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wardenred's review
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Do you understand?
Such a beautifully crafted story! Reading it was like solving an intricate puzzle. There are all these layers here: the story of the exiled empress who conquered the empire through a long, clever game; her former servant girl, now an old woman, telling that story; and the cleric recording it. For such a short book, there are so many characters and narrative threads—and then there are also the gaps between those threads. The details Rabbit isn’t sharing. The nuance Chih isn’t fully grasping. The things In-yo kept to herself. The gaps are just as important as the threads for the experience, I found.
In a way, I feel like this book is a tribute to storytelling and history. It is very much about facts, what happened and why and to what end, and while multiple characters have their moments to subtly shine, for the most part characters feel like vehicles for the plot/history to unfold. They hurt, they grieve, they love, they yearn, and they still feel like game pieces on the board, or parts of a puzzle slotting together, or maybe like real life people from ages ago on a history book page: you know they were as human as you, but in the succinct account of world-shaping events, they feel more like forces of nature or links in a chain.
I’m not sure how much sense I’m making here trying to put these impressions into words, tbh, but this was truly an interesting experience. I usually gravitate toward character-driven fiction that delves deep into everyone’s heads. Here, I was getting to know the characters through events and causal connections, interspersed with short poignant moments that revealed some feelings and motivations more clearly at moments, only to leave many parts of the bigger picture up to interpretation.
I was also deeply moved by the lyrical writing style that perfectly conjured the impressions of duty, loyalty, and coldly calculated rage. I loved Almost Brilliant, Chih’s bird companion. And I really want to know more about the Singing Hills. I really hope the next novellas in this series are just as good and can’t wait to get to them, though I’ll definitely need some palate cleansers between these books to let all the impressions settle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy, Confinement, and Death
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Misogyny
Moderate: Grief, War, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infertility, Suicide, and Murder
devynreadsnovels's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, War, Sexism, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Death, Confinement, Violence, Classism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, and Misogyny
avacadosocks's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Misogyny
Minor: Infertility, War, and Suicide
quinnyquinnquinn's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- 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? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Misogyny
Moderate: Pregnancy and Grief
Minor: Trafficking
arkham's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Confinement, Murder, Pregnancy, Medical trauma, and Grief
jazhandz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Misogyny
Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Sexual content
pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
After finishing this novella I promptly added the rest of Nghi Vo's works to my tbr.
I'm not sure how such a detailed world and history fit into this novella, I was not expecting it! The characters are varied and lovable, the pace is steady, the story development is delicately laid out to show each side and progression of the Empress. The end is righteous. I loved Chih's curiosity and cleverness, Almost Brilliant's snark, and Rabbit's mischief, and, just, everything about the Empress.
Queer and Non-Binary friendly, feminist, and fantastical. I cannot wait to read the rest.
I'm not sure how such a detailed world and history fit into this novella, I was not expecting it! The characters are varied and lovable, the pace is steady, the story development is delicately laid out to show each side and progression of the Empress. The end is righteous. I loved Chih's curiosity and cleverness, Almost Brilliant's snark, and Rabbit's mischief, and, just, everything about the Empress.
Queer and Non-Binary friendly, feminist, and fantastical. I cannot wait to read the rest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Genocide, Pregnancy, Confinement, Misogyny, Grief, and War
fox_at_the_circus's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book really has everything a mystery, power struggles and intrigue at court, a love story and a talking bird/neixin.
I love how most of the chapters are structered with an inventory of objects first and then part of the empress's story related to the objects and then a dialogue between Rabbit and her listener. It's a really interesting wax to build a story and also give a sense of the setting.
And the "love" story in the book was just so good. It's nice that it focuses on a non romantic love, and the more you (re)read the more you notice, how some things Rabbit says have double meanings and what we know about their relationships grows so nicely from chapter to chapter. With the power dynamic between the two and everything that happens, there's really a lot of room for interpretation, about what kind of love it was, or if it even was love. It adds to the whole mystery feeling, too. how this book explores two women, who were forced into difficult situations and are trying to make the best out of it and navigating their relationhip, is written very beautifully.
I love how most of the chapters are structered with an inventory of objects first and then part of the empress's story related to the objects and then a dialogue between Rabbit and her listener. It's a really interesting wax to build a story and also give a sense of the setting.
And the "love" story in the book was just so good. It's nice that it focuses on a non romantic love, and the more you (re)read the more you notice, how some things Rabbit says have double meanings and what we know about their relationships grows so nicely from chapter to chapter. With the power dynamic between the two and everything that happens, there's really a lot of room for interpretation, about what kind of love it was, or if it even was love. It adds to the whole mystery feeling, too. how this book explores two women, who were forced into difficult situations and are trying to make the best out of it and navigating their relationhip, is written very beautifully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: War and Pregnancy
kingcrookback's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? No
I've (as of writing this review) only read one other work of Vo's, Siren Queen, and I find that I much prefer Empress of Salt and Fortune. They're both frame stories that dip in and out of the embedded narrative, but there's something to Empress's setting and pacing that does it for me in a way that Siren Queen didn't. Empress moves along deftly (though I wouldn't necessarily say that it's swift), and the Vo treads the line between detail and ambiguity. Neither detailed to the point of bogging anything down nor ambiguous enough to be called vague. Rabbit's story is both touching and gripping, albeit hazed by time and memory. A nice little capsule.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, War, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Grief