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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Thanks to Tor and Netgalley for the ARC of this title.
I loved the weird blend of realism and fantasy Nghi Vo brought to their retelling of The Great Gatsby, [b:The Chosen and the Beautiful|55169019|The Chosen and the Beautiful|Nghi Vo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620400751l/55169019._SY75_.jpg|84447261], and Siren Queen is a fantastic follow-up that brings the same energy to old Hollywood. This is basically a good episode of You Must Remember This meets Hollywood Babylon's you-won't-believe-this (and shouldn't believe this) tell-all nature meets Actual Hollywood Magic. I couldn't put it down.
I loved the weird blend of realism and fantasy Nghi Vo brought to their retelling of The Great Gatsby, [b:The Chosen and the Beautiful|55169019|The Chosen and the Beautiful|Nghi Vo|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620400751l/55169019._SY75_.jpg|84447261], and Siren Queen is a fantastic follow-up that brings the same energy to old Hollywood. This is basically a good episode of You Must Remember This meets Hollywood Babylon's you-won't-believe-this (and shouldn't believe this) tell-all nature meets Actual Hollywood Magic. I couldn't put it down.
I have such weird memories associated with this book, since I started this while on a plane to a kpop concert, post-break up with a boyfriend. Finishing it a month later, 2 kpop concerts later, while stuck at home with covid. That doesn't affect my rating but just something of interest. My July and August of 2022 was definitely a standout time.
I suggested this book upon reading great reviews here, on Amazon, and from a close friend. So my expectations were definitely higher than normal. I loved the idea of the book - a reimagining of the pre-code era of Hollywood, but with magic and narrated by a Chinese protagonist. This had all the makings of a really enjoyable read for me, since I love magical realism and coming of age stories. But the execution fell flat and I was left more confused and frustrated on what exactly was happening.
Nghi Vo is a great writer. Their prose is beautiful, every character has their distinct voice/perspective, and some of the scenes are described with lush almost dreamy detail. I thought the book was pretty to read. There were several standout scenes for me: the first third of the book and her childhood, setting the ball of Luli getting her name and getting to Hollywood, the scene where Luli was auditioning to become a monster, how Greta stood up to Oberlin and got her man, the sad dinner scene with Harry and Luli. All those scenes were beautifully written and so powerful for their respective arcs.
However, where this was a miss was that there were simply too many ideas floating around and there wasn't much commitment to one or another. Where I thought we'd get more world building on the magical elements, it would only be mentioned as a throwaway factoid and doesn't add to the world or to the plot. What was a hunt was exactly or what happens if you give 20 years of your life to someone via a lock of hair. Another angle that I thought we'd see was the rise of Luli the big movie star, honing her craft etc, was also touched upon but never really elaborated. She just had innate talent, bid her time for the right role, and just did it? Characters would be introduced or mentioned in passing and then never heard from again, or like the random magic tidbits, mentioned as random fluff.
Overall, the vagueness of the book was my issue. Either there is core world building with defined rules to move the story along, or it's defined characters that drive the book onwards. This book had a little bit of both but lacking enough to be distracting.
Despite my ranting above, I think this book has a lot of promise. There were definite bright points, and the writing is so so so pretty, but overall it just didn't work for me.
Book 7 of Book Club. Dates read approximated. Purchased book from Third Place Books
I suggested this book upon reading great reviews here, on Amazon, and from a close friend. So my expectations were definitely higher than normal. I loved the idea of the book - a reimagining of the pre-code era of Hollywood, but with magic and narrated by a Chinese protagonist. This had all the makings of a really enjoyable read for me, since I love magical realism and coming of age stories. But the execution fell flat and I was left more confused and frustrated on what exactly was happening.
Nghi Vo is a great writer. Their prose is beautiful, every character has their distinct voice/perspective, and some of the scenes are described with lush almost dreamy detail. I thought the book was pretty to read. There were several standout scenes for me: the first third of the book and her childhood, setting the ball of Luli getting her name and getting to Hollywood, the scene where Luli was auditioning to become a monster, how Greta stood up to Oberlin and got her man, the sad dinner scene with Harry and Luli. All those scenes were beautifully written and so powerful for their respective arcs.
However, where this was a miss was that there were simply too many ideas floating around and there wasn't much commitment to one or another. Where I thought we'd get more world building on the magical elements, it would only be mentioned as a throwaway factoid and doesn't add to the world or to the plot. What was a hunt was exactly or what happens if you give 20 years of your life to someone via a lock of hair. Another angle that I thought we'd see was the rise of Luli the big movie star, honing her craft etc, was also touched upon but never really elaborated. She just had innate talent, bid her time for the right role, and just did it? Characters would be introduced or mentioned in passing and then never heard from again, or like the random magic tidbits, mentioned as random fluff.
Overall, the vagueness of the book was my issue. Either there is core world building with defined rules to move the story along, or it's defined characters that drive the book onwards. This book had a little bit of both but lacking enough to be distracting.
Despite my ranting above, I think this book has a lot of promise. There were definite bright points, and the writing is so so so pretty, but overall it just didn't work for me.
Book 7 of Book Club. Dates read approximated. Purchased book from Third Place Books
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
it was hard to finish. i think the blurb and the entries do not reflect the book that well. in the sense that yes it is about an ambitious woman in hollywood but she feels kind of irrelevant in her own story. maybe i just did not understand well but a lot of events seem to happen TO her and she takes very little action in her career except at the beginning and at the end. i was about to dnf so many times because i was so bored but i knew if i stopped now i would never pick it up again. the writing is gorgeous though and many passages had me impressed. the story itself seems so small? idk i just was not a fan.
adventurous
mysterious
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:
Yes