Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

25 reviews

melodyseestrees's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

This book is dark and uses magical realism as a magnifying glass to explore concepts within stardom that are quite toxic and harmful. There were characters that I wish had been explored more as their lightness was a breath of fresh air. There were story threads that weren't quite tied securely.

For example Jane appears and disappears without much interaction in the story. The parents just get replica dolls of both of their daughters and choose to live in delusion? Said dolls have the presence and ability to abuse the daughter that stayed? This could have been magic or the actions of deluded parents trying to prevent at least one child from defying expectations or growing into her own person but it wasn't explored so we'll never know. I did somewhat appreciate how the relationship with Tara went as it is something to be said about idol worship.

The audiobook is a fantastic experience, especially since the lyrical nature of the writing feels very natural. This is a person directly telling you the story. I fear this technique would not translate as readily to the page. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Racism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Abortion, Sexual assault, and Body horror

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Bullying

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Trafficking, Rape, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Child death, Vomit, War, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Outing, and Pregnancy

peggymay's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Sexual content, Body horror, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Murder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Classism, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Addiction, Cultural appropriation, and Body shaming

oceanelle's review

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Racism, and Outing

Minor: Abortion, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

ilutzer's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual content, Racism, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Grief, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Blood, Death, and Abortion

imds's review against another edition

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, Body horror, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Abortion, and Pregnancy

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion and Sexual assault

honeyvoiced's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

citrus_seasalt's review against another edition

dark mysterious

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

4.75

4.75 stars, not quite 5 because the magic system was agonizingly vague and I feel like it made a few parts of the story and stakes confusing. But, overall, this was a stellar read! Luli is a kind of protagonist I don’t get to read about very often; initially sort of morally grey in her own right, firm in her boundaries and self even in a world and time period that is unkind to people like her, ambitious and sometimes reckless, some occasions with both of those things coexisting in equal measure. I don’t think there could’ve been a better protagonist for this book: I enjoyed her POV and what she brought to the table in terms of storytelling immensely. She felt fully developed in a way I hadn’t read other protagonists be before. I don’t know how else to describe it.

Anyhow! I loved the setting of this book, too. The Old Hollywood setting starts out with a kind of hypnotic glamour and dazzle, one that Luli quickly finds herself drawn to as a kid first discovering movies. As it goes on, we see parts of this start to fade away because of the disrespect Luli immediately has to learn to defend herself against, and then it takes on a mysterious, almost scary but ultimately alluring image once more of the immortality and supernatural business is introduced. The movies themselves are described a lot, both in general plot description and in production process(depends on their place in the plot), as you get to hear about the pictures that Luli was involved in or grew up with. I also liked that a lot! It was very cool to read about the behind-the-scenes details for these flicks, even if they only exist in-universe. (I was, and am, what you’d call a “theatre kid” so this, naturally, fascinated me.) And with those behind-the-scenes snippets, of course, came different relationships involving our main character and (mainly) her co-stars/workers! Maybe there could’ve been a bit more development on their parts, though, but I overall liked the explorations of the different dynamics captured within the narrative.

I also enjoyed the writing style. It felt lush and lyrical, with an additional bite for when it was most appropriate. Typically I read YA, so this was a nice change of pace, to be reading a distinctly adult book with this style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

kingcrookback's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

It's an interesting concept and premise, but the execution just did not do it for me. People of color and LGBTQ+ people in Old Hollywood - in theory, this is right up my alley! But there's a vague and meandering quality to the story, world, and magic system that hovered between mysterious and ethereal at best and muddled at worst. I wanted more exploration of the way things worked. For example, I know that the changes Vo made to the studio system is metaphorical of the exploitative practices of the real-life studio systems, but I was left wanting more detail. The nodders - horrifying! What does the process of making them entail?

The story really only started to grip me in earnest around the 75% mark, where we started to see conflict between Luli and Tara and the abstraction started to abate a bit. This wasn't for me, but I'll pick up some of Vo's other works and see if they stir up some different feelings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Violence, Child abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion