For this installment of our weekly book reviews from Booklist, the American Library Association’s nationally distributed book and media review publication, we’re have Leah von Essen’s review of “The Girl with a Thousand Faces” by Sunyi Dean, first published May 1, 2026, at Booklist Online.
Enjoy.
“The Girl with a Thousand Faces”
By Sunyi Dean.
May 2026. 320p. Tor.
Mercy Chan is an expert ghost-talker who works for the ruthless head of an important syndicate in 1970s Kowloon, a walled city within Hong Kong. She doesn’t remember her past before she washed up on local shores in the midst of the brutality of WWII; all she has is her dripping-wet memories, her intrusive nightmares, and the ghost cat named Bao who is fiercely loyal to her. Cut back 33 years, and readers get the story of Sung Siu Yin, a young woman fleeing the city alongside her mother, who guides them to her long-abandoned hometown on a remote island. This rich historical fantasy about generational grief and trauma, gentrification and slum clearance, resentment, forgiveness, and sisterhood, is a delightful tale both grim and full of an ironic humor. Fans of Dean’s debut, “The Book Eaters” (2022), will fall hard for the tangible sense of space and setting, the evocation of the elements, and the emotional core of the characters; fans of historical fantasy will love this insight into 1970s Hong Kong and the impact of WWII on the city. Dark, mythological, and beautifully written, this novel brings unexpected twists and an engaging pace to a compelling narrative.— Leah von Essen
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