Review by Booklist Review
Growing up, Suraya's best friend has always been Pink, a pelesit--a kind of parasitic demon-ghost that feeds on the blood of its host--inherited from her witch grandmother. He's her playmate, caretaker, and defender against bullies, but when Suraya makes her first human friend, Pink feels his relationship slipping away. Flaring insecurity unleashes his demonic nature, plaguing Suraya's new friend with various horrors in an attempt to push her away. As Pink and Suraya struggle to hold on to that which is dearest to them, they discover the tangled roots of a troubled family history, heal their wounds, and grow. Alkaf's (The Weight of Our Sky, 2019) middle-grade debut is unapologetically--and beautifully--Malaysian, its characters, setting, and story steeped in the culture's folklore, language, religion, and food. As a ghost story, grounded in Suraya's and Pink's alternating points of view, it sizzles with tension and safe-but-ghoulish imagery (Pink's MO is unleashing a swarm of creepy crawlers) without letting go of the heartfelt thread of love between a girl and her ghost.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
After the death of the village witch, her pelesit, a cricketlike trickster ghost-familiar, must seek a new master who shares the witch's bloodline. Suraya, a lonely, impoverished child who is shunned by the local children and held at an emotional distance by her mother, embraces her pelesit inheritance, lovingly naming him Pink. Pink serves as Suraya's friend and protector, but his retribution against those he believes have slighted Suraya is impulsive and malicious. Disturbed, Suraya extracts a promise from Pink not to hurt others, ever, unless she is in absolute danger. Pink soon breaks his promise when Suraya is bullied by other girls, but when she finally makes her first human friend, Jing Wei, Pink's protectiveness takes a dangerously jealous turn. As Suraya struggles with the decision to cut Pink loose, darker forces remind them that Pink is not the only malevolent being around. Alkaf's middle-grade debut immerses readers in Malaysian culture and food as well as weaving in both Islamic elements and pre-Islamic views of ghosts and death. Though aspects of the novel embrace the disturbing and grotesque (which will delight many readers), its conclusion is grippingly heart-wrenching and speaks to deeper themes of family, trauma, and friendship. Suraya and her family are Malay Muslims while Jing Wei is Chinese Malaysian. A fascinating, page-turning tale. (Supernatural adventure. 9-14) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
