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Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

47 reviews

aardwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Lovely prose, clever pacing with few pages, lively characters, and awesome worldbuilding, and it all comes together with elegant craft.
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hlhayes7's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

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mmccombs's review against another edition

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dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

Short but so complex. The world building was really astounding because so much was set up in such a small space, and it is also a compelling world. Of course, I was kind of wishing for more at the end, I was still a little unclear on some things or wished for more depth, but I kind of liked the bite-sized adventure of this. Excited to read the rest of this!
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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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

2.0

hmmmm...the empress of salt and fortune is def an interesting story w/ a unique--yet somehow thematically appropriate--structure, but i feel like the story's full potential isnt thoroughly explored bc of its execution that leaves quite a lot to be desired. somehow, the narrative feels disjointed and disconnected, yet i dont think it's fair to blame this on the structure, as some sff short stories w/ a similar structure pull it off to a greater effect (namely, the merchant and the alchemists's gate).

many parts of the writing also feel unnecessarily obscure; show-not-tell is def sth to adhere to, but there are times when it feels confusing here, ultimately leaving me unable to fully connect w/ or even comprehend the characters. ig what im tryna say is it doesnt have to be that discombobulated. however, i do like the story's theme of remembrance, and mighttt just check out the sequel simply to see how things continue after that nicely tied up ending. 
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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.25

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horationelson's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

This was a magical story within a story. Admittedly, while I wasn’t entirely sure what was going at first, I was compelled to keep reading because Vo’s a good storyteller. I sincerely wish this was a novel instead of a novella; it would have allowed Vo to further develop a lot of these characters and do even more worldbuilding. (Though, that isn’t to say that the characters and setting were bad… I’m just greedy and I wanted more.)

I’ll certainly be reading the sequel, only so I can keep learning more about this world she’s constructed.
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sorcha_rosa's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

Beautiful, enthralling, dark. I will not forget this story within stories for a long time.
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rainbowshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-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? Yes

4.25

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sarahholliday's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring 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

5.0

I was tempted to only give 4.5 stars, but I think that was just my preference for novel-length stories, and if I'm left wanting more...to me that's a sure sign of five stars! 

This epic feminist fantasy is skillfully condensed down to just over 100 pages, a marvel in and of itself, but the story flows easily past the bounds of the pages. It was a beautifully unique experience to read about such a powerful heroine through the eyes of one of her servants/companions, and to be told the story via a traveling scholar. 

Sharply intelligent, beautifully written, a wholly impressive work.
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