Siren Queen

"Great magical realism/historical fantasy book where almost nothing is explained, it's weird, but you kinda get it nonetheless. The vibes are great. I wanted more from the ending however"

"I really wanted to like this. A period piece featuring a queer main character with fantasy elements... it just felt so off. The author just seems to think that the reader will take everything fantastical at face value, regardless of how little it makes sense. I also hated the occasional future commentary that'd be made from character years down the line randomly sprinkled into the story. It'd be the middle of an event and then there'd be dialog from the future inserted in parentheses. The flow of everything was just so clunky and forced. "

"Very atmospheric. So different in the best way. Loved it."

"i feel like there should've been more. not in a cliffhanger way. but in the way that some of my favorite parts / areas with the most intrigue were so brief. i felt kind of confused at the end and not in a fantasy meta way 😭😭 "

"I don’t usually read magical realism, but Siren Queen by Nghi Vo has absolutely changed my mind! <br/>.<br/>.<br/>The story of a Chinese American girl determined to be a movie star, following the deals she makes to become famous, and her journey to stardom and facing monsters, captivated me and I finished this book in about a day. It is also a sapphic love story, discusses the issues of race in early hollywood, and tackles the issues of sexualization and exploitation of women through fame. <br/>.<br/>.<br/>I really liked this book, and it broke me out of a reading slump. I would love to read more of this author!"

"Stunningly beautiful and so enchanting the way magic weaves through the story. I felt so lost in the best ways while experiencing the story go by. "

"Really could have benefited from more length. Some of the best threads in the story were the shortest and thinnest."

"I love Nghi Vo's novellas (When The Tiger Came Down The Mountain is one of my favourite books) but this book did not work for me. I'm not surprised to find in the author's note that chronologically this is their first novel because it really does feel like a debut. There is not enough story to sustain a full length novel, but somehow the book still feels long. The writing style is also extremely fanficcy (the "all [noun] and [noun]" physical descriptors, the characters making parenthetical interjections throughout for no reason) and the romances are silly and over the top. None of the prominent characters are that interesting, and the book does that annoying thing from historical fiction where the character lays out the hardships of a certain setting and then goes, "but not me though!" as if they're better than all the real people who went through those situations.<br/><br/>I will say though that the world was very interesting (even if we didn't get to see a lot of it) and the way the magic was used to emphasize real world issues was mostly well done."

"I was looking forward to this book but couldn't get into it. Not much happens in the first half, and I wasn't expecting the magical realism aspect. I felt it needed to either have more of that or not at all--I would forget about it and then she talks about someone carrying their horse skin and I'm like "what?! Oh. Shapeshifter.""

"Another amazing addition to the 2022 bookshelf. Nghi Vo takes readers back to the golden age of Hollywood but with a twist. I’d consider this book light-fantasy as she simply puts a lens on society and turns metaphors into magic, so this book is a great way to dip your toes into the fantasy genre. There were times when I was reading the book that I forgot there was magic at all. Hollywood really did change people’s names and give them fictitious backgrounds. Stars really were sacrificed at the peak of their careers by a system that did not acknowledge them as humans and instead treated them like objects for manipulation. <br/>The story is told in first person narrative by the siren queen, Luli Wei, as she reflects on her life. Her desire to be a star of the silver screen led her down the dark and lonesome path with the determination that she would make it out alive. She jumps headfirst into the nightmare that is a Hollywood run by literal monsters in human form, in town where people sell the best parts of themselves for a few years of fame, and a place where immortality is earned by the amount of people who worship at your fire. In this dark world Luli etches out a place for herself without too much compromise. In her journey she finds out who she really is and what she stands for all while the studio is telling the world what they think she should be.<br/>This book beautifully tackles what it was like being a lesbian at a time when it was illegal. The hardships and fears that permeated love, which is supposed to be pure and happy. It reminds the reader what it was like for races that were not fully recognized and accepted by society. How they too had dreams and hopes despite what people saw by looking at their skin. How they had to sacrifice what made them, and their culture, unique just to fit into a world that had no place for them. It shows you that no matter how hard a woman tried she was always seen for her looks or not seen at all. In the end it reminds you of the importance of representation to the people who feel unrecognized in the world.<br/>Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan- Tor/ Forge for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me and making me cry a little at the end. Looking forward to more contributions from Nghi Vo to the literary world."