A review by fruitcd
Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

I think my expectations were just a little too high, it’s good for what it is. The ultimate goal of a novella is to hook readers and make them curious about your writing, and I am now certainly intrigued at what de Bodard could do with a full length novel! This probably SHOULD have been a full length novel— there is just way too much going on for only 100 pages. Either this should have been expanded into a 350 page novel or the fat should have been majorly trimmed to give the important themes (abusive f/f relationships, imperialism, finding your voice) a chance to really be developed and shine. Ultimately, certain aspects like

the conflict with the captain and the romance with Giang

ended up going nowhere and feeling pointless. 

Also re: the uncomfortable pet names that some other reviews have pointed out:

I know that many non-English languages have terms that literally mean “little sister”/“big sister” without actually denoting a familial relationship. But since this novel is in English it just feels soooo awkward to have the secondary romantic pairing calling each other big and lil sis! de Bodard has no problem using actual Vietnamese words for character and place names, so why not just keep the endearment in Vietnamese as well?

Overall, this is short and unique and I’m still glad to have read it!