Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

8 reviews

schnaucl's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

4.75

I really liked this novella.  

I liked the idea of a monastery charged with recording things in minute detail and I can absolutely see how that would be a threat to people in power.  I would imagine there would be multiple attempts to disband or burn down such a monastic order over the years.  

I really liked Rabbit and Empress In-Yo.  

The way they passed information was really quite clever, as was the way they slowly replaced the shrine retinue with soldiers loyal to Empress In-Yo, to say nothing of Rabbit's child sitting atop the throne.

I'm really looking forward to reading more.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement

Minor: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism

o_romeo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical trauma, and War

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, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

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: Confinement, Sexism, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Infidelity and Colonisation

fraise's review against another edition

mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Sexism, Xenophobia, Grief, and Classism

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Animal death and Slavery

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: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, and Murder

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

Minor: Infidelity

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

notthatlibrarian's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Grief

Minor: Infidelity and Medical trauma