Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

11 reviews

abarnakwn_ourcolourfulpages's review against another edition

I was really looking forward to reading this book, as I've loved Nghi Vo's Singing Hills Cycle. Unfortunately, I think the content of this particular novel is a bit too disturbing/triggering for me in the current head space I'm in. I will definitely be revisiting at a better time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Racism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Classism, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

lyssylyssy's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Body horror, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Outing, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, and Sexual content

uranaishi's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Bullying

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Trafficking, Rape, Sexual assault, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Child death, Vomit, War, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Outing, and Pregnancy

peggymay's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Death, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Sexual content, Body horror, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Murder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Classism, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug use, Racism, Sexism, Addiction, Cultural appropriation, and Body shaming

lizzym126's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Alcohol, Grief, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Blood, Racism, and Sexual content

citrus_seasalt's review

dark mysterious

• 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? Yes

4.75

4.75 stars, not quite 5 because the magic system was agonizingly vague and I feel like it made a few parts of the story and stakes confusing. But, overall, this was a stellar read! Luli is a kind of protagonist I don’t get to read about very often; initially sort of morally grey in her own right, firm in her boundaries and self even in a world and time period that is unkind to people like her, ambitious and sometimes reckless, some occasions with both of those things coexisting in equal measure. I don’t think there could’ve been a better protagonist for this book: I enjoyed her POV and what she brought to the table in terms of storytelling immensely. She felt fully developed in a way I hadn’t read other protagonists be before. I don’t know how else to describe it.

Anyhow! I loved the setting of this book, too. The Old Hollywood setting starts out with a kind of hypnotic glamour and dazzle, one that Luli quickly finds herself drawn to as a kid first discovering movies. As it goes on, we see parts of this start to fade away because of the disrespect Luli immediately has to learn to defend herself against, and then it takes on a mysterious, almost scary but ultimately alluring image once more of the immortality and supernatural business is introduced. The movies themselves are described a lot, both in general plot description and in production process(depends on their place in the plot), as you get to hear about the pictures that Luli was involved in or grew up with. I also liked that a lot! It was very cool to read about the behind-the-scenes details for these flicks, even if they only exist in-universe. (I was, and am, what you’d call a “theatre kid” so this, naturally, fascinated me.) And with those behind-the-scenes snippets, of course, came different relationships involving our main character and (mainly) her co-stars/workers! Maybe there could’ve been a bit more development on their parts, though, but I overall liked the explorations of the different dynamics captured within the narrative.

I also enjoyed the writing style. It felt lush and lyrical, with an additional bite for when it was most appropriate. Typically I read YA, so this was a nice change of pace, to be reading a distinctly adult book with this style.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Racism

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion and Pregnancy

purplatypus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol

entityj's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Racism

Moderate: Classism and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I love Nghi Vo's novellas (When The Tiger Came Down The Mountain is one of my favourite books) but this book did not work for me. I'm not surprised to find in the author's note that chronologically this is their first novel because it really does feel like a debut. There is not enough story to sustain a full length novel, but somehow the book still feels long. The writing style is also extremely fanficcy (the "all [noun] and [noun]" physical descriptors, the characters making parenthetical interjections throughout for no reason) and the romances are silly and over the top. None of the prominent characters are that interesting, and the book does that annoying thing from historical fiction where the character lays out the hardships of a certain setting and then goes, "but not me though!" as if they're better than all the real people who went through those situations.

I will say though that the world was very interesting (even if we didn't get to see a lot of it) and the way the magic was used to emphasize real world issues was mostly well done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug use, Child abuse, Death, Addiction, Alcohol, Homophobia, and Infidelity

aardwyrm's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Abortion, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Body horror, Classism, Cultural appropriation, and Drug use