Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

26 reviews

hannahhmh's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Infertility, and Grief

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Misogyny

Moderate: Grief, War, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infertility, Suicide, and Murder

o_romeo's review

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Moderate: Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Death, Abandonment, and Infertility

Minor: Medical trauma, War, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Violence, and Sexual content

avacadosocks's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Confinement, and Misogyny

Minor: Infertility, War, and Suicide

indeedithappens's review

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Infidelity, Suicide, Abandonment, Infertility, Violence, Classism, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, War, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Murder

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

singlier's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense 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

5.0

The Empress of Salt and Fortune 5/5 🐇s

I read this book on the  recommendation of an online friend and was absolutely not disappointed. This book is a quick read, only around 120 pages, but what it manages to do in those pages is astounding. The story follows a young cleric, Chih and their hoopoe companion Almost Brilliant as they listen and catalogue the artifacts of Rabbit, a servant who worked for the late Empress In-yo. Over the course of the book, they learn the story of Empress In-yo, a princess from the north entrapped in a political marriage who, after bearing a son for the Emperor, is sent into exile. Years later, In-yo returns to the capital, where she overthrows the Emperor and enshrines her daughter on the throne as the head of a new dynasty. 

This books is short but powerful, mixing the catalogue of Chih's findings with the stories Rabbit tells her. It is a story of anger, magic, and retribution, all set in a high fantasy imperial China setting. The cast is small, with most named characters being women. There are two more books in the series, and I can't wait to read them.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Infertility

fraise's review

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

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

its2early4this's review

mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

This was an interesting book, particularly in how it was written. I enjoyed the storytelling through someone's memories and items. I liked that the world was revealed through glimpses, and that the author didn't just tell how things work in their world, but rather showed what happened and trusted that the reader was intelligent enough to make connections and understand (this is a major plus for me in any book). The biggest downfall for me was that, because of how the story was told, the characters felt distant. I wasn't as attached to them as I might have otherwise been. And things that would ordinarily have felt tragic didn't impact me much at all. Because it is a quick read, it still is probably worth the time invested, and I wouldn't be opposed to reading the others in the series if I have nothing else pressing to read. But the book wasn't particularly memorable for me. I did enjoy how the Empress's story ended. And I did like seeing the story of someone important and powerful told through the eyes of their servant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, and Death

Moderate: Classism, Grief, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, Bullying, Body shaming, and Sexual content

Most of the things that are likely to be triggering are not described in any great detail, due to the way the book is written. Loss/grief and pregnancy are probably the triggers dealt with the most in-depth. Although war plays a major role in the story, it is only really talked about from a distant perspective.