Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

11 reviews

indeedithappens's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Infidelity, Suicide, Abandonment, Infertility, Violence, Classism, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, War, Colonisation, Deportation, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Murder

bitternortherner's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

After finishing this novella I promptly added the rest of Nghi Vo's works to my tbr.

I'm not sure how such a detailed world and history fit into this novella, I was not expecting it! The characters are varied and lovable, the pace is steady, the story development is delicately laid out to show each side and progression of the Empress. The end is righteous. I loved Chih's curiosity and cleverness, Almost Brilliant's snark, and Rabbit's mischief, and, just, everything about the Empress. 

Queer and Non-Binary friendly, feminist, and fantastical. I cannot wait to read the rest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment

Moderate: Genocide, Pregnancy, Confinement, Misogyny, Grief, and War

thereadinghammock's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

So much of this book just, sort of, happens around you (as a reader), that it's not until, maybe the last 30 minutes of the book that I had any idea what was actually going on. The world is fascinating, but the delivery is too prosaic for me. It's beautifully written, stunning prose, and I love the respect for archival history threaded throughout the book; but it's simply a case of just not the writing for me--and that's OK!!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Confinement, Grief, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Minor: Infidelity and Colonisation

rai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

The story of this novel is hidden in the reflections of a cleric and old servant. It makes the story telling a little more dramatic and the length of the novel is over so quickly as a result.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and War

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Grief, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Death of parent, Murder, Trafficking, Classism, and Slavery

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

Minor: War and Violence

tinyelfarcanist's review against another edition

inspiring mysterious relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This is, undoubtedly, a feminist tale.

There is a story on the books, of the emperor of Anh coming to In-Yo in a dream and pressing a seed into her belly. It is the story that the people of Anh like a great deal, about the great virility of their rulers and how they reach out in their sleep or in death, and it isn't as if the history books aren't full of such things.

In such a short format, the author packs a fleshed-out world you want to delve into. Passing characters leave a mark and the story being told from the past is even more engaging than the present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, War, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, and Sexual content

Minor: Infidelity

rorikae's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

'The Empress of Salt and Fortune' is an evocative and beautifully written novella that follows a cleric cataloging a house by a distant lake and learning the story of its inhabitant in the process. 
Cleric Chi arrives at a recently declassified lake and stumbles upon a woman named Rabbit who lives in a house on the lake's shore. Rabbit invites Chi into her home and begins to tell her story of how she came to live on this lake and her friendship with the woman that would become the Empress of Salt and Fortune. Her story unfolds as Chi catalogs the contents of her house and Rabbit explains how each piece harkens back to her past. 
Nghi Vo is such a wonderful writer. Her prose is lush and evocative. Pairing that with a well paced story that unfolds through the items in a house, results in a wonderful novella. We get to learn about Rabbit's past through the items and in the process we get a sense for the people that she once knew. At the same time, Vo utilizes Chi's commentary about the items and how they interact with Rabbit to further flesh out their background as well. 
I will be interested to see if the subsequent stories build off of Rabbit's story and the political history of the world or if they will each be their own standalone story as Chi travels. Either way, I can't wait to read what comes next. This is another of the recent Tor novella series that have been some of my favorite things to read. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, and Pregnancy

cheye13's review against another edition

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Misogyny, Abandonment, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Violence, War, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicide, Sexual content, and Homophobia

aardwyrm's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Suicide, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Medical content, Blood, and War

arcinzole's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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

I was amazed at the character development the author packed into this very small space with a complex plot. Loved the narrative devices used. Good, organic queer representation too.  

My one possible complaint with the queer rep was that the one explicitl nonbinary character was portrayed as part of a semi-magical religious order removed so much from the other characters, but that may simply be a result of the very compact story. I am so excited to read more and see more characters. I have a feeling I will find more well handled gender-identity related diversity in her work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Colonisation, Misogyny, Classism, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy