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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Really loved this!! Without the constraints of the Great Gatsby retelling, Vo is able to just go full steam ahead with the gorgeous fantasy concepts and weirdness! I loved the literalization of the Hollywood myth and the vibes it brought to the table, and I'm usually not a vibes-heavy reader. I feel like on paper, this could feel like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo With Magic, but I loved it SO much more than that book! It felt like Vo chose a much more interesting character and because the timeline wasn't stretched out over seven husbands, we got a nuanced day-to-day picture of what it would be like for a closeted woman of color in 1920's Hollywood. Vo also lets the "Siren Queen" tell her own story as opposed to having a much less interesting character set up the framing narrative. The ending did feel a little bit quick and easy, but overall I just really liked this and can't wait to read more Nghi Vo in the future!
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-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
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the first book that I've ever read from Nghi Vo and Siren Queen sounded like an interesting take on pre-Code Hollywood when the actors' livelihoods pretty much depended on the studios that owned them mixed in with magic and sacrifice. I've seen a lot of good reviews for hNghi Vo's previous efforts before but while there was occasionally glimpses of really good, evocative writing, I thought that the book fell a little flat over all because I found the world-building to be pretty confusing.
When Luli Wei gets her first taste as a child to feature in a cameo, she falls in love with acting and the attention and adoration that she can receive. Luli wants immortality and is willing to sacrifice almost everything (20 years of her life, her sister's name, herself) to achieve it. I mean, you've got to admire that gumption and also that single-minded focus in achieving her goals at all costs. oreover, Luli tries to stay as true to herself as possible in refusing to take on any shrinking violet roles even though as a Chinese American girl of her time, there are limited roles available to her.
However, I was left a little bit confused by how magic works in their world and how being famous would grant them immortality.
Like we understood to make wide circles around the drunks on the streets and how calico cats were the luckiest of all, we understood immortality as a thing for men. Men lived forever in their bodies, in their statues, in the words they guarded jealously and the countries they would never let you claim. The immortality of women was a sideways thing, haphazard and contained in footnotes, as muses or silent helpers.
When Luli Wei gets her first taste as a child to feature in a cameo, she falls in love with acting and the attention and adoration that she can receive. Luli wants immortality and is willing to sacrifice almost everything (20 years of her life, her sister's name, herself) to achieve it. I mean, you've got to admire that gumption and also that single-minded focus in achieving her goals at all costs. oreover, Luli tries to stay as true to herself as possible in refusing to take on any shrinking violet roles even though as a Chinese American girl of her time, there are limited roles available to her.
However, I was left a little bit confused by how magic works in their world and how being famous would grant them immortality.
Spoiler
There were parts that I was pretty sure that the inspiration behind the studio system's magic involved some sort of faerie magic, given the references to the Wild Hunt and how they have to sacrifice one person to it every year. However, I don't really understand how Luli gained her own power just from her final scene in Siren Queen - it felt a little bit like a deus ex machina.
I had no idea what was going on in this book the vast majority of the time but it was still dang great. The writing? Amazing.
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not love this as much as Chosen and the Beautiful but for reasons more to do with my reading experience than the book itself and I will not be elaborating further :)
challenging
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
