This is a story that wears a lot of faces. Coming of age, immigrant story, ghost story, thriller. It's full of Cho's funny, pacy, pugnacious style and Ah Ma is a real hoot. But it also goes to some dark places on homophobia, misogyny and violence against women. I loved it.

If you loved Spirits Abroad and desperately wanted a story just like that but novel-sized -- this book is a gift.
Black Water Sister has Zen Cho's trademark immersive, bright quality that melds the Western and the Eastern with unflinching authenticity and humor that made me love Spirits Abroad, and find myself in resonance with the novel on many levels as well. Messy and loving families, despairing queer zillenials, grandmothers with an agenda, immigrant identity and sympathy, a supernatural mystery -- any of these on their own would be worth reading the book for, and how cool it is that they can come in one package?

Thanks to #NetGalley for an advance copy of #BlackWaterSister.

Thank you so much for granting me access to this magnificent piece of art. I don't even have the words to describe how this book made me feel. There's only so much I can say, this book has to be experienced.

That is all.

My thanks to Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for a review copy of this one.

A book with ghosts in the plot may not be my usual fare but what interested me in this one was its setting—Malaysia. I don’t think I’ve read anything set there before, which made me pretty keen to pick this one up.

We meet Jessamyn Teoh or Jess, who has been brought up in the States and has recently graduated from Harvard (and is yet to find a job). Her parents have decided to move back to Malaysia and start afresh after having coped with her father’s cancer and other difficulties. In Malaysia, her father has secured a job with her uncle (Kok Teng)’s company and the family is also temporarily living with him and her aunt (father’s sister) Kor Kor, while things settle down a bit and they can afford their own place. Jess hasn’t had much contact with her mother’s family barring her uncle Ah Ku whom she remembers borrowing money from her mother. While Jess loves her family, she also has secrets from them, specifically her girlfriend who is now in Singapore, something she feels they will never understand or approve of.

Before Jess and her mother travel to Penang (her father having gone on ahead and started work), she begins to hear strange voices in her head which she dismisses but when in Malaysia, she begins to hear them again. Before long, she finds that the voice isn’t of her own imagination (or the impact of stress) but of her grandmother (mother’s mother) Ah Ma, who had passed on a year earlier. She learns as we go on that Ah Ma was a medium to the resentful goddess Black Water Sister during her life, and now Ah Ku is medium at the temple. Businessman Ng Chee Hin’s company is developing a property which will affect the land the temple is on (in fact he is trying all to throw them out), and Ah Ma wants to stop him before she moves on. And she has decided it is Jess who can help her do this…

When Jess agrees, she doesn’t quite realise what she is letting herself in for. While Jess thinks she will simply be doing as Ah Ma wishes, Ah Ma has her own plans. To add to her troubles, the goddess herself seems to want something from her. Alongside Jess must keep up the pretence of trying to find a job (something which from being her priority has become a thing she can’t devote time to any more), and dealing with her personal life. We go along with Jess as she is immersed into a world of ghosts, spirits, and gods, modern-day greed, and also family secrets and stories.

This was so different from anything I’ve ever read before; I’ve read gothic books with ghostly presences of course, also some stories featuring ghosts but none where our central character is one who can communicate with (well may be some of those from Eva Ibbotson) and even shares her body with a ghost. So it was certainly interesting as a concept, and also done really smoothly (in the sense that one doesn’t feel a disconnect with the events that are unfolding, or any of them hard to accept as ‘real’).

I enjoyed seeing how the author explores the cultural relevance of gods, spirits and ghosts in Malaysia—it is a vital part of life for all communities there. It was interesting seeing how even immigrant workers from different cultures show respect to and even appease local deities, Jess’ own relatives who are Christian use their religion to protect themselves against their ill-effects but at no time are they disbelieving, and even the enemy, the greedy businessman Ng Chee Hin may be ruthless as far as building his empire is concerned, does not remain unaffected. [But the book doesn’t take us to explore the place itself as much—we do go round Penang, but the places itself are those associated with the deity.]

The characters themselves have interesting and strong stories—each has issues they are facing and must face, and problems they need to resolve apart from the gods and ghosts. Through these stories and the characters’ interrelationships we get more of an insight into the local culture, family relationships, customs, celebrations (the atmosphere surrounding Chinese New Year, for instance), and belief systems. This for me also made the book quite rich.

Jess’ parents have lived in America, seen success of a sort but have had to return and depend on their relatives which puts them in a difficult position. For Jess herself, both cultures (her adopted American culture as well as life back ‘home’ in Pennang) are equally alien, but she tries to fit in while also grappling with her personal problems of finding a job and mending her relationship with her girlfriend which is strained. I don’t really know how I felt about her: I felt for her at times because of all that she has to go through but at others, I also found her a little annoying. Ah Ma is good fun but she has a lot of secrets and isn’t above deception which makes one not quite like her as much as one would have wanted.

Overall I found this a very enjoyable read with an interesting plot and setting and a story that holds one’s attention (though there were some aspects that I didn’t enjoy as much, like a scene where Jess much face some thugs, even though she does connect with the goddess in a new way there). A solid four star read for me.

DRC provided by Macmillan via NetGalley and Ace via Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

Representation: lesbian Malaysian protagonist, Malaysian and Chinese secondary and tertiary characters, Indian-Chinese secondary character, lesbian Indian tertiary character.

Content Warning: mentions of cancer and remission, death, homophobia, anxiety, misogyny, violence, racism, organised crime, attempted rape, mentions of physical abuse.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho is a phenomenal contemporary paranormal novel that deals with personal growth, old grudges, vengeance, family and new beginnings.

Harvard-graduate Jess is already juggling a lot of balls in the air: moving back to Malaysia; maintaining a long-distance relationship with her girlfriend Sharanya and hiding her sexuality from her relatives; looking for a job after finishing her degree and a place for her family to stay in Penang; but life does not think it is enough because now she is also starting to hear the voice of her late maternal grandmother in her head, who has a bone to pick with a local business man.

I was captivated by the book from the beginning and my love for it only grew as the page number increased. I loved how the atmosphere changed from humorous at times (Ah Ma’s ghost made me smirk more than once) to eerie and frightening at others; the Malaysian and Chinese cultural aspects; the writing which evoked so many images in my mind.

Jess was a great and relatable character, her struggles with coming out to her family, which had, even if not vocally, homophobic feelings and thoughts, resonated with me. Even though, you know your family loves you, you never know how they will react to your coming out; how their behaviour will change; how your every action will be subjected to judgement. The only thing I hated was the pressure Sharanya put on Jess about coming out.

Black Water Sister was everything I wanted it to be and more.

This took me so long to read, and I feel sorry for that because I think I would've liked this even more if I'd been able to read it quicker (curse my final semester at uni).

Characters

I really enjoyed the main characters voice, her arc throughout the novel with her inner self and her family felt so real and complex, and there was a humour to her I really enjoyed. Her grandmothers voice was so strong, and reminded me a little of my own grandmother with her stubborn will. The relationship between the two was interesting to see develop.


Plot

The plot was intriguing, though at times I lost the details of it, but I blame that on the pace I was reading this at. For me, the emotional resonance of the plot is what struck me the most.


Setting and World

This novel is set in Penang in Malaysia, and the author got the vibe of the setting across so well, and it was easy to get immersed into every scene. The cross between religion, superstition and fantasy was well ingrained and interesting to read throughout.

I love that we see Asian fantasy stories being published. The story is good but didn't exceed my expectations. The main protagonist is quite annoying but I do get the point of her being like that but it didn't resonate with me. I still commend the impartation of the culture.

I loved ‘Sorcerer to the Crown’ and its sequel, so I was very keen to read Zen Cho’s new book, though it has a very different setting.

Jessamyn has graduated from Harvard, but after her father has a cancer-scare, her parents move home to Malaysia and Jess moves with them, unsure what she wants to do next. Jess’s girlfriend wants her to look for a job in Singapore where she will be living, but Jess is not out to her parents and feels an obligation to stay with them. To make matters even more complicated, Jess has started hearing a voice in her head and realises she is being haunted by the ghost of her estranged dead grandmother. Ostensibly, Ah Ma wants to prevent the destruction of a small local temple but there is more to the story than Jess realises, and soon she is enmeshed in the machinations of a vengeful goddess called Black Water Sister.

I absolutely loved this Neil-Gaimanesque mashup of ancient gods and contemporary Malaysian settings. Zen Cho superimposes a supernatural realm onto a concrete setting in such a way that this bizarre juxtaposition of worlds seems perfectly natural. Similarly, she overlays some horrific trauma with mischievous humour in a way that does justice to both. I’m not sure if I can call this a coming-of-age story as the protagonist is in her early twenties, but it definitely has that feel as Jess attempts to assert herself as an independent adult to her overbearing relatives—both alive and dead—and the ending is incredibly moving. A vivid, enthralling and funny fantasy world with an endearing, beleaguered protagonist.

This is an intriguing novel, set in Malaysia. The main source of the story is wrapped around the myths/folklore & religions with gods and ghosts - the worshipping at temples and shrines to allay peoples fear of upsetting the gods and for good reason, as in this book past lives are coming back to sort unfinished business.
I found it an interesting insight into Malaysian culture as, although most of the story is fantasy/fiction, the day to day lives and family dynamics come across as being true to life.
The speech is written very much as people would say it, so it can take a bit to get used to and understand but it does add to the authenticity of the characters and setting.
The main character Jess is very much a reluctant hero, who is dragged into helping her grandmother put to rest some past events. Meanwhile, Jess has her own problems to try and work out and can do without being drawn into everyone else’s business!
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is certainly unique and interesting. It progresses at a reasonable pace, enough to make me keep turning the pages and feel involved in the events. I would recommend this if you are looking for something a bit different but still entertaining. I rated it 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.75/5

Starting off by saying whoever formatted the digital arc and decided to add random numbers and links in between every few lines/words and chop up the paragraphing, I wish you a very dye, you made this reading experience hell. Especially since some of the dialogue happens inside the character’s head, it was just straight up confusing at some times but I won’t fault the author for that.

<i>Black Water Sister</i> has vengeful spirits, gang bosses, an South East Asian lesbian protagonist and is set in Malaysia, so off the bat I knew I was going to like this book. The language was just so familiar and such a joy to read, I could hear the everyday aunties and uncles in the book with such ease (it just hits different you know?). The way the culture and setting is weaved into the story is definitely one of the highlights in the book - the descriptions of the temple and the difference in modern and old Malaysia. I love the two main characters that we follow throughout the book, Jess and Ah Ma had the most distinct voices in the story, the way they played off each other subverts a lot of the typical grandmother stereotypes you usually see which is fun. Both of them butt heads a lot and know little about each other at first but end up uncovering each other’s darkest secrets. Their relationship is just complex and in the end, despite spending a really short amount of time together and going through <b>so much shit</b>, there is still that love and respect for each other.

Jess’ development throughout the book was well done, watching her internal struggles and how she eventually gained enough courage to overcome them was great. I related to her character a lot, in terms of having parents that aren’t overbearing with their expectations but personally still feeling the need to succeed and pinning your self worth on that very fact, as well as her struggles with coming out and her fear of being shunned. She spends quite a chunk of the story acting out the wishes of those around her and trying (but failing) to make her own decisions but towards the end, there is a significant change that is pretty satisfying to witness. Ah Ma has fun witty lines and is sometimes hilariously violent, I don’t agree with her actions a lot of the time but she does provide an interesting look into her generation’s experiences. And she's a vengeful spirits, those are always interesting.

The other characters needed a little more development, some were interesting at first but their backstories felt very surface level and my interest in them faded by the end, so I didn’t really feel the same emotional impact that is expected from certain scenes. Some of them were obviously introduced with a specific purpose and after that happens you kind of forget about them. More focus could have been placed on the key family members (Mom and Dad), Black Water Sister (I know she’s in the title but I still feel like what we got wasn’t enough). The romantic relationship was not that crucial to the overall story but I still felt like Jess’ girlfriend could’ve used a few more pages since we’re meant to really care about their relationship.

I think why BWS is a 3.75 instead of a 4 or 5 is mainly the pacing. I felt like the book was trying to juggle way too many things at once, Jess’ sexuality, her wanting to come out, her trying to get her life together as an adult, realizing the existence of spirits, uncovering the reasons why Ah Ma is still around and specifically talking to her, her parents have their separate set of issues too, the temple, you throw in some gangs and evil corporate heads and it’s like ‘oh my god, can we get back to the main plot? Wait what IS the main plot again?’ The middle did drag a little bit when we would get conversations between a number of characters that aren’t that interesting or properly developed and I’m just waiting to go back to the spirits and the gangs since that was so much more interesting. The last 20% went by like lightning speed though, so much happens it felt like a slap in the face to wake up, that, I really enjoyed.

Overall, I still <b>really</b> enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.

tw/cw: attempted rape and assault scene at like the 85% mark, homophobia, outing scene that isn't consensual (it was in a dream like scene), racial microaggressions

<i>Thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc to review</i>

I have loved every Zen Cho book I’ve read, so obviously I was always going to want to read Black Water Sister desperately. And I was always expecting to really enjoy it (which I did). It’s a different tack to Zen Cho’s other books, in that there was a fair bit more violence and gore than I was expecting, but still a very good read.

In Black Water Sister, Jess has returned to Malaysia with her parents, who’ve just been laid off work, and they’re living with her aunt and uncle. There, Jess finds that she’s being haunted by her grandmother, who has unfinished business which she won’t fully explain to Jess, and also the Black Water Sister, whom her grandmother was the medium for.

Zen Cho’s writing has this way of hooking you from the start. You read one chapter and then you think, maybe just one more, and before you realise it, you’re halfway through the book with no desire to put it down. That’s pretty much what was the case with me and this book. I started it at work, in a 3-hours-of-waiting-around break, and when I looked up again I’d almost finished.

Part of what makes this book so compelling is Jess. She’s a main character you’ll love from page one. The sort that you know you’ll root for from the moment they arrive. Basically, the sort of character that Zen Cho writes best. And her familial relationships were all great too (particularly with Ah Ma, because that was just truly chaotic at times and fun to read).

The book also has a plot that sucks you in. Like I said up top, it’s a little more violent than I was expecting, so I would recommend bearing that in mind when you read it (especially since there is a fairly graphic scene where the mc is about to be gang raped, plus flashbacks to femicide and domestic abuse), but it’s so compelling throughout. You want to find out what’s happening, just as Jess does. It keeps you on your toes.

All of which to say that when this book releases, you’ll want to be first in line to read it.

Black Water Sister is a contemporary fantasy by Zen Cho that sees the protagonist Jessamyn and her family move back to Malaysia from the USA. It all comes as something of a culture shock, and Jess is also struggling to hide her sexuality and her secret girlfriend from her family so when she starts to hear a mysterious voice in her head she puts it down to stress and hopes it will go away as things settle down.
It turns out that the voice belongs to her dead grandmother, Ah Ma , and she has plans for Jessamyn, plans than involve a sacred temple and settling the score against a local mobster. As Jess finds herself throw in at the deep end and trying to juggle family commitments, her secret relationship and a world of powerful and vengeful gods and ghosts she risks her life , her sanity and everything that she holds dear.
I really enjoyed the setting of this book, and loved the interplay between Jessamy and her Grandmother, one of the most acerbic and most fun characters I have read in quite a while. I loved that the author took this elderly woman and put her at the heart of the story, something that I have not seen very often. The story is quite intricate but never so much so that I felt confused, rather I was intrigued to see where the author was taking me. The writing style was descriptive without being overly so, enough that I could imagine the settings etc without it slowing down the story. The book started at a gentle pace but picked up speed as it continued to a dramatic and exciting conclusion.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Black Water Sister starts with Jess returning to Penang with her family. She is in a secret relationship with a girlfirend she is too scared to reveal to her conservative family, is a Harvard graduate without a job and probably fits in most models of disaffected second generation kids. This is set up well so I was happy to read on but I did wonder where the supernatural aspect would come in. And then she gets possessed / haunted by her Grandmother.

This, in itself, is a compellingly scary idea. Her grandmother has zero patience for the younger generation, was estranged from them anyway, and like all ghosts has an agenda and a task to carry out. Luckily Jess hasn't got anything better to do and quite wants to get rid of her grandma so we get embroiled in a push-pull between Penang organised crime and Malaysian Chinese small gods religion. Which is where the Black Water Sister comes in. Zen Cho takes her time constructing the mythology for newbies, but is matter-of-fact when it comes to the issues of possession and responsibility. There are a couple of moments here where the dilemma to allow herself to be possessed sits firmly in an analogy with The Incredible Hulk, only possessed can she stop something bad happening, but she cannot trust what she will do while possessed. This progresses to a satisfying final act where the implications of how gods are created uncover greater issues of historical trauma.

I enjoyed Black Water Sister a lot, not only for its ghost story but its picture of modern Penang. Its also symptomatic of many "twenty-something" novels which are basically coming of age part two. Here Jess doesn't emerge more of an adult, though she does mature significantly and that character development is as satisfying as the resolution of the ghost story. The narrative is handled well too, there was one twist in particular which caught me unprepared and was very clever. Perhaps there is little too much introspection into our slackers woes (particularly when historically compared to her family), but this kind of narrator is bound to be self-obsessed to some degree, and in the end the very sense of self is what is being violated with the possession.

First off, what an amazingly gorgeous cover! Can we just appreciate?!

So, Jess... what an brilliantly written character. She's having to deal with a lot on her plate isn't she, poor lass.

A queer college grad has to move back to Malaysia, from the US after her father loses his job and falls ill. She's now to live with family in a country she hardly knows, doing her best to maintain a long-distance relationship with the girlfriend she's hiding from her family!

Yeesh! And that's not even to mention her dead grandma. We're in for a ride here folks.
A stressed out lesbian heroine battling against evil gods anyone?

Truly engaging read, highly enjoyable. Definitely one of the best books of the year!

Black Water Sister is a contemporary urban fantasy set in Malaysia. Gods, ghosts, grandmas and gangsters - what more could you ask for?

I loved the vibrant depiction of Penang and Taoist mythology. Jess's somewhat stressed, multi-cultural perspective infuses the narrative with wit and charm. Zen Cho's command of dialogue is particularly strong, and the story features plenty of colourful characters. It works well as a novel, but I could also really see this as a graphic novel - which is testament to just how wonderfully visual Cho's writing is.

Colourful and chaotic, Black Water Sister is a fun modern fantasy.

4/5 stars

An enjoyable and sometimes quite tense story.

Black Water Sister tells the story of Jess and her late grandmother, Ah Ma, who comes back to haunt her in hope that she will help Ah Ma settle her revenge.

THINGS I LIKED:
The banter between Ah Ma and Jess - I found this very entertaining to read about
The discussions raised - as a lesbian POC person, Jess faces a lot of struggles in her everyday life, and I thought that these were handled very well
The family dynamics - they could get somewhat complex at some points, but they were interesting to read about
Its setting - Malaysia is well described and felt very vivid in my mind. I liked how there was a lot of talk about culture and Jess not quite fitting in, as she grew up in the US.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE:
I found some aspects of it a little confusing and not always well thought out at times
I wanted a little more from the plot - While it does get quite plot heavy as you get further into the story, I wish it had been a little more developed from the start and just a little more in general.

I will certainly be picking up a physical copy when this gets released!

3.5 stars, just because it didn't resonate with me personally!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillian for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Let me preface this review by stating that I am by no means an own voices reviewer when it comes to Malaysian culture, which was definitely a heavy focus of this story! I can absolutely see this resonating much more with someone of a similar cultural background as the MC, Jess, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Although I had some issues relating to the family structures that this book addressed, other aspects of Jess' life resonated all too well with me. The discouragement of finishing college only to find that the world isn't what you imagined it to be, being at an age where you're considered an adult by society, yet feeling like you're anything but, the struggles of far distance relationships and finding a purpose.... I don't often read books with protagonists that go through the same things that I do on a regular basis, so although I didn't like Jess at times, I certainly related to her.

The overall story was intriguing enough to keep me reading. I have to admit, I'm not the biggest fan of urban fantasy, but I think this was done rather nicely. The characters all had their motivations and goals, their actions made sense to me for the most part and they certainly were painfully human in their flaws. Despite the story being centered around hauntings and ghosts, it never felt overly scary - rather, the hauntings served as a way to explore injustices of the past, rooted in class, gender and race. These issues were, in my opinion, addressed graciously, without leaving them entirely in the past and also relating them to the present day.

Ultimately, I can't really pinpoint why this fell flat for me - I just couldn't find myself caring for the characters or for the plot. It is by no means a bad book, and I'm certain other people will find much more joy in it! I definitely think that if you're interested in this, you should go and make up your own mind.

It's no secret by now that I'll read anything Zen Cho writes, and Black Water Sister did nothing to change that conviction. It's fantastic- dark, but with the warmth and empathy that's characteristic of her work. I really loved Jessamyn and Ah ma, and how the book used Jess' literal haunting to explore filial piety and the way in which Jess, as a Malaysian woman raised in the US, is something of a ghost herself in her own life.

The plot, too, is fantastically pacy (I finished the whole thing in two days) and full of enough twists to keep you guessing. The real stand out, though, is the dread in the way Zen Cho introduces Black Water Sister and the way the world of gods and spirits, though only sometimes glimpsed by jess, seems very real and present in the entire story.

One of my favourite Zen Cho stories is 'The House of Aunts', and this felt like a big sister (haha) to that: darker, longer, and with more of everything I loved. I can't recommend this book, or the writer, highly enough.

Having loved Cho's Sorcerer Royal books I was so hyped to read this...and now that I have, I am high-key disappointed. Whereas Sorcerer Royal is a fantasy of manners (a la Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell), Black Water Sister is an urban fantasy with a contemporary setting. The premise and cover for this novel definitely piqued my interest but sadly found its execution to be lacking. The central character of Black Water Sister is twenty-something Jess, born in Malaysia and raised in the States, who is going through 'I don't know what I am doing with my life' crisis. When her parents are forced to relocate to Penang, Jess follows suit. Her long-distance girlfriend is growing frustrated by Jess' indecisiveness about her future but Jess herself does not feel comfortable coming out to her parents let alone telling them that she has GF. Then, Jess begins to hear a voice. At first, she tells herself that it is the stress of the move but soon realizes that the voice belongs to her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma, who recently passed away. Keeping Ah Ma a secret proves hard, especially when Ah Ma drags her into a feud between a 'terrifying' deity, Black Water Sister, and a crooked businessman, who happens to be one of the wealthiest men in Malaysia. The story follows Jess as she tries to survive fights with gangs and supernatural beings.

CHARACTERS
Jess is annoying in spite of being largely nondescript. She has a vague half-formed personality (think generic America millennial) and she often does not act of her own volition (others make her do things or put her in situations where she is then forced to act).
Ah Ma was entertaining at first, she definitely has some of the best lines but she does something before the halfway mark that I found problematic, especially how the story seemingly glossed over her actions.
Jess' parents should have played a bigger role in the story. Jess' mom does get some page time but it did not really do her character any justice.
The story wasted time on characters we know are not all that (Jess' uncle and the son of the crooked businessman).
Jess' GF did not really have a personality. Her calls with Jess were few and did little in terms of her chararisation. I had no real grasp on her, she remains a disembodied voice at the other end of the line. Having flashback showing their first meeting, how they fell in love, and their decision to be in a LDR would have made me care more for them.

WRITING
Unlike Sorcerer Royal, which boasts a prose that is both elaborate and playful, the writing style here came across as relatively basic. The humor stemmed not to much from the narrative but from the occasional one-liners spoken by characters (most of them by Ah Ma or Jess' mom). The writing failed to engage me and because of this, I found myself skipping quite a few paragraphs towards the end.

SETTING
The novel's setting is easily its biggest strength. Cho vibrantly renders Malaysia, from its climate to its culture and languages.

FANTASY
The ghosts were intriguing at first but once we learn more about the temple and see the Black Water Sister the fantasy elements no longer grabbed me. The whole thing felt very anticlimactic.

All in all, Black Water Sister was not what I was hoping it'd be. Still, I am sure that many other readers will find this to be a positively captivating read. I just happen not to be one of them. Cho remains a favourite of mine and I eagerly await her next release.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this thinking what a great premise this was. It certainly was a great change from what I normally read. Oh the scene setting, the ghostly stories, the magical realism and cultural asides. Brilliant.
The writing and story had me confused quite a lot and I did struggle to read it. Not my cup of tea as they say but I'd like to read other opinions to find out more about what this book was saying.