Since the beginning you are dragged to the story and the characters; with a mixture of cultures and traditions, you’ll be immersed in Freja’s life without even noticing!
This is not a scary story, but bittersweet and emotive, you’ll learn the power of love, loss and family; sometimes remembering is more difficult than forgetting.
Freja, the main character has moved to Singapore to live with her father and the new family while her mother is recovering at home. We don’t really know Freja’s mother illness, only that she cannot take care of her right now. We will feel Freja’s sadness throughout all the story, the pain she endures to leave her mother and travel so far away is something that saddens her. In addition, the conflicted feelings towards her mother-in-law makes everything more complicated. Don’t expect a witched mother-in-law, she is good and tries to welcome Freja to the family, but Freja has her own problems and needs to solve them before she faces the new reality.
I loved the traditions that are shared in this story, it’s interesting how every culture celebrates the same days but with different ways and perspectives! It’s always good to learn something new, don’t you think?
I don’t really want to talk much about the plot of the book, it’s about ghosts, yes, a girl ghost who asks Freja for help, is it a good or a bad ghost? You’ll have to read the story to discover the truth.
I would like to think that this will not be the only story with Freja as the main character, I liked her bravery and intelligence, but her innocence and inquisitive mind are what attracted me most, she trusts everyone without doubts but at the same time doesn’t stop to ask questions to know more.
This is a book for younger children, but I loved the story and the characters on them, so don’t be afraid and take a chance on it, no matter your age I am sure you’ll enjoy the hunting! Ready?

This is slightly different to the types of books I normally review. The Hungry Ghost is a Middle Grade / YA novel set in Singapore during the month of the Hungry Ghost which is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist festival held in certain East Asian countries.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is observed during the seventh month of the lunar calendar. During this month, Buddhists and Taoists believe that the souls of the deceased roam among the living, so they prepare offerings of food and entertainment to keep the ghosts from being mischievous.

I was drawn to the book because I am from Wales and have always loved reading 'Chwedlau', which are the traditional Welsh language folk tales and legends. I thought it would be interesting to read stories from different cultures and learn about some of the traditions and festivals celebrated in other countries. 

In the story, Freja is struggling to cope with a move to Singapore. She has to leave her sick mother behind in Denmark and move in with her father and stepmother who have young twin boys. One day, after following a young girl dressed in white, Freja finds herself in Bukit Brown Cemetery. Here, she realises that the girl is actually a ghost who has been forgotten by her descendants and is looking to find answers about her past. This discovery forces Freja to face the traumatic events from her own past, and the tragedy that lead to the breakup of her family.  

I originally wanted to read The Hungry Ghost as I am building a collection of books to be able to share and read with my daughter when she is older. I was surprised as I read the book that I genuinely enjoyed the story myself and flew through the pages wanting to find out what would happen. The messages in the book are very powerful and deal with important issues such as grief, trauma and depression – but these are covered in a really thoughtful way. A beautifully written story which will no doubt be a favourite to read with my daughter for years to come.

There’s something irresistible about children’s books that transport me to another world or culture that isn’t my own and the wonderful people at Pushkin Press specialise in these soaring, fascinating stories from all over the world. Their books are always dressed beautifully too, so be sure to browse their catalogue for some stunning finds!

When her mother becomes ill, Freja is sent to live with her father, stepmother and little brothers in Singapore but she is desperately homesick for her Danish hometown and her mother. Struggling with ‘fitting in’ with her new family, she begins to see the figure of a young girl in a white dress starts appearing to her. Cue an epic rescue mission of forgotten pasts and family secrets set against a stunning mythological backdrop.

Freja fears that she may be a koel. She feels very out of place amongst her beautiful, fashionable, half Chinese stepmother Clementine and her boisterous toddler half brothers Billy and Eddie. She arrives in Singapore and sees a ready-made complete family and she worries that Clementine sees her as an interloper. This little drop of information about the koel serves as a little segue into how Freja feels in her new home and I just thought this was so cleverly done. As it turns out, her relationship with Clementine evolves into something really lovely. Far from the evil stepmother archetype, Clementine deeply cares about her stepdaughter, in spite of initially seeming aloof.

Freja’s father seems to be constantly travelling or working and is far too busy to spend any time with his daughter. As a curious tomboy in a brand new world, she feels she needs her father to hold her hand and discover it with her. I really sympathised with this lost little girl who simply wanted her family’s attention and reassurance. Once it was confirmed that Ling was a gentle spirit, her presence in Freja’s life offered some reprieve from her loneliness and I wanted them both to get what they wanted.

The descriptions of Singapore and of the mythical realm that Freja and Ling visit are simply stunning. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of the beauty of the Far East but Norup paints it in such vivid, sparkling colours that these scenes often took my breath away. I was fully immersed in this brand new world of babbling blue waters, lush green meadows and soft glittering sunbeams. It was the perfect setting for all of these fascinating mythological creatures to come to life. 

There is so much wonderful folklore and it’s so detailed that I really did travel on the dragon with Freja and Ling. It was a beautiful, exhilarating experience and I feel like I learnt so much about Singaporean culture. These chapters are vastly different in tone and pace to the chapters where Freja is at home or school, so readers who aren’t fond of sharp turns may struggle with this. The narrative has multiple layers and I can definitely see how each one could have potentially been a book of its own.

The Ghost Festival itself is an event that always happens in the seventh month of the Chinese calendar. I’d never heard of it before reading this book but it sounds like a wonderful, emotional occasion, similar to Mexico’s Día de Muertos. Families make food offerings and burn paper versions of luxury items such as money, houses, jewellery and cars for their dead loved ones, who are said to roam amongst the living during the whole of the seventh month. Ling seems to only be able to be seen by Freja, although there is evidence that Freja’s father has seen Ling too despite his reluctance to believe that she’s real. As soon as this became apparent, I realised that Ling must be related to Freja on her father’s side somehow.

The Hungry Ghost is a very moving story exploring the true meaning of family, the fear of being forgotten and the importance of remembering who we are. Magical, immersive and wonderfully written, this seasonal middle-grade is a fantastic mythical read for all ages.

Part of this review will be post live on October 9th 2020 as part of the book blog. 

I am going to admit this right now, when I started reading this, I was expecting a creeper of a ghost story. But I didn't get that. Instead, what I got was a compelling story dealing with memory, grief, mental health as well as family, friendship, heritage and cultures. 

There is very little I can say about this as the story had elements I really liked and thought were tackled beautifully. I liked the drip-drip of the mysteries, how Singapore and the culture/mythology and folklore was described and delivered to Freja and the reader (you can tell that the author spent several years living in the city. I believe 4 years or so), and I really liked the relationship between Freja and Clementine. We didn't have the Wicked Stepmother, we had someone who really cared for Freja and worried about her, but you can tell that the two aren't sure how to talk to each other. 

This is a bit of a struggle to write as I want to talk more about this, but I fear spoiling you. But this was such a lovely enjoyable read.

Below is the review I will be sharing on September 28th for my spot on the book blog tour.


ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀʀꜱ ɪɴᴠɪꜱɪʙʟᴇ ʜᴇʀᴇ, ᴏʀ ɪꜱ ɪᴛ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴍᴇ?
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Thank you to Poppy Stimpson at Pushkin Press and to NetGalley for approving me to read ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜɴɢʀʏ ɢʜᴏꜱᴛ by H S Norup. 
I LOVED this book. Although it is categorised as Pushkin Childrens, The Hungry Ghost can clearly can be appreciated and enjoyed by all ages, and it really piqued my interest in Singaporean Buddhist/Taoist culture.
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ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴜɴɢʀʏ ɢʜᴏꜱᴛ ꜰᴇꜱᴛɪᴠᴀʟ. ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴏꜰꜰᴇʀɪɴɢꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴏᴜʀ ᴀɴᴄᴇꜱᴛᴏʀꜱ - ꜰᴇᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴜʀɴ ᴍᴏɴᴇʏ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴏ ᴏɴ. ᴏᴛʜᴇʀᴡɪꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ɢʜᴏꜱᴛꜱ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴜɴᴛ ᴜꜱ.
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The story follows our protagonist Freja as she navigates a move across the world; from living with her Mother in Denmark to living with her Father and his new family in Singapore.
The changes Freja faces are depicted in an age appropriate way, which can obviously be beneficial for younger readers, but it allows us to empathise with her and bond with her.
I really felt myself rooting for her, and could appreciate her perspective both from her position, and from the position of the adults in her life.
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ᴍᴜᴍ'ꜱ ꜰᴀʀ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴀᴅ ɪꜱɴ'ᴛ ʜᴇʀᴇ. ᴄʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ɪꜱ. ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛ, ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜᴜɢ ʜᴇʀ. ɪꜰ ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ᴄᴀʀᴇꜰᴜʟ ɪ'ᴍ ɢᴏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴇɴᴅ ᴜᴘ ʟɪᴋɪɴɢ ᴄʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ.
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The characters that gravitate around Freja are well-rounded, and it was good to feel that I gained an insight into their lives. From her friends' backgrounds (like Jason who lives with his 'Ah Ma' instead of his parents) to Freja's parents and the particular struggles they've faced, and Clementine who has enough detachment to really recognise what support Freja needs, they all had their own worlds that overlapped with Freja's
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"ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴏᴋᴀʏ, ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ɢʀᴀɴᴅᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ?"
"ɪᴛ'ꜱ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ. ᴍᴏꜱᴛʟʏ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ. ꜱʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʀɪᴇꜱ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴍʏ ᴘᴀʀᴇɴᴛꜱ. ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴇ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛꜱ ᴍᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪ'ᴍ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ꜰɪᴠᴇ ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ᴏʟᴅ... ʙᴜᴛ ꜱʜᴇ'ꜱ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ʜᴇʀ ʙᴇꜱᴛ."
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Norup's descriptions are unique and magical. They depict senses and feelings in a way that feel tangible, especially when relating to Freja's experiences at Bukit Brown.
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ɪɴᴠɪꜱɪʙʟᴇ ꜱᴘɪᴅᴇʀ ʟᴇɢꜱ ᴛɪᴄᴋʟᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴏꜰ ᴍʏ ɴᴇᴄᴋ. ɢᴏᴏꜱᴇ ᴘɪᴍᴘʟᴇꜱ ʀᴀᴄᴇ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴍʏ ᴀʀᴍꜱ.
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Freja's mission to understand Ling and to help satisfy her is a truly beautiful story, and without giving too much away, it shows how in helping others we usually help ourselves too.
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ᴡᴇ ꜱᴀʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ, ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ɪɴ ᴄᴀꜱᴇ. ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀᴡᴀʀᴅꜱ, ᴡᴇ ʟɪᴇ ɪɴ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ, ᴛᴜʀɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏᴡᴀʀᴅꜱ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴏɴ ᴍʏ ʙᴇᴅ, ʜᴇʀ ʜᴀɴᴅ ᴄᴏᴠᴇʀɪɴɢ ᴍɪɴᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ʟɪᴛᴛʟᴇ ᴄᴏᴏʟɪɴɢ ᴄʟᴏᴜᴅ.
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Overall this was a joy to read, and there is so much more I could say, but I don't want to spoil this for anyone else by giving too much away.
The themes of culture, family, friendship, love, loss, and heritage were beautifully interwoven throughout, and I genuinely think readers will be intrigued by and want to learn more about the culture depicted through the story.
I've already bought a couple of books recommended by Helle (H S Norup) and definitely want to learn more myself. I've also ordered a copy of The Hungry Ghost to keep on my shelves, and would encourage everyone to do the same.

Freja is thrown into a puzzling ghost story when she arrives in Singapore to stay with her father during the annual Hungry Ghost Festival. Resourceful and curious, Freja  finds herself haunted by a restless spirit and she won't rest until she figures out who the ghost is and why she's come to play. 

My 10-year-old daughter and I both adored this thrilling, cleverly constructed tale, set in the steamy tropics of Singapore. The author weaves a compelling family mystery and captures the spiritual side of this fast-paced city with rich, evocative prose. Recommended for children aged 8-12 who love ghost stories, magic and adventure!

A truly captivating ghost story set in Singapore that totally transported me to another world and gave me all the great ghostly vibes.

Freja moves to Singapore to live with her dad and stepmom for a summer, leaving behind her mother to get hospital care. While in Singapore, she discovers it is the month of the Hungry Ghost festival, and she just so happens to meet a ghost named Ling. As Freja delves deeper into Ling's past and how it could possibly connect to her own, we get a stunning tour of Singapore and some of the traditions they have.

I've never been to Singapore but after reading this, I feel like I could have pictured it. Setting and locations were beautifully described and it's a ghost story unlike any other I have ever read. Fortunately, since the setting is so well-written, the atmosphere was high enough for me to feel submersed in the story.

Freja is a great character who holds a lot of complex emotions, especially in regards to her family. She is from Denmark and has to leave her mother behind to receive hospital treatment, which instantly made her a character to sympathise with. Her relationship with her stepmom is one of the most interesting things about this book and I loved seeing that develop, and how real it made this novel feel. I liked learning more about Freja's own past through the development of the ghost story, and I thought that both worlds blended so well together.

The ghost story was also well done. What makes a great ghost story for me is having a captivating backstory for the ghost and how it affects the main character. It was tied together so beautifully by the end and provided a few emotional moments for Freja too. I also loved the blending of Asian folklore that felt very well-researched due to Norup's 4-year stay in Singapore.

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable ghost story I think would be perfect to read in the lead-up to the upcoming spooky season of Halloween!

The beautiful bright cover caught my eye and as soon as I read the description I just knew I had to get my hands on this book. It sounded like such a wonderful story and just a couple of pages in, I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed. 

The Hungry Ghost takes place in Singapore during the month of the hungry ghost, where the doors to the realm of the dead are open and ghosts and spirits wander the streets accepting offerings left out by their ancestors. Freja arrives in Singapore to live with her father and his new family, one she’s not sure she wants to be a part of. One day she comes across a mysterious girl in white who seems to beckon her into an adventure she wasn’t expecting to happen. 

I loved Freja. She was such a unique and refreshing child protagonist with a clear sense of self that was very endearing. I really liked the way her internal conflict was written and how it was expressed throughout the course of the novel, how she fights herself and her step-family to ensure that she isn’t forgotten by her family back in Denmark. I particularly enjoyed her interactions with Ling, and how she wanted to do everything possible to help her even if it did cause trouble for her. I felt that Norup really captured the voices of all the children in the novel really well, and they actually felt like children which isn’t always the case when it comes to child characters in novels.

The way this novel was written was brilliant and the plot was gripping. I easily devoured this book as I just had to know what was going to happen next. I was also fascinated by all of the different tales of Malay superstitions and folk tales. I enjoyed learning about them as Freja did, especially as a lot of it was taught to her by exasperated friends who didn’t understand why she didn’t know things (like, it’s a bad idea to follow a ghost or go to a cemetery at night). 

This novel was pure brilliance with such unique characters and a wonderful mystery that you were dying to uncover, just as much as Freja. At the heart of the novel is a story about family and still being a family at a distance (in the realm of the living and dead), with a hint of magic thrown in to make this an adventure you soon won’t forget. I highly recommend picking this novel up when it is published on 24 September 2020!

I read HS Norup’s first book, The Missing Barbegazi, back in December 2018 and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was thrilled so see something new from her.

Set in Singapore during ‘The Hungry Ghost’ month, this couldn’t have sounded more different to the snowy ski slopes of The Missing Barbegazi!

But contained within both books are intriguing mysteries, with each showing the importance of friendship, family and history, and with each having a fantastic sense of place and culture.

This, is unsurprising as Helle puts a great deal of her own personal experience and research into the books; she knows the places she writes and is therefore able to transport us there along with her.

Here, we are taken to Singapore as Freja is suddenly taken to live there with her Dad, stepmum and half brothers. It’s apparent immediately what a culture shock this is with everything very different to her life in Denmark.

Homesick, worried about her mum, upset at her dad’s absence as he spends so much time at work and finding it hard to reconcile her loyalty to her mum with the fact that her stepmum, Clementine, is actually quite nice, Freja seeks comfort in exploring her new surroundings.

She’s an outdoor girl through and through, balking at the pretty dresses Clementine has bought her and taking her trusty Swiss army knife and compass everywhere, so when she follows a mysterious girl out of the garden and into an overgrown and disused graveyard in the lush rainforest nearby she’s thrilled at the adventure and relieved at the escape.

But who is this girl, where has she come from and how is she connected to Hungry Ghost month being celebrated by locals?

I love the way we found out about The Hungry Ghost celebrations throughout the course of the book. Rather than an awkward and obtrusive information dump, we see more and more about it as Freja sees local offerings, takes a trip to Chinatown, ends up at one of the ‘getai’ celebrations and speaks to new friends and locals. I felt, like Freja, that I was gradually becoming part of the celebrations and really enjoyed finding out about them in this way, especially as it wasn’t something I knew about previously.

Likewise, I really liked the way the ideas of honouring and remembering the dead linked into Freja’s own family and story later on in the book.

And I liked how, as Freja began to solve the mystery of Ling’s past, we began to see a mystery of her own coming to the surface alongside it. I thought the way the two stories interwove, and the way the pieces to Freja’s story fell into place and subtly came to the forefront was so clever and made it all the more moving.

The use of mythology to unravel both stories added a touch of fantasy which complemented the ghostly celebrations and was another dip into Chinese culture in itself.

There was a really careful balance struck here which was so well done – firmly rooted in real life and dealing with issues of family, friendship and loss, the book manages to use ghosts, mythology and folklore without tipping over completely into fantasy.

Family is dealt with so well in the book – we see a range of situations, both past and present, which help Freja to make sense of the changes to her own family life.

And death and loss are addressed sensitively too, as we consider them as opportunities to celebrate rather than mourn; lives to remember rather than deaths to grieve, whilst still acknowledging the sadness they bring and the necessity of the grieving process.

This is a wonderful book, rich in its setting – my senses came alive in that graveyard and when passing through the Banyan tree and the descriptions of the natural world were so vivid – and full of Chinese culture and Singaporian ways of life.

A gradually unravelling, slightly supernatural mystery, with family, friendship and positivity at its heart, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and compelling adventure and a cleverly, sensitively told tale of dealing with loss too. Perfect for fans of Emma Carroll or A M Howell and highly recommended!

'What could be worse than dying and no-one remembering you existed?"

The Hungry Ghost is a tale of two forgotten lives; of memories locked away and finding the key to unlock peace. 

It really is an atmospheric read - an absolute feast for the senses. I was transported to Singapore where I inhaled the peachy aroma of Frangipani trees and the sweet smell of night flowers heavy in the air, breathed in the bonfire smoke and incense and felt the humid heat of the rainforest. I became totally immersed in the culture and savoured the foods and Feng Shui. H S Norup's personal experience of living in the far east makes the Oriental setting totally authentic and believable. 

Freija arrives in Singapore to live with her father, stepmother and their two twin boys. It's the month of the 'Hungry Ghost Festival' when it's believed that the gates of the afterlife open to allow the spirits of ancestors and relatives to roam the Earth. Out on the street, tea lights twinkle to mark the offerings of food and bank notes left out to feed the spirits, to make them comfortable until the next year, 

A mysterious girl wearing a white dress begins appearing to Freija in the garden - could this be a restless spirit that needs her help? Or perhaps she has come to help Freija. As the story unfolds, Freija follows the illusive figure to secret places, shrouded in stories of Pontianak - dangerous spirits. She is determined to discover the girl's identity but uncovers a secret from her own family's past. Freija is haunted by distant recollections of trauma and must unlock  painful memories that have been stored away before the The Hungry Ghost Festival ends. I was gripped by the mystery surrounding Freija's past and had to stop myself reading ahead on more than one occasion as I was dying to solve it - the restless spirits kept me up reading late into the night!

The combat-wearing character of Freija will appeal to both boys and girls. Never without her Swiss Army knife and survival gear, she is an independent and fearless explorer. Clementine, Freja's stepmother is also a very well-developed character and I really enjoyed seeing the social media mad, manicured party planner evolve.

The Hungry Ghost presents an opportunity for Key Stage 2 children to not only experience a little of Chinese culture but equally explore the often difficult dynamics of family life. We watch as she struggles to fit in with her father's 'new family' and the feelings associated with this that many children will be able to identify with.  

One final little teaser; watch out for two interesting characters that make a fleeting appearance in Chapter 15 as you will later discover their significance.

With thanks to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the digital copy to review in advance of publication.