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rapitash's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
2.5
I had high hopes for this one, and I can’t say that I felt like it hit the mark the way that it did for other readers.
This is a novella of 100 pages—and it’s a small book, so it’s a small 100 pages. There’s a lot crammed into this story: setting the scene in the present, and establishing Chih and their character and what a cleric does, and then Rabbit in the present, and where they meet, while Rabbit launches into her tale about In-yo, the now deceased Empress. The political context which frames In-yo’s arrival in Anh hints at a rich world with a long history. We pass through a few years of political intrigue, and as In-yo seeks to get revenge. Vo plays with the idea of a true protagonist, and the roles minor figures play in major historical events, as we learn about Rabbit’s relationship with the Empress she served, and the sacrifices she made that helped ensure In-yo’s victory. And all of it is super intriguing—it’s just that there isn’t really the proper time or space to properly explore all these elements, which leaves them feeling vague and underbaked. I struggled to get a proper foothold in the world; it was hard to really, truly care about the characters of the novella.
The way the story is written didn’t help matters for me, either. Moving between Chih’s POV in the present and Rabbit’s recounting of the past often felt jarring and made the pacing of the novel feel slow. We’d get a glimpse of a scene with Chih, and then we were launching back into Rabbit’s tale; once I was invested in that, we were drawn back out. It made it hard for me to remain engaged.
I do think that the last quarter or so of the novella was the strongest. I felt the climax, while not explosive, served as a really good way to tie the entire story together, and left me shocked with a revelation that felt out of left field for me.Rabbit’s relationship with Sukai, I felt, was a highlight of the novel, although i felt it could've been written for better emotional impact. The reveal that their daughter was the new Dragon Empress, passed off as In-yo’s miracle baby after Sukai’s death, was shocking to me, and I had a few questions as to whether the new Empress was aware that Rabbit had been their mother and what her upbringing had been like, but this was left vague and unexplored also.
When I think about the story as I’m writing this, I feel like there was a lot of cool elements, and a lot of potential, and that the ending was solid enough for it to be a good book. Other people might connect with it better and maybe understood the complexities of it more. But I personally came away from it feeling “eh”, and that it had been a lot to read. It’s not the feeling a 100 page novella should leave you with, imo.
This is a novella of 100 pages—and it’s a small book, so it’s a small 100 pages. There’s a lot crammed into this story: setting the scene in the present, and establishing Chih and their character and what a cleric does, and then Rabbit in the present, and where they meet, while Rabbit launches into her tale about In-yo, the now deceased Empress. The political context which frames In-yo’s arrival in Anh hints at a rich world with a long history. We pass through a few years of political intrigue, and as In-yo seeks to get revenge. Vo plays with the idea of a true protagonist, and the roles minor figures play in major historical events, as we learn about Rabbit’s relationship with the Empress she served, and the sacrifices she made that helped ensure In-yo’s victory. And all of it is super intriguing—it’s just that there isn’t really the proper time or space to properly explore all these elements, which leaves them feeling vague and underbaked. I struggled to get a proper foothold in the world; it was hard to really, truly care about the characters of the novella.
The way the story is written didn’t help matters for me, either. Moving between Chih’s POV in the present and Rabbit’s recounting of the past often felt jarring and made the pacing of the novel feel slow. We’d get a glimpse of a scene with Chih, and then we were launching back into Rabbit’s tale; once I was invested in that, we were drawn back out. It made it hard for me to remain engaged.
I do think that the last quarter or so of the novella was the strongest. I felt the climax, while not explosive, served as a really good way to tie the entire story together, and left me shocked with a revelation that felt out of left field for me.
When I think about the story as I’m writing this, I feel like there was a lot of cool elements, and a lot of potential, and that the ending was solid enough for it to be a good book. Other people might connect with it better and maybe understood the complexities of it more. But I personally came away from it feeling “eh”, and that it had been a lot to read. It’s not the feeling a 100 page novella should leave you with, imo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
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.
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.
I'm really looking forward to reading more.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Racism, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.0
The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a fantasy novella set in a world with more than a passing resemblance to Imperial China, except it's queer and feminist, with an anti-empire/anti-monarchy message. The story within a story structure was initially a little confusing, but ultimately effective. I especially liked the intrigue of court politics, watching In-Yo learn to survive and thrive in an unfamiliar and often hostile environment, the relationship between Rabbit and In-Yo which crossed class lines, and the lush evocative writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Infertility and War
ahoyitsjoy's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I really loved the way the empress' story was told, through the eyes of her handmaiden wanting to make sure the truth is remembered. That someone somewhere knows what was sacrificed. I loved getting little tidbits about the setting through her story and Chih's comments. So much is familiar to the real world in the past, but then someone offhandedly mentions that there are mammoths or that the empire has mages who can change the seasons. The small size of the book is perfect for leaving you wanting more (in a good way).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Slavery, and Pregnancy
Minor: War
waterwolves's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
katharina90's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
An interesting, well-written novella that I could never fully get into.
At times the story was difficult for me to follow which might be an issue unique to the audiobook. I think I would have preferred to read this in digital or print.
At times the story was difficult for me to follow which might be an issue unique to the audiobook. I think I would have preferred to read this in digital or print.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, and Classism
amylynnknitsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I really enjoyed this novella. It was a beautiful unfolding of an intricate story of love, politics, and history. I'm excited to move to the next.
Vo's writing is lovely and the story is surprisingly complex for such a short book.
Vo's writing is lovely and the story is surprisingly complex for such a short book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Misogyny, Murder, and War
There is a mention of forced sterilization.wardenred's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Do you understand?
Such a beautifully crafted story! Reading it was like solving an intricate puzzle. There are all these layers here: the story of the exiled empress who conquered the empire through a long, clever game; her former servant girl, now an old woman, telling that story; and the cleric recording it. For such a short book, there are so many characters and narrative threads—and then there are also the gaps between those threads. The details Rabbit isn’t sharing. The nuance Chih isn’t fully grasping. The things In-yo kept to herself. The gaps are just as important as the threads for the experience, I found.
In a way, I feel like this book is a tribute to storytelling and history. It is very much about facts, what happened and why and to what end, and while multiple characters have their moments to subtly shine, for the most part characters feel like vehicles for the plot/history to unfold. They hurt, they grieve, they love, they yearn, and they still feel like game pieces on the board, or parts of a puzzle slotting together, or maybe like real life people from ages ago on a history book page: you know they were as human as you, but in the succinct account of world-shaping events, they feel more like forces of nature or links in a chain.
I’m not sure how much sense I’m making here trying to put these impressions into words, tbh, but this was truly an interesting experience. I usually gravitate toward character-driven fiction that delves deep into everyone’s heads. Here, I was getting to know the characters through events and causal connections, interspersed with short poignant moments that revealed some feelings and motivations more clearly at moments, only to leave many parts of the bigger picture up to interpretation.
I was also deeply moved by the lyrical writing style that perfectly conjured the impressions of duty, loyalty, and coldly calculated rage. I loved Almost Brilliant, Chih’s bird companion. And I really want to know more about the Singing Hills. I really hope the next novellas in this series are just as good and can’t wait to get to them, though I’ll definitely need some palate cleansers between these books to let all the impressions settle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Pregnancy
melodyseestrees's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Grief, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Infertility, Suicide, and Murder