Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

66 reviews

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I’d keep reading in this universe forever i MUST have more 

Sapphic September book one and wow are we off to a great start! this book is everything a 100-ish page book should be- detailed enough, but focused; to the point without being overly concerned with its own vocab… scrumptious scrumptious 

i need to see fan art immediately bc the pictures in my head aren’t enough 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

angorarabbit's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

TLDR;I think I am a sucker for stories of clerics and their familiars. 

 

This is a hot chocolate comfy blanket fairy tale. It is so gentle but the ending plot twist still is a surprise. Told in third person it is lavish in it’s descriptions of place and characters. A lovely diversion from Ringworld and proof of the writers whose works we are so privileged to be able to read. 

 

Yes, I am aware that I have complained about books being too fairytaleish. There are good ways and bad ways to tell a fairytale. Ms Vo does it the good way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Suicide, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Murder

spuriousdiphthongs's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Murder, and Pregnancy

jahnadv's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy and 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

blissofalife's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I loved this short story! I loved the format, it wasn’t at all what I expected. I wish I we had learned more about the monk, but I’m sure we’ll find out bits and pieces in following stories. Audiobook was certainly the way to go. It brought the story to life and felt so realistic. I can’t wait to read more of these stories!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Murder

parenthesis_enjoyer's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

blacksphinx's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a lovely little story that is being terribly misrepresented by the plot synopsis on the back. The plot of this story is that a cleric from the abby at Singing Hills, Chih, has been sent to record information about the events leading up to the reign of the Inuit-coded Empress of Salt and Fortune, In-yo, over the Chinese-coded empire of Ahn. She is recently deceased and all of her records are still intact at the compound where she was once held in exile. Chih winds up obtaining an account from an old handmaiden of In-yo's nicknamed Rabbit, who reveals how she came into the Empress' confidence. At first Rabbit doesn't want to come right out and say anything direct to this cleric, as she tries to decide what should be left on the floor of history. But over the duration of their many conversations, Rabbit decides to let go of some heavy secrets she's been carrying.

I can see how this wouldn't be the book for everyone. If you wanted to be reductive, the plot is an old woman recounting long-ago events to a cleric and their talking bird. But I kept finding myself getting lulled into the word of the story, the glittering court and the crafty Empress. I understand why this series has gotten so much attention and I'm definitely in it for the long haul. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Trafficking, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infertility, Blood, Medical content, and War

Passing mention to forced sterilization.

__codex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Death, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, 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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Trafficking

Minor: Misogyny, Murder, and War

There is a mention of forced sterilization.