The Hungry Ghost

This was a super quick read and I did enjoy reading this one. I really liked the Chinese folklore element that was in this book,
Thank you to netgalley for providing this book to me in exchange for my honest opinion.

Spooky, eerie; but full of heart and warmth, and bursting with delicious south east Asian flavour. This is an utterly engrossing ghost story, as well as a moving journey of grief and supernatural self-discovery.

An international feast that I devoured in a single day!

I greatly enjoyed this story! The writing was beautiful and I really enjoyed learning more about the cultural folklore and mythology. This story is well suited for a middle-grade audience and I would recommend it as a great book to read as a class. It provides great opportunities to discuss cultural differences and also presents a chance to discuss family dynamics.

I loved it! Initially I was a bit skeptical but the more I read it the more the story and premise really grew on me. The ghost story part of this is extremely well done and it adds just the right amount of creepy as you explore and read on who the ghost is in relation to the main character. I also really love all of the asian folklore and really in-depth world-building that comes from it being set in Singapore. It really transports to another world and the characters are excellent as well. Overall, it's a really beautiful story.

Loved it!! Having lived there, I can confidently say that the writing really transports you to Singapore. I also loved how the protagonist is shown to have some struggles and diverse needs, although some trigger warnings should be included. Loved it!

The Hungry Ghost is totally different to anything I’ve read before. It’s a very cleverly written story that spans a wide range of genres - adventure, mystery, horror, historical fiction… the list goes on. I love the fusion of the old and the new and the cultural clash of modern Singapore. Norup has effectively threaded together so many different elements within this story. It would be enjoyed by pupils in Year 6 upwards. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. I found the setting of Singapore to be really evocative and the author did a great job of immersing the reader in the sights, smells and culture of Singapore- its definitely made me want to holiday in Singapore!
I found Freja to be a wonderful protagonist- she was likeable and complex, and her family situation and emotions surrounding that was really well handled by the author.
Freja moves from Denmark to Singapore to live with her father and his new family. She arrives during the month when ghosts are said to wander the streets. Freja meets the ghost of a young girl and sets off on an adventure to find out who she is.
I thought the ending was very touching and I will definitely be recommending this book to others!

What a delightful work! Reminiscent of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away in book-form, the fusion of diverse cultures and spooky fantasy within Norup’s narrative is dazzlingly imaginative. Not only is Freja an entirely relatable character (experiencing the unfortunately common situation of a split family), but she is also the badass character (with a Swiss Army knife!) that we all want to be. Any children ages 8 and up who are hungry for an utterly transportive, fantastical adventure will adore this book!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the privilege of reading this work!

This was a good middle grade book that introduced kids to the Singapore culture, a subject I can’t recall seeing in other books before. A decent mystery for kids who like ghosts.

Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC.
I think when people read this book, they need to remember it's a book for kids and not be overly critical. I found the story to be very exciting and fast-paced, I got scared at some point, but that's because I'm a scaredy-cat and I was projecting my very adult fears onto young Freja. Overall, it's a very engagging read

Freja has moved to Singapore to live with her dad and step family whilst her mum receives help for her mental health. She quickly notices a strange girl in the garden who is trying to get her dad’s attention, but it seems like he cannot see her.

The Hungry Ghost discusses the traditions and beliefs around ghosts in Singapore. It was great to learn more about these traditions which I only knew a little about.

I really enjoyed this book and learning about Freja and Ling’s life. I’d definitely recommend this for children aged 12+

A mystery book set in Singapore, where Freja meets a ghost during the Hungry Ghost Festival who might have a connection to her own family...if only she can figure it out.
Freja is also dealing with her own problems; she's been sent to live in Singapore with her dad and stepmother and misses her mother (who appears to have suffered a mental breakdown).
I enjoyed the book and think kids will enjoy the mystery aspect and fast pace.
The tragedy revealed at the end (not something that happens, but rather memories of something that has happened) struck me as a little intense as an adult reader, but I'm not sure kids (without the same life experiences) would view it quite the same way.
A solid middle grade pick!

It's a lazy Sunday for me, it's raining and I am under my blanket taking 2-minute naps to refresh my eyes so I can keep reading this captivating ghost adventure/mystery. I didn't want to stop once I got going. My head was literally buzzing when I put the book down because I was so invested in the story. Meaning, this is the perfect escape book.

12-year old Freja leaves Denmark to live with her father, her step mother and their twin boys, in Singapore. She arrives as the month of the hungry ghost is taking place, when spirits and ghosts of ancestors roam the streets. While she is struggling to fit into her new family, she spots a mysterious girl in white in her garden. The curious Freja goes after the girl, which creates a chain of events that makes Freja want to solve the girl's family mystery... And she has to do it before the month is over.

Sweet, fearless Freja is on a mission to find out more about the girl. Dressed in her cargo pants, carrying her pocket knife and climbing down a rope to sneak out from her room, she is such a sweet little adventurer. She's kind and caring, and unstoppable in achieving her goal. But she's not too in your face ''different from the other girls''. She just... IS.

The setting of Singapore, all the sights and sounds was very interesting, especially because we're told about the traditions and legends of the people living there.

I personally found that it was very easy to follow and understand, so it makes for quite a quick read.

It was delightfully spooky, but the spookish elements were just gently peppered into the story, so it's not to dark and chilling. I felt the payoff was great, especially because the resolution comes with a few emotional moments for our lovely protagonist.

Last but not least, will you look at that cover?

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this gem.

I’ve visited Singapore on several occasions, so H.S. Norup’s book, The Hungry Ghost, was a welcome trek to a known and beloved place. It’s enjoyable to see Singapore through the protagonist’s eyes.

Norup does a good job in her middle-grade novel of painting a picture of the Hungry Ghost Festival and how it plays into culture and customs.

The book is written from the perspective of a newly inducted Third-Culture Kid (TCK) Freja, who is Danish and moves to Singapore to stay with her father and stepmother. I loved the TCK aspect because I’m also a TCK. While this isn’t the focus of the book, I noted how the TCK experience was woven in.

“I’ve had sooo many friends move away. And I’m never the one to leave,” Kiera sighs. “I know people who won’t make friends with anyone who isn’t here long term. They simply don’t want to suffer the heartbreak.”

“It’s just as hard when you’re the one who has to move,” Sunitha shifts her school bag from one shoulder to another.

As a Third-Culture Kids myself, this quote, along with dialogue before and after, resonated with me.

I enjoyed the historical elements and the mystery Freja works to uncover throughout the novel. I loved reading mysteries as a teenager, and I’m sure I would have enjoyed this.

The book approaches issues of mental health, blended families, grief and loss. At times I felt the pacing could have been a little faster. The ending was crafted very well and was poignant.

There is one scene toward the end that might be scary to younger readers.

I received a complimentary advanced review copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Children's Books. All opinions are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am glad that I picked this book up. It was a fast-paced, enjoyable read that hooked me from the first page to the last one. The events took place in Singapore, which was highly interesting, and the plot was exceptionally well done.

The book was a mix of many genres: cultural folklore with mythology, adventure, and mystery. The story wasn’t particularly “scary” but decently “spooky.”

I loved most of the characters, and I loved both Ling and Freja. It wasn’t easy for the 12-year-old Freja to leave Denmark to live in Singapore with her dad, his wife, and boys. While she struggled to cope with the new life and the new family, she saw the mysterious little girl in the garden, and the journey started.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend it to everyone who likes the fast-paced mystery and adventure MG stories.

𝙍𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙀𝙒

THE HUNGRY GHOST
Author: H. S. Norup

#gifted by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review
pub date: 21 Sep 2021

𝙎𝙔𝙉𝙊𝙋𝙎𝙄𝙎:
"Freja arrives in Singapore during the month of the hungry ghost, when old spirits are said to roam the streets. She's struggling to settle into her dad's new, 'happy' family, and dreams only of escaping home and leaving this hot, unfamiliar city.

Then one night, a mysterious girl in a white dress appears in the garden. Freja follows this figure to lush, secretive corners of the city, seeking to understand the girl's identity. Her search will lead her to an old family mystery - one that must be unravelled before the month is over, to allow both girls to be freed from the secrets of the past."

𝙈𝙔 𝙊𝙋𝙄𝙉𝙄𝙊𝙉:
One of the genres I've been trying to read this year is children's fiction so I decided to give this one a try.

It's a wonderful book and I really liked to read it. I loved learning about the bustling, beautiful country that is Singapore, and about its culture, traditions and superstitions, that play such an important part in the story.

It was looking more like a 3.5 star read until the last 1/3 of the book,but I really liked how Freja's story was told and what we learned about her and her family.

If you're looking for a book that includes SEA history and culture, as well as a beautifully written perspective on loss and grief and family, this is a book I think you'll enjoy reading.

There's also a glossary for all the foreign words the author used throughout the book, which I thought was a lovely addition to include.

💬 This book was written by a white Danish author who lived in Singapore for some time, and although I liked it I don't have enough knowledge to know if it is a respectful perspective on a culture that isn't hers, or mine. If you are from Singapore or SEA, what is your opinion on this book? Is there something better written by an SEA author I should read? Let me know in the comments!

#TheHungryGhost #NetGalley #bookreview

Freja, a girl who leaves her Danish hometown and mom, moves in with her dad and his new family in Singapore. Homesick and not wanting to accept this change, we see Freja struggle to fit into her new family arrangement, especially with having to accept Clementine as her stepmother. Soon, Freja’s loneliness washes away as she discovers and befriends a ghost who is visiting during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

This was such an interesting read, especially for a middle grade book! I loved exploring all the sights, food, and culture in Singapore, and learning about their beliefs and traditions -- particularly regarding ghosts and the afterlife. (Reading about the hawker stalls and Haw Par Villa only made me want to visit Singapore even more now!) On a deeper note, themes of loss, family, friendships, divorce, grief, and adjusting to new circumstances are also explored -- which I found still to be digestible for younger audiences (amazing!!)

Norup beautifully blends reality with folklore / cultural beliefs as she paints the vibrant adventures shared by Freja and Ling and between Freja and her friends. It was fun seeing Freja put her survival knowledge (which she learned from Scouts) to the test and use Morse Code to decipher messages. Although met with skepticism, it was heartwarming to see how everything fell together in the end with certain characters. The rocky relationship between Freja and Clementine was rough to watch, and while I can’t speak from personal experience, it seems like Norup depicted a realistic, yet hopeful outlook for the two.

Overall, this is a wonderful read for kids (and anyone)!

Thanks NetGalley and Pushkin Press, Pushkin Children's Books for my copy!

Thank you H.S. Norup, Pushkin Press and NetGalley for the digital arc of this book. The moment I started reading, I couldn't put it down. It was like, I was with Freja experiencing the spooky moments.

I love the narration. The writing style is so immersive that the fiction totally transported me into the book. The plot is heart-wrenching and heavy. Of course, Freja and Ling instantly became my favourite characters. Both are not only brave but incredibly smart. As I read on, I felt their emotions, thoughts and angst against certain situations out of their grasp.

Although this fiction is for kids, I feel, every age can read. This is brilliant and heartwarming. I will definitely suggest everyone to read this book. It is sure a must read.

trigger warning
<spoiler> mental illness, death, grief </spoiler>

Freja moves in with her father, and that means to Singapore. It could be exciting, if she would have decided to go there instead of being forced to - and if she hadn't promised her mother to never even like her stepmom.
At least, she quickly makes friends.

Freja arrives in the Hungry Ghost month: The month people mourn their dead, and honour them, both to remember but also to appease ghosts, because those could mean bad business if angered.
Being only eleven, and very grumpy about being forced to leave her mom who needs to go to hospital, she did not do research on the culture she was going to be thrown into.
But I repeat, we're talking about a child, so I find it both believable and excuseable, not like a book I recently tried to read about a person going to school in Japan for a year and not knowing anything about country and people.

Plus points also for the depiction of school. Singapore is known for being very international, and so most of her classmates know how it is to be the new kid and having to make friends in a foreign place. They are nice. They welcome Freja and show her around. We don't get a bullying plotline because the author felt middlegrade can't be without, like so many other authors do.

Freja's stepmom has a Philippina as help. This does not only sound realistic, especially for a young mother with twins, but also we get to see how Freja interacts with the woman. I promise you her name is mentioned, not even that, Freja quickly befriends her. I am just very, very bad with names, as I started writing this, I had to look up even our protagonist's name despite only finishing this yesterday evening.
I am of the opinion that if you want to get to know a person, you have to see how they interact with people that would be considered of lower social status, for example, the people hired to do housework. And... I believe her name is Maya, is the first person Freja meets in the new-to-her household and befriends. It takes a while, but then the first few days Freja hides outside.

Not having been a girly child, I appreciate Freja's love for all things outdoorsy. How she annoys her stepmom by going on a walk in the rainforest by herself, having muddy shoes, carrying survival equipment around with her. Being more comfortable in a forest, with a map and a compass, than in social settings where she is supposed to look nice and make small talk.

The main chunk of the story is about ghosts, befriending them, how they work in this culture, and finding out more about the person they were in life. Ignorance about different cultures is so much more excusable in a person that young, and Freja does not mind learning. She comes with a preset idea of how the world runs, telling a boy that no, it's not the seventh month, we already have august, thank you very much, and is rebuked, being told that there is more than one calender on this planet.
She learns, and the reader joins her, being entertaines all the while.

Listen, I had fun. It reminded me of Black Water Sister for a younger audience.
I would read this again, more by the same author, and more in a similiar setting.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

A multicultural tale of fun, mystery and adventure, with a little bit of a supernatural chill, for emotionally mature middle grade readers.

Twelve year old Freja has arrived in Singapore to spend some time living with her English dad's new family, while her Danish mum recovers from some health issues. It is the month of the hungry ghost, but Freja doesn't know much about Chinese culture and customs yet, so she has no hesitation in exploring the nearby Bukit Brown Cemetery which she has mistaken for an urban forest, and she doesn't initially realise she's being drawn into a supernatural mystery by her new ethereal friend. Freja's very much a can-do kind of kid, and is very quick to learn and soak up the culture of her new environment. Enlisting help from kids, ghosts and mythical beings, she will do whatever it takes to solve the mystery for her new friend.

What I loved most about this story was how all the kids were just so accepting of diversity, and also the way it transported me to contemporary Singapore. Freja is a confident, fairly brash young woman, with life skills beyond her years. I didn't always like the way she behaved towards her stepmother and stepbrothers, but have to admit her heart was in the right place.

Recommended for adventurous spirits, young and old! (See what I did there?)

My thanks to Pushkin Press/Steerforth Press and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

‘Loss and grief is part of life…we cannot forget the dead’

The Hungry Ghost is a children’s/middle-grade story set in Singapore, and is a story of adventure and ghosts, of family and relationships, of remembering and forgetting, of the past and the present—a story which was absorbing throughout and which turned out to be much deeper than I’d expected.

In the book we met Freja, a young girl, who arrives in Singapore to live with her dad, step-mom Clementine, and half-brothers—twins, Billie and Eddie—while her mum undergoes treatment back in Denmark. While Clementine and Freja’s dad try to make everything comfortable for her, she understandably resists, not wanting to end-up ‘liking’ Clementine. The fact that the family are living in much better circumstances than she does with her mum (larger house, live-in domestic-help, a woman from the Philippines named Maya, and buy her many of the things she’s been asking for at home) somehow makes her more reluctant.

On her very first evening there, Freja notices a mysterious girl in a white dress, with long black hair trying to speak to her father out in the garden. Curious, she follows the girl when she notices her again the next day, ending up in a Chinese Cemetery, Bukit Brown. Freja soon finds that the time she has arrived in Singapore is that of the Hungry Ghost festival when offerings are made to ancestors and ghosts and spirits roam free. The girl in white, who she finds out is called Ling, has a family mystery of her own which Freya must help solve, and which must be done by the end of the month. But solving this mystery is no easy task and takes Freja to places she’d have hardly even imagined existed.

Meanwhile, alongside Freja starts at her new school and meets people who come from very mixed and different backgrounds. Families and friends for them too come in different moulds—not always conventional. Despite all the warmth and friendliness around, Freja finds it difficult to adapt to the family and school, and we sense that there is something that is worrying her for she is always preparing for danger, trouble, survival! But what could that be?

This was a really engrossing read right from the start and had me invested both in the storyline and characters (though I must say I didn’t entirely take to Freja, even though I realised there’d be an explanation for why she was as she was). But I definitely wanted to find out more about Ling and also Freja’s own story, and both girls’ stories did turn out interesting, but a little heart-breaking as well.

The setting in terms of both the place—Singapore—and its cultural elements—including folklore and the background of the Hungry Ghost festival are excellently incorporated in the story, and one learns about ghosts (including the vampire ghost or Pontianak) and offerings, mythical creatures like dragons, tigers and turtles, and also legendary figures like the Monkey King/Sun Wukong. Other cultural elements like Feng Shui which not only plays a role in day to day life but is also the basis for the city-state’s design are also woven into the story. Also, the blend of cultures that is Singapore stands out really well—as we meet people from different heritages and cultures represented in the different schoolmates Freja meets and befriends, including a neighbour’s grandson, Jason (There is also the food from different cultures—chicken rice to roti pratha and dosa—which are part of everyday life, and nature—monkeys, monitor lizards, and banyan trees among them). Freja is of course ignorant of most of these cultural elements (including how elders are addressed) and must find out as the story goes on.

The spooky, eerie elements of the story are also done very well, and one definitely feels a chill or a creepy vibe when reading the book, especially when one enters the realm of the ghosts (and seeing things that Freja doesn’t seem to even when they seem obvious).

But beyond the actual adventure, the mystery that Freja has to solve, and the ghostly elements, this is also a story about family and relationships. Freja is caught between a family where she feels like an outsider, and whom she feels reluctant to accept even when she wants to, and the love she feels for her mother back home. With the new friends she makes at school, though she likes them, she has to get over barriers of her own making before she can truly accept them as part of her life. The meeting with Ling and helping her with her mystery ends up helping her with her own issues as well. These elements brought a complexity to the story. I also thought that Freja ‘s responses in these situations, and her lashing out in a way, pushing everything and everyone away was done well and believably even though I didn’t much like her reactions.

This was a great read in terms of the story, setting and themes, and one that can also be enjoyed by adults (for the intended audience, I thought may be some of the themes might be a little dark).

I picked this because it looked interesting, and I saw a review by another blogger who talked about its contents. I have not lived in Singapore (though I have visited), but I did spend five years in Hong Kong. I watched my niece attend school for two of those years. All of this background information is because I felt like the narrative provided quite an accurate representation of ex-pat life, especially for an almost teenager.
Freja has been sent to live with her father, a fact she is not happy about. Not because she has any issues with her father; in fact, she spends holidays living in the wild with him frequently. Now, she has to share him with his new family, whom she feels would be disloyal to like.
Once Freja arrives in a city/country with completely different weather than she is used to, she finds a version of her father she has never encountered before. As she struggles with her own emotions, she sees a ghost. It is that time of the year when the locals anticipate communication with those who have departed. Against all advice, she follows this ghost and delves into what she wants. She has some help on and off but largely takes all the burden of investigating upon herself.
During the day, real-life and its complications interfere, but Freja is a determined girl. There are many threads of mysteries that are revealed by the end. I would not recommend this to a very young audience, even if they are fond of horror(ish) narratives. There are issues tackled here, the gravity of which would be more apparent to a slightly older audience.
I felt like some plotlines could have been trimmed (the adventure in the forest) etc., since it felt like my attention was being pulled into too many emotional situations before any were resolved. Otherwise, it was an entertaining book with its own heartfelt moments.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

With thanks to Netgalley, H.S. Norup and Steerford press for allowing me to review this book.

The Hungry ghost is part ghost story and part myths/legends and in all a very good book. I enjoyed the Chinese folklore and the myths. The writing style was good.

The hungry ghost, I'm sure will be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

The Hungry Ghost by H.S Norup is a children’s fiction novel set in Singapore and the plot revolves around Freja- a young girl who struggles to get along with her father’s family and settle in Singapore. Her stay gets stranger when she keeps encountering a little girl in a white dress. I was not able to finish the whole book yet, I loved what I was able to read because of plot and cultural setting and background.

The plot is interesting because of its mix of genre characteristics. First, it is children’s fiction, so it focuses on a young girl. Her story is relatable and something the reader can empathize with because of her struggle to fit in with her step mother and her half-brothers and also in a different country. Also, as children’s fiction, the story sets a great example of a curious, adventurous, and brave little girl, which is very inspiring for younger readers. Second, the adventure traits of this story also creates a lot of excitement because of Freja’s wandering in the jungle and chasing the girl in the white dress. This adventurous aspect is enhanced with the festival of ghosts, which adds a magical realist element by alluding to existence of ghosts and heightening the tension and mystery of the story. Therefore, these genre elements make this story an exciting and fun read.

The incorporation of certain cultural elements creates a unique and thrilling fictional narrative. The festival of the hungry ghost was very interesting to read about, especially what the people in Singapore do to ward off these ghosts. It not only gives background information of the Singapore setting, but it also contributes to the adventurous narrative. Furthermore, it is not an integrated in a way to create a horror story, but to create a balanced amount of spooky and adventure, which is fun to read. The inclusion of jungle is not to exoticize Singapore, but to also give an insight into its ecology that is also threatened by urbanization, which is emphasized by the revival by cultural traditions. The jungle is very enigmatized that contributes to the development of the plot and forms a very mysterious and exhilarating setting to read about. For these reasons, Singapore as a setting enhances the thrilling aspect of this story and gives an insight into the cultural background of the country.

From an adventurous little girl to ghost traditions to tropical jungles, The Hungry Ghost by H.S Norup is a very enjoyable book to read.

Freja moves to Singapore to live with her dad and stepmom for some time while her mom gets better. The seventh month is the month of the Hungry Ghost, and this is when she comes to meet Ling, a young girl lost, with no recollection of who she is other than some small flashbacks of someone looking like Freja’s father. Freja tries to help her remember, trying to see the connection between the two. But Ling might not be the only one needing remembering.

This was such a beautifully vivid story! I’ve never been to Singapore but this makes it seem something short of magical. It’s beautifully described and it felt like I was there with Freja.

I loved getting to know Freja and adventuring with her into the wild while helping Ling. I loved how the story developed and how much they did to make Ling remember. Freja is an amazing researcher and I love how she does everything with a big heart. She is cautious and intelligent but with no regard for trouble. Nothing can stop her from helping her new friend! I loved their friendship. As well as the new friends Freja makes at school that turn out to be really great.

But above all I loved Freja’s family and how much Clementine tried to make her a part of the family and wanting to get her involved. It was difficult for Freja in the beginning, like everything is, but I loved how much more of a family they came to be by the end.

This is a stunning book full of vivid descriptions that got me to learn more of Singapore and their customs and beliefs. It totally touched my heart and even made me cry a tiny bit. It’s beautiful and I can’t wait to get my hands on this book!

The main chunk of the story is about ghosts, befriending them, how they work in this culture, and finding out more about the person they were in life. Ignorance about different cultures is so much more excusable in a person that young, and Freja does not mind learning. She comes with a preset idea of how the world runs, telling a boy that no, it's not the seventh month, we already have august, thank you very much, and is rebuked, being told that there is more than one calender on this planet.
She learns, and the reader joins her, being entertaines all the while.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am not sure why it has taken me so long to venture into children’s/middle-grade books, but I am finding some really great reads. I initially requested it because of the "Denmark" angle, as that is where I have called home for the past 25 years. And I am so glad I did (request it) because this was just such a wonderful read. Set in Singapore during the Hungry Ghosts Festival, Freja arrives to spend a year with her dad and his new family. Before long, a mysterious girl appears in their garden, and Freja must solve the mystery of the girl's background before the end of the festival.

Part advantage, part ghost story, part learning to embrace change and acknowledge pain. And full of friendship, love, and feels. I honestly can't recommend this one enough. 👍🏻👍🏻

**ARC Via NetGalley**

A lovely middle grade novel with mature themes of grief and family. A ghost story interwoven with Singaporean tradition and 20th Century history elevates the narrative. What does it mean to be remembered? What happens when memory is painful? How does a young person deal with grief when their own parents fell apart? I highly recommend this book.

I picked this book as my pre- Halloween 2021 book. There are sensitive subjects so this is good to know before giving it to kids. I liked the mystery, paranormal and cultural aspects. The writing was gripping. Overall, it's different to any other book I have.

Thanks to H.S. Norup and publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

4 stars

I was keen to read The Hungry Ghost as part of our 'Read Around the World' challenge at school and I am glad I did. I really enjoyed this story and found it fascinating to learn about the Hungry Ghost Festival, which I ended up researching lots more about; without reading this book, I would never have heard of it! I think my class will really enjoy the mystery and ghostly elements of The Hungry Ghost and I would recommend it for 9+ readers.

The only thing worse than being transplanted halfway across the world to a place you don't want to be? Discovering that place is, in fact, haunted.

This was a strange, special little tale. Right off the bat I was sucked into Norup's voicey, lyrical writing, as we follow a Danish girl (Freja) who arrives in Singapore during the Festival of the Hungry Ghost. The sense of wonder and displacement was immediately apparent, and I loved the combination of evocative real-world details with the threads of supernatural. Even though this is a "ghost story," it was more mysterious than spooky, but the pace kept moving nevertheless.

I think my biggest dislike was the final act, which felt too frenetic and somehow convenient? (The question mark is because I'm not certain WHY it didn't sit right with me, only that it didn't.) But overall, a solid MG adventure that will have me looking for more HS Norup books in the future.

This was a completely brilliant read. I would recommend this to every young reader. The fantasy elements, the depth of the atmosphere, the vibe of this book was amazing.

So glad I saved this one for the spooky season, it was just what I needed. A fun, captivating ghost story set in Singapore (made me think of Black Water Sister but for a younger audience, with Asian mythos and setting).

Freja moves to Singapore to live with her dad and stepmom for 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.

It really captured the excitement and life of Singapore, with brilliant setting descriptions and animated main characters. There was plenty of atmosphere and tension - especially around Freja and her family. Dealing with family in hospital is such a sensitive topic, and I really felt like Norup handled it with care and compassion. It was so easy to empathise with Freja and her family, and I really enjoyed reading her story.

The Hungry Ghost by H.S. Norup is a beautiful and tender exploration of legacy, grief, and belonging as seen through the eyes of Freja, a young girl who moves to Singapore from Denmark to stay with her dad and his young family. Her mixed feelings about the move, as well as the longing to be back with her mom, coincide with the Hungry Ghost festival, which introduces Ling, a girl her age who appears to be a ghost. Throughout the book, Freja faces various challenges and slowly comes to terms with confronting her insecurities, fears, and painful memories.

This book would be a great introduction for young readers to Singaporean culture, or the way that it differs from the culture Freja is accustomed to in Denmark. It covers topics such as intersectionality and colonialism in an age-appropriate way, through the eyes of a compassionate, curious protagonist. Due to the nature of some of the topics, this book would be best suited for children and young teens ages 12 and up.

This book has stayed with me in the weeks since I read it and I would be revisiting it in the future.

A ghost story that is set in Singapore. The setting was beautifully described. I was invested in both the characters and the storyline. The spooky elements are done very well. Great for middle grade readers

This is such a well written story about grief, perfect for the intended audience. It handles it sensitively but realistically, and would be a great option for people wanting to comfort a child in a similar situation. I also loved how much we got to learn about Singaporean culture!