Siren Queen

I enjoyed it! I love Vo’s writing style so much.

I did think this one was a little aimless. It wasn’t clear where the story was going or what the major conflict or relationship was. I didn’t have a big reaction to the climax. But! I loved the main character, the magic realism woven throughout, the unexpected tie-in to The Chosen, the writing and dialogue, and the exploration of being a queer minority in a white/straight dominated time and industry.

I will still instantly buy the next book Vo publishes.

Magical

This lyrical book peels back the many masks humans wear in order to fit in. This action is amplified in the setting of Hollywood, where reaching for stardom might mean abandoning yourself, maybe even your humanity. Luli is a starstruck girl living above the laundromat her parents own. She makes her way to bit parts in films and then makes a deal with her own personal devil to get more. Fascinating, speculative look at finding yourself when all you're trying to do is be found.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

What happens if you take the setting of Evelyn Hugo and add some magical realism to make it much darker? This book, precisely. It has a very unique feel to it and the magic makes the dark and grim sides of old Hollywood feel even more dark. We follow Luli Wei, an aspiring actress, on her way to fame and fortune as she deals with life locked under contract.
I loved this book so much! While reading I sometimes forgot I was reading about fictive characters and had to constantly stop myself from googling names or movie titles, that’s how real this book felt to me. The magical aspect is worked into the story so carefully, it hardly felt surreal to me. Lulu is a very complex character, and although I see why some may have a hard time with her I came to really appreciate her character and how unpredictable she was. The prose is so beautiful as well.
Overall a very enjoyable read.

“In front of us was something dark and burning, the future I wanted more than I wanted to breathe.” From childhood, the Chinese-American girl who calls herself Luli Wei has been fascinated by motion pictures. It’s the 1930s and silent films are giving way to talkies. But this isn’t the Hollywood we know. Magic lurks in strange corners, from the ticket-taker who swaps a bit of Luli’s hair (and a bit of her life) for tickets to the Wild Hunt rampaging through the studio lot in the dead of night—-and even down to Luli herself, who comes from a family in which the women possess a bit of immortality. Beginning with a chance encounter on a set to an offer of a contract, Luli rises through the ranks of girls desperate for stardom where she’s all too aware that the roles for Asians are limited to maids and fainting ladies who talk funny. So when the opportunity to play a monstrous siren queen comes along, she throws herself into the role. Along the way, she acquires friends, makes enemies, has sapphic love affairs, and becomes a pioneer. The story is powerful, gorgeously written, and both dark and luminous. I was surprised by the magical realism aspect, but I think it worked well. I read this for the #diversifyyourreading #virtualbookclub hosted by @shereadytoread . It was the inaugural selection and I was happy to be able to join in on a thoughtful and enlightening discussion. . . . . #sirenqueen #nghivo #tordotcompublishing #tordotcom #botm #bookofthemonth #bookclubs #readersofinstagram #readers #bookswelove #readdiversebooks #diversespines #readmorebooks #read #20booksbyasianwomen #readwomen #readmorewomen #ownvoices #magicalrealism #historicalfiction #shereadsalot