If I Have To Be Haunted – an autumnal book you need to read 🍁

Hi everyone! How are you doing? Before we get started I just want to let you guys know that I’m off to Japan on Monday thanks to my sis for my birthday!! (I can’t believe it but I’m gonna have to believe in order to make it there in one piece 🤣 I’m very excited and nervous at the same time! ✨️). Next Saturday’s blog post will be scheduled and I hope it makes it to you okay! 🤞 I look forward to sharing my trip with you guys once I’m safely back home but for now, let’s get on with the post! 🫡

Today I’m sharing a review of a book that almost derailed my reading plans! Let me give you the short story: I’m currently reading autumnal books from this ebook haul and I’m going to be uploading an audio review for you over on The Cosy Corner but then, a load of Frieda Mcfadden books I reserved for my mum came through in the library and so I had to divert my attention to a this book on my dad’s library card (so I could finish, make space and pick up these new books for my mum!). I’m experiencing a reading-rollercoaster to say the very least but today I’m going to be talking about the book that put the spanner in the works, a book I was not expecting to love so much (the book from my dad’s library card 🤣).

I thought finishing If I Have To Be Haunted by Miranda Sun was just a means to an end so as to make space on a library card but it ended up being so much more than that. It wasn’t your typical romance, even though it was basically my favourite trope: enemies to lovers 🫣🤣. This book made me look out of my window at the golden leaves with each depiction of various trees sprouting orange and brown counterparts it detailed. I knew it was autumn but this book made me FEEL it 🍂. Here’s the summary:

Cara Tang doesn’t want to be haunted.

Look, the dead have issues, and Cara has enough of her own. Her overbearing mother insists she be the “perfect” Chinese American daughter–which means suppressing her ghost-speaking powers–and she keeps getting into fights with Zacharias Coleson, the local golden boy whose smirk makes her want to set things on fire.

Then she stumbles across Zach’s dead body in the woods. He’s even more infuriating as a ghost, but Cara’s the only one who can see him–and save him.

Agreeing to resurrect him puts her at odds with her mother, draws her into a dangerous liminal world of monsters and magic–and worse, leaves her stuck with Zach. Yet as she and Zach grow closer, forced to depend on each other to survive, Cara finds the most terrifying thing is that she might not hate him so much after all.

Maybe this is why her mother warned her about ghosts.

In the story we follow Cara who can see ghosts but no one must know and then there’s Zach, your typical nemesis who becomes grouchy at the sheer mention of her name. When their fates connect and life is at stake, we are swept up in an autumnal tornado where I was faintly reminded of the world of Percy Jackson where danger is at every corner and I don’t say that lightly! It got to the point where every foot they put in the right direction was oh so wrong and I loved every second of it. With every new face came a sticky outcome and the relationship between Cara and Zach got questioned until they didn’t even know what they were to each other.

Don’t worry, these aren’t exactly spoilers, just arrows pointing you in the direction of reading this book yourself! I know this started as a book I needed to somewhat rush but in the end that wasn’t even a choice, I was at the mercy of this adventure the story created and I didn’t want to have to finish it. I thought the whole plot was well thought out and the characters were very full. There wasn’t a part where I thought – well I could know more about them – because it was all there for me waiting to be gobbled up. In saying that tho, well actually there was a subplot that could have used more airtime but it didn’t take away from the story as a whole. I reckon it would make a great movie! It felt like a series all wound up into one book!

This was the quickest I have read a book in 2025 and I wish I could start it all over again but back to the library it must go! 📚 I would recommend this book 100%, if you’ve got a kindle and can read it before the season ends then even better but it’d probably be good all year round anyway! I know this was kind of a short taster review but if you want more autumnal book reviews from me then head on over to The Cosy Corner where I’m going to upload an audio review of the 6 fall themed books that were in this haul! Right now there is a lot of exclusive content already uploaded there to sink your teeth into until then tho ☺️.

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I’ll be off on my way now but I’d love to know if you’ve read If I Have To Be Haunted and what your thoughts were!?? Such an unexpected find 🤯 I don’t even remember getting it from the library and yet I’m so happy that I did! I hope you manage to read it if you havent already and that you have a cosy day/night, take care, stay safe and buh-bye! ✨️💗