I read this while on a trip and didn’t realize it was very timely read on Halloween, as it’s about ghosts and spirits, but nothing scary.
The book talks about Mia, a fifteen-year-old ghost. She was leading a normal teenage life until she died of sickness. In a span of 50 years, Mia’s afterlife is an extraordinary journey. Questions of What counts as living, Does one really disappear after death, Are there universal truth are foremost in her mind. While searching for answers, she encounters people she never thought she would meet and be friends with. Experiences from young romance, to new found friendships, we see Mia’s journey to Baguio City in the 40s to the big earthquake in the 90s and beyond.
I love the setting, perfect for the story. Baguio feels like home. It is a place many of us have fond memories of, whether with families and with friends. It’s a place where we ghost hunt, tell ghost stories, scare each other, just the mere mention of Baguio equates to ghost and spirits. You tend to reminisce the Baguio the place we knew before.
We often wonder what life will be when we die. Nobody really knows the answer. I read some books and see some movies about what it will be like but nothing like what the author creates. Reading Oha gives me a glimpse into that unknown world. I like how the author makes the after life, on what could have been, the friends we can make, the “normal” things we can do, the unfinished business, our purpose and still life continues. She makes it seem believable and that it’s plausible to have the life to reconnect, to forge new friendships, and understand the vast nature of faith and spirituality.
There’s so much emotions coming from this book, grief and sadness when we talk about death. But there is also joy and lots of love in between. And like in real life, the story shows us that things will happen all in perfect time.
Kasiyana Sa