Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

44 reviews

maeverose's review against another edition

5.0

My first 5⭐️ of the year!!

I was expecting to like this but I wasn’t expecting it to make me cry.

The writing is beautiful and  atmospheric, the story takes it’s time and is simultaneously comforting and painful. I always love the ‘stories attached to items’ trope (is that a trope?) and this has that. I was worried I wasn’t fully understanding it at first (with all the ‘do you understand?’ moments..), but by the end I did. Well, I’m sure there are details that I missed but I understood the overall story. This is one of my favorite books I’ve ever read I think. Please read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Classism, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal death, Slavery, and War

Forced separation from a child and forced separation from a romantic partner, brief mention of a beheading, drowning and gutting (not detailed).

goldendreams's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Suicide and Death

ktv's review against another edition

adventurous reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Child death

kaziaroo's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I normally go for substance over style, but I liked this one a lot. It's very atmospheric and immersive, and I really enjoyed the narrative style and framing. The storytelling was very subtle and I'm still a little confused about the timeline of events but it suited the overall tone. It took a while for me to realise what made the empress so great and even now I feel like I barely know her, more as a shadow in the mist than a person. As someone who tends to read chunky novels, it feels strange and almost uncomfortable to finish a story while not knowing so much about the characters. It kept me company for a few hours, and now it's gone. I'll definitely keep the other books in the series on my to-read list for next time I have a long journey.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, and Death

Minor: Abortion, War, Pregnancy, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Sexual content, Infertility, and Animal death

piastri's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

really quick read but vo did not miss whatsoever. the world building is amazing, the prose is beautiful and it’s gay! literally what more could you want. 

i also loved the way that the story emerged throughout the book, and how the reader gets to figure things out along with Chih

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Confinement

Minor: Suicide

noodletheriddle's review against another edition

challenging sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder and Suicide

fraise's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Confinement, Grief, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, War, Suicide, Infertility, Colonisation, Murder, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal death and Slavery

blackcatkai's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

beautifully written and engaging, im interested to see where the story goes in subsequent novellas. it's more of a high fantasy than what I'm personally used to/into so I got a little lost despite how short it is, but thats a me issue. either way, nghi vo is clearly ridiculously talented with descriptions & story telling and I am absolutely reading more of her work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: War, Pregnancy, and Grief

Minor: Suicide and Sexual assault

leanne_miron's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

turtlebrainlibrarian's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Misogyny

Moderate: Grief, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Murder, Infertility, and Suicide