The Night Tiger

4/19/20 - Updating my review and lowering another star because I can't get this out of my head for all the wrong reasons.

Spoilers: Seriously! What was the author thinking? That this romance would be cute? The more I think about it, the more I absolutely HATE the brother. Seriously, what a malicious, controlling, and all around terrible character! Chasing away any potential suiters for his step sister because he wanted her that badly? Ruining her chance at being with someone because HE had to have her? Holy shit, what a red flag! Then going on these adventures and helping her with her project for the sole fact of being with her? And ADMITTING IT? Then trying to seduce her in the hotel? Just wrong on SO many levels. Finally the ending, where they're gonna conveniently run off together to live in Singapore? Honey NO! Just no! This stepbrother is dangerous, controlling, and manipulative. Run girl, run! The fact that they grew up together is even more problematic. ALSO if the father and mother knew about this the entire time, then WHY did they allow them to continue having rooms near each other? Because the son promised he wouldn't do anything? Because the daughter/MC was oblivious to the fact? COME ON! Just because he's sooooo handsome does NOT excuse the behavior!


————Original Review ——–
Really liked the overall mystery and blend of Malasyan mythology/folklore. The way everything was connected, including the 5 names. The plot was a bit stuffed and the romance was completely unnecessary. Also, his attitude was very concerning “You have always been mine”. Uhh creepy. No. Watching and wanting her for all those years? And the way he finally plots to make his move? Then confiding that he never carrier about XX that she has been so interested in?? Girl, I don't care how good looking he is, RUN!

tws: death, dismemberment, disembowelment, animal attack, beheading, assault with a knife

didn't love this as much as the ghost bride, but i'm also not mad at it. i really liked ren and yi as characters and loved following them through the book as their stories converged with ji lin and shin's. not a fan at all of the romance (if you can call it that) between ji lin and shin, and i wish that there had been less talk about potential suitors for ji lin and more of an exploration of possible career paths during that time. but, again, i'm not familiar with the place and setting, so perhaps i'm asking for too much.

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo


I think this is probably going to be one of my favourite books of the year. A beautifully written magic realist historical novel set in Malay during the 1930s. The story centres around Ren, a young boy who is given a mission by his British master (who has died) to return his missing finger to his grave, preventing the master from walking the earth in search of it, and Ji Lin, a young woman who works as a dance partner but wishes to become a nurse. Along with Ji Lin's stepbrother Shin, they are mysteriously connected by the Confucian virtues.


A great part of the story is taken up with Chinese traditions and mythology, which is fascinating. The main motif of the story is that there is a were-tiger killing and mauling people, this is part of the magic realist aspect as well as imagery the author uses to describe the reoccurring dreams where Ren and Ji Lin communicate.


The time period and the place are perfectly chosen as you get the amazing imagery of the tiger and the sense that things are changing as the expats live and work in Malay. Another important character is William, who works as a doctor and is Ren's new master. The characters are also very well written and it's the kind of book that you could easily re-read to pick up more of the hints in the story. As readers have found on Quercus's brilliant #NightTigerTogether Twitter book club, it makes for some brilliant discussions and would make a perfect book club read.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this book. Parts would grab me and I'd have to read to see how everything fit together and then I'd hit a section and lose interest. The focus on Malaysian folklore was fascinating. Overall, an OK book but probably not one I'd recommend.

3.5 stars - not rounding up to 4 stars

Interesting novel.

Strong story, excellent read, slightly weaker ending.

Postponed for another time. It just doesn't fit my current mood and I rather not push myself to read it and risk not liking it. So I'll leave it for some other time. Maybe once Fall rolls around and I'm in the mood for mysteries and all that. 

For some reason no one in the reviews deigns this worth mentioning but this book contains brother/sister incest.

It was good otherwise but why did that have to be a thing. I really don't care that they aren't blood related either, in fact the implication that it's fine because of this pisses me off more. Non-blood related family are just as real as blood related. Their relationship would be terrible even if they weren't siblings honestly the male love interest is just an ass.

Moving on...I enjoyed the book, I really like how this author includes malayan beliefs in her work. I didn't think this was nearly as good as the ghost bride though. There just seemed to be a lot of ideas thrown in that didn't really connect and the end of the book weirdly shifted focus to the “romance”. And honestly? Even the romance wasn't really resolved.

The writing was beautiful and I look forward to reading her future works even though I really hope she got the incest stuff out of her system with this.

This book should have been amazing. It wasn't. It was recommended to me with high ratings, but it just wasn't for me. The story progression was unnecessarily slow and the characters weren't interesting enough to keep me engaged. Also the romantic connection was creepy and problematic.

this book would've been an EASY 4 stars, if chapter 42 was completely rewritten. honestly, if the whole ending to the romance was rewritten. how did it derailed so terribly??? I'm honestly just left confused and upset at that, I couldn't even focus on the rest of the book because I was actually so upset, ngl

I'm glad I gave this one a chance.

The pacing in this one is excellent, as are the dives into the characters. I found myself invested from the get-go, and the different threads interconnecting them were fascinating. The explanations of the culture were better integrated into the narrative, as opposed to resembling historical subtext dumps, and the plot wove itself into a wonderful tapestry. I was a little uncertain about the romance choice, without stating outright spoilers, and despite the methodology of making it make sense, and having its solid origins, I didn't quite come around to it. In my opinion, it would have been fine without a romance at all. That would be my only complaint, I think.

The mystery and intrigue of the “in-between” had me biting my nails; every character had a purpose, and the change-up between perspectives ( first-person and third are both utilised ) had me gripped. I would read this one again, despite knowing how the story ends. Truly good.

Actual rating: 4.5★Rounded up because I really liked the romance. Don't judge me. Some people really like this sort of thing, and I am one of those people.Similarly to [b:The Ghost Bride 16248223 The Ghost Bride Yangsze Choo https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356671808s/16248223.jpg 22277074], this book is full of everything familiar to me as a Chinese who grew up in South East Asia. The plot moves rather slowly, as the book has two main perspectives that eventually connect and get things going. This time, however, the story revolves heavily around a string of murder mystery. Personally, I am quite fond of the genre so I enjoyed it thoroughly. There are some loose ends and things that I wish would've been expanded upon, such as the appearance of the weretiger. The book does leave enough clues for you to piece things together, but a clear conclusion or explanation would've made it much nicer.Also, the romance makes up for it so in the end it's still a really enjoyable read. I really like years of repressed yearning and desperation okay, so I find the whole thing with Shin super cute. Especially the hotel scene. :')There's a lot of flashbacks and dream sequences, which may make it confusing for those who aren't familiar with Asian beliefs and superstition, but for me the trip to the “train station” was quite fun since I quickly realized what the “river” was supposed to be. I don't understand why some people said the issue with the five virtues disappeared along the way, because it remains as a stable theme all the way until the end. Then again, maybe it was too subtle for those who aren't familiar with the culture.The ending is wonderful too. It left me wanting for more, but I love how the story closed with both main characters linked together, as they had been throughout the whole book. Definitely a refreshing read for me, who has been failing to muster any interest in recent YA books. We need more books like this.

It's a bit all over the place with its numerology, Malay superstition, Confucian virtues, colonialism and a weird step-sibling will-they-won't-they romance thrown in.

We kick things off in 1930 Malaya and the orphan houseboy Ren, tasked by his dying master to find and return his severed finger within 49 days so that his ghost isn't doomed to wander the earth forever. An impossible task and yet we are introduced to the inevitable converging thread of Ji Lin, a dancehall girl who finds herself inexplicably in possession of a severed finger in a glass tube. Together with their siblings they make up 4 of the 5 Confucian virtues. Meanwhile there is an elusive notion of a weretiger possibly lurking the jungle nearby while the body count continues to grow.

Suddenly we find ourself in a supernatural thriller. Ren's dead twin Yi keeps appearing in dreams, visiting Ji Lin as well. There we find a train to the land of the dead and an ominous shadow lurking in the water. Are the dreams offering clues or warnings? The veil between worlds somehow thinner in Malaya. Who is the 5th Confucian virtue that will complete this fractured body?

Matters are resolved but hardly in the same tenor as the build-up would have you believe. The mythic gives way to the mundane and it's like the story decides to shake itself awake from the dream it was having. Still, I enjoyed Ren's company and can't begrudge the richly rendered world of Malaya that leapt from the page.

3.5 stars

I really, really enjoyed this book; it was full of interesting folklore and complicated relationships and death and the specter of tigers that might just as easily eat your dog off its leash as rip a human woman in half. There are mystery aspects and twists that took the story in a different direction than I expected, and I appreciated the heroine's feministy ideas (which I felt like worked reasonably well with the time period it was supposed to be set in). There are so many characters that you don't know if you can trust.

I wasn't crazy about ... well, any of the romance storylines. I REALLLLLY didn't like the premise that, as long as you're in love with someone, it's totally within your right to get rid of any potential partners for that person SUPER SPOILER (either by convincing them to get lost or OUT AND OUT MURDERING THEM). A perspective that was cool with more than one character! Um which did make for some good drama, though, but still, like multiple characters think this is okay?! I felt like the story was a bit slow in the middle, but otherwise I've got no complaints. The ending got real fast and real good, and it rushed up on me and by the time I got there I wasn't ready to stop yet!

I also appreciated the author's end notes about the Chinese and Confucian superstitions. I found it all really interesting even though I didn't totally buy into the idea that for the five virtues there needed to be five people in tandem or whatever.

CW: spousal abuse, miscarriages