Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - The Empress of Salt and Fortune

This book is gorgeously written, well-paced, and it deserves the highest praise possible. I cannot believe I was so lucky for this to be my first read of 2024. The bar has been set ridiculously high in terms of ratings.

The story follows a cleric who is listening to an older woman named Rabbit's story about the Empress of Salt and Fortune, In-yo. We learn that Rabbit and In-yo had a beautiful human relationship one can only describe as non-romantic soul mates. They would do anything for each other while maintaining public appearances as royalty and handmaiden.

No spoilers, but the ending truly shows the level of this friendship and how beautiful human connection can be. This novella is short and perfect. If I can finish it in a couple of hours, so can you, and you ABSOLUTELY should.

Content Warnings

indeedithappens's review against another edition

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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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pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

thereadinghammock's review against another edition

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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!!

Content Warnings

rai's review against another edition

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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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jjjreads's review against another edition

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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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