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kaiyakaiyo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
done! I’ve decided that I really dislike novellas. they always feel rushed, incomplete. there is soooo much going on here, but it feels like the author just shoves info into our brain and starts the story. there was also a lot of repetitive language; how many times can one person write the word “broken” before it loses meaning. I didn’t have time to love any of the characters, or even dislike any. they were such bare sketches that I felt nothing as they moved through the story. maybe novella-lovers like the shortcut to action, but I just like buildup, showing vs telling. probably a me issue
pacing and char development issues aside, this is a really interesting world that could be great with some building, and girl/dragon is my new favorite sapphic trope. the kisses were A1!!!! would’ve liked some more logistics on how a dragon lady fucks a regular lady but maybe im just unimaginative. anyways, this took me a while to get into, and even longer to finish; not sure why i keep picking up novellas. last time, for real!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Colonisation, Blood, and Body horror
lanid's review
dark
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
Minor: Death, Gore, Cancer, and Chronic illness
quorumbutton's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
F/F MC relationship which was almost a backdrop to the themes of medical ethics, personal & societal responsibility, and the understanding of how to become a better person. Post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy retelling of what felt like a vietnamese fairy tale (I see other reviews say it's Beauty and the Beast, but is there really not a Viet equivalent?)
A novella with interesting worldbuilding and quite a few feelings.
A novella with interesting worldbuilding and quite a few feelings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Body horror and Death
Minor: Confinement and Kidnapping
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This novella takes a well known classic and puts its own unique spin and cast of characters into it. This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a FxF romance and is inspired by Vietnamese myths and stories, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
If I really enjoyed this book why the 3.75 star and not a 4 star read? Well as much as I enjoyed it I did get lost with the world at times. It felt like I was meant to have some background knowledge that I did which left me wondering if we are in a whole different world, earth, or something between the two. There was a lot of reference to the past and whilst you can just take them and roll with it, it had me curious and wanting to know what had happened then, which took me away from the current story. Now a lot of this issue could just be that I'm unaware of Vietnamese myths and that could answer everything, but just know you might be a little out of the loop when reading this.
Despite that I did overall enjoy the book and it is something I want to read again. It has a wonder cast of characters, something that I really enjoyed was that wisdom and character growth was shared among younger and older characters.
I recommend this book for those who are wanting something different from their fairy tale retellings. It is a fun read that takes you to a whole different world that feels familiar and different all at the same time. It also has a diverse cast of characters that you will come to love.
If I really enjoyed this book why the 3.75 star and not a 4 star read? Well as much as I enjoyed it I did get lost with the world at times. It felt like I was meant to have some background knowledge that I did which left me wondering if we are in a whole different world, earth, or something between the two. There was a lot of reference to the past and whilst you can just take them and roll with it, it had me curious and wanting to know what had happened then, which took me away from the current story. Now a lot of this issue could just be that I'm unaware of Vietnamese myths and that could answer everything, but just know you might be a little out of the loop when reading this.
Despite that I did overall enjoy the book and it is something I want to read again. It has a wonder cast of characters, something that I really enjoyed was that wisdom and character growth was shared among younger and older characters.
I recommend this book for those who are wanting something different from their fairy tale retellings. It is a fun read that takes you to a whole different world that feels familiar and different all at the same time. It also has a diverse cast of characters that you will come to love.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Death
mandkips's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness and Chronic illness
Minor: Death and Blood
strange_little_ranger's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, and Slavery
Minor: Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Slavery, Terminal illness, and Violence
booksthatburn's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
In The Vanishers’ Palace is about grief, agency, and joy; about learning how to make decisions for oneself and give others space to do the same.
I like the way we learn about the eponymous "Vanishers" through context and what they left behind, with almost no discussion of what they were like because they're not the point: the focus is on the people and world they left behind. I tend to enjoy books which immerse me in a setting and expect me to keep up, and this one is full of that. It doesn't tell us really what the Vanishers were, and I didn't need it to. It's a quieter story, managing to feel deep and slow-paced while being a short book that didn't take very long to read. There are themes of community, isolation, and what fear leads people to do when they have incomplete information or ignore what they should know. It stays pretty focused on the relationship between the MCs, but the secondary characters are very important to the story in a way that made it feel like a small snippet of a full world.
I particularly love the way language is used here, making it clear that the characters are not speaking English (the language in which I read the story) by briefly describing the way the way gendered language is used by the characters in how they refer to themselves and each other, indicating that a character spoke only one word when what appears on the page is a phrase with two words, etc. This is the kind of thing that could have broken the immersion, but I liked having reminders that when they spoke to each other in this post-apocalyptic situation that they had language and references which I wouldn't share, it made their world feel more complete while still giving me the information I needed as a reader.
Apparently this is a queer retelling of a classic tale (Beauty and the Beast ). I'm glad I went into it without that specific knowledge because it let me like the story for what it is, rather than comparing it to something else. Now that I know what story it's retelling, the parallels are pretty clear and I think it did a good job, but it felt like a fresh story when I was reading it and I like it on its own terms.
I like the way we learn about the eponymous "Vanishers" through context and what they left behind, with almost no discussion of what they were like because they're not the point: the focus is on the people and world they left behind. I tend to enjoy books which immerse me in a setting and expect me to keep up, and this one is full of that. It doesn't tell us really what the Vanishers were, and I didn't need it to. It's a quieter story, managing to feel deep and slow-paced while being a short book that didn't take very long to read. There are themes of community, isolation, and what fear leads people to do when they have incomplete information or ignore what they should know. It stays pretty focused on the relationship between the MCs, but the secondary characters are very important to the story in a way that made it feel like a small snippet of a full world.
I particularly love the way language is used here, making it clear that the characters are not speaking English (the language in which I read the story) by briefly describing the way the way gendered language is used by the characters in how they refer to themselves and each other, indicating that a character spoke only one word when what appears on the page is a phrase with two words, etc. This is the kind of thing that could have broken the immersion, but I liked having reminders that when they spoke to each other in this post-apocalyptic situation that they had language and references which I wouldn't share, it made their world feel more complete while still giving me the information I needed as a reader.
Apparently this is a queer retelling of a classic tale (
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Terminal illness
Minor: Chronic illness
CW for parental death (backstory), illness, death.dytiscusfriend's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Very distressing story and setting. Post-apocolyptic and somewhat post-colonial. Story involves kidnapping, Beauty & the Beast-style "romance," and very serious medical/illness related themes. I rarely feel that a book is paced too fast for me but I often felt myself wishing we spent more time getting to know the characters and letting the story play out at less of a breakneck pace. Gorgeous imagery.
Recommend for fans of queer romance enemy to lovers novels.
Recommend for fans of queer romance enemy to lovers novels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Terminal illness, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
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