The Girl with a Thousand Faces

Sunyi Dean’s new novel, The Girl with a Thousand Faces, was one of my most anticipated releases this year. Divided between 1940s and 1970s Hong Kong, it follows Mercy, a middle-aged woman with a knack for talking to ghosts and sending them on their way. But Mercy has no memories before the age of 20, and it’s possible her mysterious past is finally coming back to haunt her. Who is this murderous spirit that seems to know her? How can Mercy right her past wrongs if she can’t remember what they are?

What I Liked:

• Amnesia, secrets, and shocking twists. The Girl with a Thousand Faces starts with some of my favorite tropes, lending a strong sense of mystery and unease. What happened to Mercy all those years ago, and what is this darkness that seems to lurk in her? The way this book is structured worked really well for me, and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how some major plot points were revealed. Who is good and who is evil? Who’s the real monster here?
• Ghosts and demons. Mercy is a medium; the title character is some kind of malignant spirit, or perhaps a demon. I loved seeing these supernatural elements at play here, learning the origin of these characters, and seeing how the ones doing the haunting may be the most haunted of all.
• The characters. It’s not often that I see a protagonist who is older. In this case, Mercy is 53 years old. I enjoyed getting to know her, Sea Sister, and the girl she used to be before everything went wrong. They’re complicated and make plenty of mistakes along the way, but there’s a valuable lesson buried within all the anger and vengeance. I also loved the ghost cat!

Audiobook:

Natalie Naudus has narrated so many of my favorite audiobooks, and it’s always a treat to hear her on a new novel. She narrates The Girl with a Thousand Faces, her voice as expressive and captivating as ever. I especially liked how she distinguished between speaking voices and inner thought voices—something the ghosts can do when communicating with others. It lends a more haunting vibe to those parts of dialogue.

Final Thoughts

The Girl with a Thousand Faces is a brilliantly realized historical Gothic. It has all the trademarks of a beloved spooky story, but is also imaginative and original. It kept me guessing! There’s a powerful message by the end, and I appreciated going on this twisty journey with these characters. I’m excited to read more from Sunyi Dean.

Special thanks to Tor Books, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy The Girl with a Thousand Faces here – it’s available as a hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
Audiobook Narrator	Natalie Naudus
Audience	Adult
Genre	Fantasy; Gothic
Setting	Hong Kong
Number of Pages	320
Format I Read	Audiobook & Ebook (NetGalley ARCs)
Original Publication Date	May 5, 2026
Publisher	Tor Books

Official Summary

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Eaters comes The Girl with a Thousand Faces, a stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.

When Mercy Chan washes up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only refuge she finds is the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life, working for the local triad as a ghost talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon have become her home.

But the past Mercy can’t remember isn’t done with her. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon’s waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. It claims to know Mercy—and secrets from her past that are best left forgotten.

As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.

“The Girl With a Thousand Faces confirms Sunyi Dean as one of the most interesting voices in genre fiction.”—Gareth Brown, USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Doors