lyrical writing, very atmospheric and magical. kinda hot girl read but make it historical. since english is not my first language, i felt a little lost sometimes with the writing style, but not as lost as The Empress of Salt and Fortune. it's a beautiful book and worth the read.

This book is like slipping into a bar, asking for an unknown special, and people watching. It feels smoky, hazy, and unknown. In this version of Hollywood, stars can ascend and stay forever, but the price has to be paid. Monsters are real and create bargains that lead to immortality. This book is queer, magical, and focuses on what it means to be an outsider trying to find your own path. I loved it.

Wow!

One thing you don't expect to find during the studio system era of Hollywood is diversity, and this book successfully does just that. We get a lead who is not only Chinese American, but also queer, in a time and place where she couldn't be successful without "becoming a monster" herself. This story shows the control and abuse the studio system inflicted on it's talent, but with blood pacts and monsters in human skin!

I have an obsession with the sordid history of the "golden age" of Hollywood. The writing was so perfect on the subject that at the beginning I found myself checking to see if certain movies and actor names were real. I could feel the spirit of Louis B. Mayer in Oberlin Wolfe and Eddie Mannix in Harvey Rose. Every character felt like a doppelganger for someone who existed in our reality, and I loved it!

Honestly it took me a minute to understand the nature of the world but about a quarter of the way in it finally clicked as a Faerie Folklore type story. Before that it almost had me so confused and unable to follow that I wanted to put it down. There are many different cultures and their folktales reality throughout, but in a sort of magical realism way the author never holds your hand and explains the world, you just have to accept what is put in front of you. For all intensive purposes thinking of it with Fae logic made made it click for me. Once I stopped thinking too hard I was able to enjoy the drama of Luli Wei.

The story ended in a blaze and had me almost gaping like the crew is at the end. I wanted more but at the same time after the epilogue felt like I didn't need it. The voice of the book finally made sense to me as imagining an aging starlet looking back on her early years and giving an interview or writing her autobiography. As magic filled as this book was, the characters all felt so real.

Nghi Vo captured a time and place to perfect I could see it as a movie the whole time.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for the advanced copy!

A dark fantasy that is set in old Hollywood? That's all you need to tell me to pick up this book!

Vo's writing style has a unique atmospheric tone which transports you right into the movie sets and Hollywood glamour. The story was captivating and the ending had me completely in awe!

I've never read a Nghi Vo book before and now I'll be picking up them all up!

4/5 stars! I recommend for anyone interested in Old Hollywood (Evelyn Hugo fans this is one for you!)

Hollywood’s Golden Age where the men in powerful positions are actual monsters who exploit those who are desperately looking for fame. WHAT? The world-building in this book was so developed and so detailed that it helped the reader to paint a magical picture of exactly what this world was like. It was dark. It was harsh. It was fascinating. The main character, Luli Wei, was so complex that it was intriguing. She was smart and persistent, using the same tricks employed by the men in power. Overall, this was a beautifully written novel that I highly recommend.

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo is a brilliantly written and beautiful story that has the ability to hook you and enthrall you. It took me a while to get into it because I would read a few pages and then wouldn't be able to pick it up because of some reason for a few days. And this happened more than a few times with this one. It's totally on me. Once I got into it though, I couldn't put it down. Set in old Hollywood, it's about a young Chinese-American and her quest for stardom. It's about Luli Wei, who would rather play a monster than a maid. It's about ambition, identity and queerness with real monsters running the scene in Hollywood. I don't know how to describe this book but it's a good one.
The best part about this book is the writing. It's so beautiful. I couldn't get enough of it. I can't wait to buy a finished copy and find all those beautiful and quotable lines. It's a unique novel and I haven't read anything like this before. I do wish that the entire fantasy element was explained more. But I really really liked it and I am definitely going to read it again.
If want to read books about movies, fantasy with beautiful writing and a strong main character, then you can check this one out.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Nghi Vo is an erudite, sensitive author. Her previous novel "The Chosen and The Beautiful" was a retelling of the Great Gatsby with some fascinating changes that were written in her lyrical voice.

Siren Queen is written in the same voice. Hopeful and dark with heights you can barely see and lows you never want to feel. Set in the "golden" age of Hollywood Luli Wie, a Chinese-American, embarks on a career in films. She refuses to play stereo-typical roles such as a maid - and is drawn more to the uglier side, that of monsters.

The book looks at the very dark side of Hollywood when actresses were a dime a dozen and the studio owned you body and soul. Luli becomes willing to do literally anything to achieve her dream and the question of when does one become as much of a monster as those who control you becomes central.

I love the way Vo presents Asian-American characters in the context of a more mainstream world. Her recreation of this age in Hollywood is evocative and enchanting. I was thoroughly engrossed in this story and am so grateful to Netgally for allowing me to read this ARC. This is my unbiased review

Reading Siren Queen is like eating a favorite, indulgent food. It has complexity and a depth, and i found it to be absolutely enjoyable. I love the fairyland that Nghi Vo paints Hollywood as. The literalness of the sacrifices and deals that people have to make for the chance to become a star; not just a movie star, but an actual star. As for Luli Wei, she is a complicated character. I feel like one of the other characters captures her best when she says: “I think you’re a hard person to like, honey, but I don’t hate you. Never could.” Luli is cold and hard and angry, and I am very much in her corner throughout the whole of the book.

I had a hard time with this book, which has completely rocked my world.

I have never read anything by Nghi Vo before, but all my friends have always given her work raving reviews. I went in with pretty high expectations, and after about the first 50 pages, I suddenly just felt extremely disconnected. Siren Queen is a mix of Old 30s Hollywood, supernatural magic, shapeshifting monsters, and sapphic love. Typically, I'm a sucker for any of these elements, so I thought this would be a perfect novel for me. Alas, I think this wide range of elements to the plot ultimately hurt it for me. The plot and pacing just kept jumping around without holding onto a scene for very long. I couldn't fully develop my connection to Luli before she was thrust into another direction and situation. It started to get to the point where I solely wanted to skim to the sapphic scenes between Luli and her love interest because I was honestly only here for them by that point.

Sadly, I did not finish this book. I had to DNF at around 65% because it simply wasn't for me, and the relationship should not be the only reason I continue to read when it's not the main plot. Since I didn't fully finish the read, I'll be giving it a middle of the road rating because I don't have all the cards in my hand about what goes down.

Although, I do still want to try some of Vo's other works after reading this book. Nothing about this book deterred me from reading more of her work; only disappointed me for their 1930s Hollywood reimagining.

I was absolutely blown away by the subtle ferocity of this novel. In 1930s Los Angeles, Luli Wei - or the girl who will become Luli Wei - falls in love with Hollywood and will do anything to become a star. But this isn't your typical Hollywood coming of age novel - this world is run by dark magic and monsters. While this darkness is quite literal - ghosts and monsters hiding in the dark and in plain sight, blood sacrifices and changelings, bargains including years of your life - the genius of it is how it can all be read as a metaphor as well. The prose is so intricately woven with quiet gems of sentences constantly jumping off the page. It was a pleasure of a reading experience, even as dark as the subject matter was. This is the most unique novel I've read in a long time and I will certainly be recommending it to everyone.

DNF - 40%

I tried to push through, but this one just isn't holding my interest.

I really loved Vo's The Empress of Salt and Fortune, and I am interested in pre-Code Hollywood and especially enjoy tales of actresses fighting for themselves in that cutthroat environment... but this is no Evelyn Hugo. Very little has happened so far beyond Luli pining for stardom and, with less time to read than I used to have, I don't have the patience to sit through a book that bores me this much.

Siren Queen follows Luli Wei, a Chinese American girl who stumbles into a movie theater as a child and becomes obsessed with films. As she gets older she finds herself working on movies and slowly we watch her develop her film career as she becomes the Siren Queen. Think Evelyn Hugo but magical. It's sapphic, filled with old Hollywood and fake celebrity - so many amazing elements! Plus that cover is gorgeous!

This was my first book from Nghi Vo and unfortunately it didn't work for me. My main complaint is that the magic system is never explained. There will be magical elements just thrown in and the reader must simply accept them (ex. a girl with a tail, the ability to give someone else years of your life, people being not quite human) but we have no idea how. Additionally, as we are on movie sets there are often scenes from films being shot and Vo seamlessly transitions us from real life to movie scene with no indicator that things are changing. I can recognize the talent it takes to do this but for me it took me out of the story. I felt similar about the magic system - I thought that I had missed an explanation and kept getting pulled away from the characters because I was trying to figure everything out.

These are not mistakes or problems with the book because it is very obvious that this is intentional. This is Nghi Vo's writing style and therefore will really work for some people. These are simply the reasons it didn't work for me and that is okay. I still think I will recommend this book to certain people and I believe there is a really good story woven in the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me an advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

<i>Thank you to Mac-Millian-Tor/Forge for this ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.<i/>

★★★★

<i>"You might say my family is in the business of immortality."</i>

Phew! What a read!

Nghi Vo's Siren Queen took me quite by surprise. It made me profoundly uncomfortable but in a good way....I couldn't look away. I felt the effects of it like the aftermage of a flash bulb. I finished the entire thing in 4 days.

I was expecting a much more straight-to-the-point fantasy but the book has much more depth. Vo explores complex themes of racism and sexism through "monsters" and "the other."

My only criticism of the book actually comes from the synopsis itself <spoiler>since a lot of the beginning of the novel has us unaware of the narrator's real name and she ends up stealing her sister Luli's name part way through I found it jarring to read "Luli' as the narrator's name in the synopsis. It ruined the reveal a little for me</spoiler>

Firstly thank you to Netgalley, Nghi Vo and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Sapphic dark fantasy set in pre-code Hollywood yes please!
I absolutely adored this book the writing is wonderful and I loved the main character.
The friendships and relationships in this book were so wonderfully done and so realistic in the sense that things happen and relationships end. I particularly love Greta as a friend to the main character. The fantastical elements are so intricately woven throughout the story and the way its done makes it merge into real life as the rise of stars in Hollywood will always be a dark and mysterious place filled with horrors. The story is wonderfully gothic and intriguing and the characters are all fascinating and entirely realised with their own ambitions and backgrounds the plot had me at the first page.
Can't wait to read more by Nghi Vo!

Nghi Vo is one of my favorite authors. Like her other stories, "Siren Queen" is an utterly fascinating, unique tale full of depth and danger. I devoured it, and will continue to devour anything Vo writes.

Vo’s writing is always eerie and magical, for people with a whimsical heart who get enraptured by the oddities of Hollywood. I know people will love this the way the love stories like The Night Circus, I can’t quite be enveloped in the overall tone. I enjoy strange stories, but I often get lost in Vo’s writing trying to understand where the magic comes from.

The novel follows Luli Wei, a girl who is desperate to make it in Hollywood but doesn’t want to be trapped being a maid or a stereotype. She doesn’t mind monsters, though. The premise is enrapturing: a queer Asian girl trying to make it in early Hollywood? Amazing. I felt like the story should’ve had more beef to the Hollywood side to it. It is clearly an allegory about some of the ways women are treated in Hollywood, yet I feel as though at times the book doesn’t build on this idea or make the magic as clear in its relation to its theme.

I had a similar issue with Vo’s previous work The Chosen and the Beautiful, where I felt the magic wasn’t clear and used randomly and sparsely just to make the book feel whimsical. Whimsical is fine, I just felt like the book often lacked aim or plot, for that matter. It might just not be my cup of tea as I don’t like the feeling that the author is being whimsical and using a dreamlike tone with a vague sense of magic just to /feel/ like the book is beautiful.

I just could not really connect to the world-building and the characters and often got lost in what was going on or where we were in Luli’s life. The timeline wasn’t that clear. I like the beginning of the story because I felt like I understood more of what was going on and had a clear sense of how the magic related to the treats meant for women, but after that, I remained detached and confused.

I wanted to love this book, but the writing makes the “magic” very confused and seemingly has pretty and vague language for the sake of being eerie. I don’t really see a sense of the consequences of the deal Luli makes and the other strange characters don’t have much elaboration on how the deals they struck affected them in the end.

I like the representation and how Luli pushes back against the people in power despite them being completely able to ruin her, but I couldn’t get behind the tone or meandering plot.

Siren Queen was such a good read, omg! I was pretty excited about the premise since it dealt with Old Hollywood and tied that with some (creepy) magic and I fell head over heels in love with the way Nghi Vo developed it. The writing captured my attention from the very first chapter and it was so easy for me to get lost in this world.

Luli Wei, as a narrator, was wonderful. She was such a complex character and I found myself glued to my eARC as I read about her history. I loved how unapologetic she was about herself and what she wanted and the way in which she took matters into her own hands. Her journey wasn’t without its difficulties, but I had such a great time joining her on it.

The world-building was so well developed and detailed. The little bits of info on how things worked were dropped expertly along the way and helped me paint a picture of what this world was like. I loved it! It was dark and harsh and fantastical and I was fascinated by every turn and additional tidbit I discovered through my reading.

Some bits of the plot did drag a little bit after the halfway point, though. I felt a little like things weren’t moving ahead as they should, considering how fast-moving the first half was, and it took me a little while to find my rhythm again. And then the final third was so wonderful!

The way the story wrapped was perfectly in tune with what Nghi Vo had built up until that point. It was satisfying and made me feel equal parts happy and wistful. Definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a little dark fantasy and the atmosphere of Old Hollywood.

If you enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, this is definitely the book for you. Especially if you enjoyed the old Hollywood rags to riches story with a complex and flawed protagonist, I think you’ll enjoy this. This had a very similar feel, but with a darker atmosphere and an addition of magic.
I really enjoyed the character of Lulu and her story. She was definitely very flawed and maybe morally grey, except I’m not quite sure what makes a character that. I did feel at times that the other characters could have used more complexity and depth but it didn’t take too much away from the story seeing as its focus was very much on Lulu.
I found the magical element to be a very interesting addition but unfortunately it didn’t seem too important to the story. I think it either could’ve been done away with completely or built upon more so that it didn’t feel so much like just a side though thrown in.
The writing really stood out for me however, it captured the atmosphere and the voice of the character excellently. I felt that the conversation on race, class, and queerness was done really well and clearly by an author who knows what they are talking about. It was added smoothly to the story and was made central to the plot in a way that felt justified.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and thought the writing and story was really well done. I would definitely recommend this to others and am interested to check out more of Nghi Vo’s work.

“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers”.

For fans of Evelyn Hugo, Siren Queen presents a unique portrayal of the golden age of Hollywood with directors making blood oaths, and changelings roaming the studios for the chance at stardom. Enter our protagonist, who goes by the name Luli, rising above the film industry ranks not as a beauty, not as a damsel, but as a monster.

Although difficult at first to discern the lines between metaphor, allegory, and fantasy, Vo writes a stunning novel of golden-age Hollywood through the eyes of a Chinese-American girl who will do whatever it takes to ascend to stardom. I loved the characters’ relationships with one another, and how it affects Luli’s journey into stardom. Her discovering herself with Emmaline; risking everything she had built for her first friend, Greta; validating and reaffirming herself with Tara; to discovering what she sacrificed with her sister, and her admiration of her making her own mark where she couldn’t.

I do think the writing is much stronger in the second half of the book, and that is partly due to the nonchalant approach to the descriptions of magic used in the book. There is no buildup to this fantasy world, you as a reader are just plopped in so it is a bit disorienting at first. However, once you get past this, it is a beautiful and engaging read.

I really wanted to like this book, but I could not connect to the story or to the characters or to the worldbuilding. I thought this was just a kind of book that took some time to lay its foundation and would gradually hook one in, but once i reached the end of the first part and went onto the second, things got even more confusing. The writing style was just not for me (despite the careful word-choice and beautiful descriptions), but I could not understand what was happening. The events and the plot just seemed to jump around from one thing to another, and it was so difficult for me to keep up with what was happening. I did not like the characters at all, and it was very hard for me to grasp their intentions and personality. At first, I thought that the 'ACT 1' part would be the worst out of three parts but turns out, it was the best of all three because that was when I could still grasp what was happening in the book. There were so many characters that I could not remember their names or their role in the story, and they were underdeveloped in a sense that their dialogue felt forced and unnatural, and their unclear intentions were annoying to me. I really wanted to like this book. After reading the blurb and seeing that it was showing representation for queer Asian women, I wanted to have this book on a favorites shelf just because I also identify as a queer Asian person, but this book disappointed me greatly.