Shadow Girl was a poorly paced borefest. I do not understand why this is being pitched as a paranormal mystery when it was so clearly not. The supposed ghost lore is mentioned only a handful of times, and even then, it is not a focus of the story. It was not remotely spooky. There are a few bumps and wails in the night, but they could - and were - easily explained away. It was mostly driven by the fact that Ella, Mei’s student, claims her room is haunted by a ghost. I need way more suspense and atmosphere and haunting shenanigans to keep me interested than that. The entire subplot was messy and disjointed, thrown in without planning or consideration, and making little sense. We barely know the identity of the ghost - if there even was one - let alone anything more about this world’s ghost lore. I wanted to be spooked. I don’t necessarily mind an open ending, in fact, I would have liked it if the story had left us wondering whether it was real or all in Ella’s head. I just needed the story to choose whether it was a paranormal mystery or not and commit to delivering that story, not half-assing it like it did.

The fact that we follow the petty drama of the Morison family, rather than the ghost story, could have been perfectly fine if I had actually cared about the family. But I didn’t. Their lack of personality made it hard for me to empathise with their situation. Henry was stereotypical and dry. His romance with Mei was rushed, awkward and unnecessary. I did like Ella but Vanessa, Jeffery, Mei’s mother, Doris and Mr Morison were all shallow and underdeveloped. I was also confused by the Jeffery drama. They clearly state was is happening halfway through the book - or imply it so heavily, so clearly, that it is obvious to everyone - but the fact that it is a Thing was a big twist at the end? I did not even realise it was meant to be a mystery!

I wish I could say that I loved the narration but I honestly did not even enjoy Mei as a protagonist. Her internal monologue revealed how she hid her rude and judgemental self under layers of over-the-top politeness and fake smiles. I found it difficult to care about her when I was so frustrated with her. She made Henry out to be this snobbish rich boy for no good reason. He was sweet with his sister and kind toward her. Her antagonism was off-putting and just judgemental.

Liu does have a very simplistic writing style. I loved how well the story flowed and how it was so easy to flick through the whole book in a single sitting. I wish she had focused on developing her character more, however, or at least given us a creepy atmosphere for the ghost elements to shine.

I did like that Liu did highlight the microaggressions faced by a lot of Asian-Americans in their daily lives. Obviously, I cannot speak for the representation myself - Mei is Chinese-American - but I loved how well the cultural differences between Mei and Henry were woven in. It was a nice touch.

Overall? Very disappointing. There was nothing substantial that I enjoyed about this book. At all.

Review copy provided by the publisher for an honest review.