✨ Review ✨ Siren Queen by Nghi Vo, Narrated by Natalie Naudus

This book is absolutely brilliant and I'm stumped on how to even begin describing it. For me, this was like Evelyn Hugo meets Hollywood Monsters and it was absolutely captivating. A 1930s Hollywood where stars were selling parts of their soul to the vicious monsters running the film industry - what a fascinating take on the exploitative industry that drains so many who try to enter it.

“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.” Luli Wei is desperate to enter Hollywood and become a star, but she insists on doing it on her own terms. As she tries to carve out a place for herself in the industry, she must take on gender norms and racism while also staying out of the grasp of the monsters running the industry.

A lot of this book went over my head and I think would take a second read to piece it all together, but the writing is lyrical and thoughtful and the critiques of Hollywoods are ever present and compelling. I'm in love with Nghi Vo's writing and can't wait to read more!

So much of this book is indescribable in how it pairs a fantasy world with blood magic with a space that's so like the golden age of 1930s Hollywood (and certainly resonates with the Hollywood of today). She fabulously takes on such serious issues of gender and race, and brings in queer relationships as well. In many ways, the relationships in this book felt more satisfying than those in Evelyn Hugo (*gasp*, right?)

Naudus' narration is fabulous -- I had planned to switch back and forth between the audio and ebook, but Naudus had me captivated and I FLEW through this book in a little over a day. I could NOT put it down and her narration brought this story to life!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Genre: magical realism/fantasy, literary fiction with a f/f romance plot
Location: Hollywood, Los Angeles
Reminds me of: Evelyn Hugo meets MONSTERS
Pub Date: Out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ the grittier darkside behind Hollywood and its stars
⭕️ queer storylines
⭕️ magical realism fantasy narratives
⭕️ MONSTERS, mermaids, and magic

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Macmillan Audio, and #netgalley for an e-copy of this book!

In the glamorous Golden Age of Hollywood, actress Luli Wei is hungry for fame. As a queer Chinese American woman, she knows she has a fraught path to stardom. But the biggest dangers lie off-screen, where ancient magic with a thirst for blood requires sacrifices of eager young starlets like Luli Wei. Living her dreams may just turn Luli into a monster herself.

As someone obsessed with this period in cinema history and the studio secrets, I absolutely adore this book! I love how Nghi Vo uses fantasy to show the nitty gritty side of the industry and the toll it takes on actors. Luli Wei is a complex, fierce protagonist who I wanted to follow for many more chapters. Siren Queen is very much my shit.

3.5 stars. This book follows Luli from a child as she dives into the glitz and glam of 30s Hollywood to reveal the dark and gritty side of show business. All of that wrapped in blood magic and monsters, you have this very unique fantasy novel! Whilst I enjoyed Nghi's writing style, I struggled with the pacing and didnt feel connected to Luli. Being a character driven story, only Luli's drive and determination to become a Hollywood Star drove the plot but we dont really connect with the why.
This was an interesting read and will suit readers whom are looking for a dark gritty magical realism version of behind the scenes Hollywood.

The sarcastic, critical approach to 30’s golden age of Hollywood where the monsters control the entire business by dark rituals, blood magic was interesting. There are some important subjects including inequalities at work space, mansplaining, racism, LGBTQ rights bravely, if you’re not into reading about all that skip the book . I throughly enjoyed the book the book was good from the beginning to end and I loved the fantasy aspect and the metaphors

Summary:
It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic.

"No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers." Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill—but she doesn't care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.

But in Luli's world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page

Review: I enjoyed this book. I felt at some points it’s was a bit slow.

I adore Nghi Vo ever since I read her Gatsby retelling and got to interview her for a book blog that I run. This book was no exception to the love. She beautifully captures these moments in history with breathtaking characters.

Many thanks to Tordotcom and NetGalley for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I've been a huge fan of Nghi Vo's writing for a few years now, so obviously, I was beyond excited for her newest release. And suffice it to say, I was not let down.

Siren Queen is such a distinctly Vo story, with it's utterly unique atmosphere, the historical setting intertwined with an outerworldly, magical component and brilliant queerness. It manages to create a world far enough removed from ours to give it a feeling of mystique, while still managing to comment on our reality in a gut-clenching and devastatingly touching way.

This is very much a story you appreciate for the general vibes almost more than for the story itself. The writing style is poetic and many times, it feels almost like a fever dream - which makes sense, considering the life the protagonist leads and her environment. The insight into the entertainment industry and how it treated (and frankly, to this day treats) actors belonging to minorities was written in such a poignant way, it will prove hard for any reader not to empathize with the issue.

Siren Queen did not disappoint, and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy, re-read it and ponder over the text as I go.

Nghi Vo has absolutely stunned me yet again with Siren Queen. This book is everything I hoped it would be: dark, glittering, full of danger and allure. The writing is so lush, you can vividly imagine very single scene. I loved this book.

The story follows a young woman as she reaches towards stardom, and what/who she is willing to lose in the dangerous path to fame and immortality. I don’t want to give too much away but I was absolutely sucked in the whole time!

Read if you like:
- golden age Hollywood with a dark fantasy twist
- stories with teeth
- queer representation in historical settings
- stories about the making and unmaking of identities

CW for body horror, grief, racism, trauma

Award winning author Nghi Vo (The Chosen and the Beautiful) crafts a moody and mysterious interpretation of what it's like to be a rising star in 1930s golden-age Hollywood in Siren Queen. At twelve years old, Luli Wei crosses onto an unfamiliar street just outside her Hungarian Hill neighborhood walking right into the middle of a bustling movie set. Knowing this was her shot at becoming a star, Luli accepts an impromptu bit role and becomes a regular on sets close to home. As she climbs through big-studio industry work, Luli navigates the dark intricacies of Hollywood as a Chinese American woman growing into her queerness while challenging the Hollywood status quo (refusing to play maids or speak with accents based on stereotypes are a regular casting rule). Luli encounters sexism, racism, and abuse of power and consistently pushes through without compromise. Eventually Luli rises as a bright star, but along the way she encounters monsters of all kinds, desperate (and often gruesome) acts of self-sacrifice, and the bitter isolation that comes with fame. Nghi Vo weaves magical realism and dark fantasy into a Hollywood backdrop personifying all the shady parts of the industry into very real, and very eerie imagery that lingers long after reading. With a story that is both dense, yet easy to get lost in, Siren Queen lives up to its title luring readers into a world that is darkly tantalizing. This novel is clearly inspired by vintage Hollywood and those who appreciate film history will pick up on Vo’s allusions to the era.

i didn't love this the way i thought i would, the tone and prose just felt off to me but i enjoyed the story nonetheless

I was already a fan of Nghi Vo's work, but this book absolutely blew me away. The world was simultaneously dreamlike and recognizable, and I've never seen anything quite like it in fantasy. Every fresh detail had me fully enthralled, and finding the familiar in things like the landscape of LA and fae mythos was particularly satisfying.

Luli was a wonderful character to follow—I related heavily to her ambition and her struggles, and naturally I loved reading about her rise. Beyond the 'rags to riches' core of her story, she was also so layered and damaged... I'm going to go ahead and guess that not every reader will resonate with her, but those who do will /really/ resonate.

There isn't much else to say, other than 10/10. Definitely one of my favorite reads this year.

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo blends the Hollywood glamour of the 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo with the magic of our favorite faerie tales. Luli a Chinese American girl wants to be a big star and but the world is not yet ready for her to be a star. To get what she wants, she makes a deal with dark magic to give a part of herself to get what she most desires. In her world, the monsters on screen, pale in comparison to the real-life monsters she encounters as she navigates through some of the world's most glamorous sets.

3.5
this was good!! it felt like the seven husbands of evelyn hugo with soft magical elements, which i enjoyed. as always, nghi vo's writing was beautiful.
while i enjoyed the audiobook, i do feel it wasn't the best way to read this, because i was confused about who was who/what exactly was happening.

3.5 stars

Siren Queen sparkles with the magic of Old Hollywood and a little something more. The movie industry has been reimagined with stars who become immortal, changelings who work as extras, and powerful, monstrous men who are actual monsters.

"You might say my family is in the business of immortality."

I loved the dark magical underbelly here; I just wish it had been explained more. The rules were inconsistent or nonexistent and were generally vague. The entire story sits in this general haze where nothing is fully explained, and it just is the way it is. Even Luli's motivation to become a film star is uncertain. She struggles through a lot of hardship to achieve something almost impossible - but why? I know this could be the writing style, but I'm a details girl. If something happens, I want to know about it, why it happened, and what happens next. I'm sure Siren Queen will work better for a lot of other people, it was just a little too blurry for me.

"I was alone, but as I stood in the eye of my own private hurricane, untouched by any of the people around me, I wondered if I had ever been anything but."

My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐ .5/ 5

It’s in the early days of Hollywood and Luli Wei aspires to rise and be a part of this industry as an actress - but unwilling to be the “fainting flower,” maid, or a racist stereotype of Chinese immigrants that were rampant in films. She is also queer - in a time that being in the closet is the norm, especially if you are an actress during this time period. Eventually, she is cast as the “Siren” monster in a film that catapults her to fame. The story shows the different relationships/friendships she develops through her struggle and rise in Hollywood.

I really enjoyed this, but loved Vo’s other book, The Chosen and the Beautiful. The magical realism felt out of place here - at some points I was confused as to what I was reading. Also, Luli is not very likable. I loved Greta, but wish there was more to that heartbreaking story. Vo has a beautiful writing style that keeps you continually entranced into the story, but the fantasy element threw me off.

Thank you to Macmillan and Tor Books and Netgalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Nghi Vo has yet to write a novel or novella I haven’t loved, and Siren Queen has risen to the top along with the Singing Hills Cycle among my favourites of her work. Structured around an ambitious protagonist with razor-sharp wit and desire, this fae-like take on Old Hollywood enchanted me from the first page and easily earned a place on my Favourites of 2022 list.

This story follows Luli Wei, a lesbian Chinese-American with dreams of being a star—and a willingness to be a monster to do so, as long as she’s not relegated to the dregs and castoffs normally given to women like her.

Y’all, I cannot stress enough how powerful, gorgeous, and rich this whole novel is. As always, Nghi Vo’s prose captivates me; I highlighted so many lines and descriptions in my copy just for the sheer elegance in the turn of phrase. Luli’s perspective gives voice to an often ignored and sidelined perspective in tales of Hollywood stardom, and the magical realism woven throughout adds poignancy and depth throughout.

For those who like rigid magical worldbuilding with clearly explained rules, it’s possible the magic in the novel might come off as frustrating. To me, it was worked in seamlessly with the more real world details throughout and lent richness to the story as a whole.

Basically, if you liked the vibe of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo even a little bit and are a fan of fantasy, I would highly recommend picking Siren Queen up at some point. It’s decadent, it’s queer, it’s messy, it’s visceral, and ultimately, it’s a triumph, both for Luli and the actual novel itself.

Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for an advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This book was enchanting and definitely worth a reread. Nghi Vo is a great writer, and everything in this book unfurled like a movie in my mind. I loved the magical realism aspect, although it was sometimes a little jarring because I would forget I was reading a fantasy novel and then something surreal would happen that made me stop and read the same sentence twice. I think that would deter some readers, but I personally enjoy books that do this (Light From Uncommon Stars is an example that comes to mind of another book with seemingly random fantasy elements that somehow come together into a beautiful novel). When I first read the synopsis of this book, I was excited thinking that it would be like the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo; it’s actually quite different and I don’t think it would be fair to either book to compare the two, but I will say they are both great novels about sapphics in Hollywood, and the similarities pretty much end there. This book had some great commentary on diversity and queer history in filmmaking, and the story moved at a slow pace but it was sort of hypnotizing. Overall, if you like magical realism and Hollywood glamor, this is the book for you.

Siren Queen isn't a book that I loved, but it's a book that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. I struggled in the first half because Luli felt like such a cipher and it made it difficult to connect to her or this world. However, by the end of this novel, I was completely mesmerized by this world and fascinated by the character Vo has crafted. Vo has a true gift for weaving magic into worlds in beautifully unique ways and imbuing stories with so much emotion and weight in such few pages. The longer it's been since I finished this book, the more I've been recommending it to people because I realized how long it's been since a story got under my skin as this one did.

DNF'ed at 60%, I went it without any expectation but I was still disappointed by this book. I think it suffers from a synopsis that only barely fits with the actual story and somewhat spoils it for the reader. 60% in and still, no major event has happened for the main character's life to take a significant turn, in comparison with the book's blurb.

The writing in this book is beautiful, and while I'm typically a sucker for striking writing, it felt like Nghi Vo was losing herself in the prose rather than telling a compelling story for a good 45% of it. The first 150 pages of this book could have easily been condensed into 30-50 pages, and I think I can see why her novellas would work a lot better for me.

The magic system was pretty loose and did not make much sense to me, and Luli herself made some incredibly irrational decisions in spite of all the monsters around her that she keeps talking about. While I can appreciate an unlikeable character, her decisions sometimes just straight up made no sense.

If you love wonderful prose and want to read about pre-code Hollywood with a touch of magic here and there, you will most likely enjoy this book. The atmosphere was properly creepy and I could picture everything that was happening, however that alone was unfortunately not enough for me to enjoy it.

What a let down, this book had such a good premise and I was looking forward to an urban fantasy set in 1930s Hollywood focusing on a Chinese American woman fighting to become a star. Instead, I got a lot of beautiful writing with very little substance. Sadly I don't think I will be picking up any more of Nghi Vo's books as her novellas do not strike much interest in me and I would rather read other books which I would enjoy more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Luli Wei, young, queer and coming of age has high hopes of paving her way into the world of old Hollywoods magic, mayhem and monsters. The roles are limited for Chinese Americans but the idea of stardom and a place on the silver screen beckons her. Luli is smart, sassy and determined. The bright lights of Hollywood disguise an even darker underbelly. A murky world of controlling characters, racism and sexism try to drag her down as they have successfully done to many starlets before her. Her determination prevails but what must sacrifice, what must she do and who must she become to survive.
Nghi Vo writes in picturesque detail. Her prose are gripping, her characters intriguing and each page radiates with Hollywood’s allure.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Tordotcom for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.