Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

8 reviews

narzibenoucdel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? No

4.0


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iridescentdreams's review

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

4.0


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uranaishi's review

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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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peggymay's review against another edition

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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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kathleencoughlin's review

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dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

Siren Queen, like the Vo's other works, is fantastical, dark, cinematic, and (most importantly) queer. It also brings a nuanced perspective on the intersection of race and gender is a specific historical context. I never felt like I totally understood the magic, but honestly it just adds to the vampy, mysterious  vibe

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ghosthermione's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious
I’ve enjoyed every Nghi Vo story I’ve read so far, so I was very excited for this novel! Thank you to Tor Dot Com and Netgalley for giving me this free eARC in exchange for a fair review! 

So far what I’d read from Vo were her two Asia-inspired novellas, which were a lot like fairy tales, so I wasn’t sure what to expect here. I’d say Siren Queen is more of a cross between The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Last Night at the Telegraph Club, with added magical realism.


It’s very much about the experience of a Chinese American girl in the 1930s, racism, sexism and all. It’s very much a story about queer Hollywood. And, also, a story where “all the myths are true” and fae and monsters roam the studios of Hollywood and you gotta make bargains – with your voice, your talent, sometimes your body parts or your life – to get anywhere.

I found it very slow, in a positive way. It’s a book you want to read bit by bit and see more of this world unfolding. And you never truly know as much as you’d want about any of it. I don’t think the narrator knows everything she wants to know. I really enjoyed the fantastical atmosphere and the idea that anything (mostly something terrible) could happen at any time. The prose is lovely as always with Nghi Vo, and I may not have liked Luli as a person but I enjoyed seeing her develop as a character, and seeing where she was going next. I also had no clue where the story would go next, or how it would end, the whole time. I like a book that keeps me on my toes!

And throughout, this idea of queer joy that I love so much, despite the rough context of the 30s and despite the fantastical horror: queer characters embracing who they are, even if the world around them would see them as monsters – and grab what joy they can get. I don’t know why queer joy and this kind of horror mix so well but they somehow do. 


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aardwyrm's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

Vo does beautiful and terrible like nobody else. Soft touches of magic add up to something deep and horrible in the best way. I'm not an Old Hollywood person at all, and was still transfixed by the deft wielding of the unreal.

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onestephatatime's review

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

3.75


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