A review by mitzee
The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao

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

3.5

Not the type of story I would usually read but this was one of the selections from the Storygraph Reads The World challenge. It was slow and depressing but I also felt the urge to keep going as each mystery and story unfolded.

The narrators sister Estrella is really the main character here. I did get kind of confused at the end but will include that in the spoilers.


This part is mostly a summary for my own memory:
  • Gwendolyn and Estrella are sisters in a rich Chinese family living in Indonesia where they are part of the elite upper class. They have money from business dealings and benefit from the corrupt government that allows them to stay in a higher class level from everyone else
  • Throughout the book we see the two sisters grapple with growing up in this lifestyle and doing what’s expected of them: starting their own lucrative businesses or taking over the family’s. And also the expectation that they will get married (to others in their same class) and expand the family fortune.
  • Everything is centered around money (which, as an American born Chinese person, seems like it’s a pretty consistent thing for all Chinese families to want regardless of what country you live in). The fact that Estrella ends up dating a rich guy (Leonard) from a more successful family, is something that Estrella and Dol’s parents (Estrella calls Gwendolyn “Dol”) think is great for the whole family. 
  • Estrella basically gets guilted into this marriage by everyone around her and feels like she loves this guy despite him being a giant walking Red Flag. Things just get shittier for her after they get married. 
  • Eventually her husband “finds god” and starts to threaten going public with all the corruption and both families strong arm Estrella into poisoning him. Once he’s dead Estrella sees how corrupt the family is and she ends up poisoning the whole family in the same way at their patriarch’s birthday bash. 
  • Heres where I get confused In the end I THINK Estrella and Dol are actually the same person?! Dol seems to be the made up identity that Estrella has for herself and it seems to go WAY back into childhood. I did not care to go back and actually figure it out though because the whole book is depressing AF and I don’t need that right now. Give me fairies, elves and magic.
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