After falling in love with Vo's writing in The City in Glass, my brain shamefully reminded me I still had a review copy of Siren Queen floating around. I jumped in, wondering if I would feel the same thrill as I did with City and reader, I am glad to report that I did indeed feel it once again. Thanks to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My sincere apologies for the delay in reviewing!

A while back, everyone was raving about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, all about the glamour of Old Hollywood with queer rep. I finally got around to reading it a year or so ago and, as I said in my review, it merely whelmed me. Siren Queen, however, was what I had expected Seven Husbands to me. There are no seven husbands, but here are conversations about the dangerous of being queer, of being found out, of being alone. I felt that the love here was grounded in a realism that somehow complimented the fantastical elements of the novel. There is also the glitz and glamour of Old Hollywood, which here actually is infused with all the danger and thrill that magic can bring. The camera is hungry for you and you might get lost on production sets and be called into the dark by ancient things. Truly, if you liked Seven Husbands, you need to read Siren Queen.

Our protagonist falls in love with cinema the first time she trades a bit of hair for a ticket to see Romeo & Juliet. She knows the world of film is dangerous, but when the opportunity comes to play small background roles, she jumps at it. As a first generation Chinese-American, she knows the exoticism some see in her and, as she grows up, she figures out how to use this to her advantage. Negotiating her way into a Hollywood studio contract, she takes on the name Luli and begins trying to craft a career that will earn her a star. But studio lots are full of dark corners and behind the smiles of studio heads ancient things hide. We never learn our protagonist's true name and I love this about the book, how it takes the magic in its world seriously enough. There are no grand explanations of how things work exactly in this world, but not in a sloppy world-building way but in a fairy tale-like way. Some things just are and asking why and how is not going to help you in moving past them. In an intriguing way this also compliments the novella's themes of immigration, sexuality, and assimilation. Trying to fit into a world full of rules that make no sense, that seem designed just to keep you out, you can either dash yourself against these rules or find ways to live despite them. In pursuit of life, choices are made by our characters which are not always the best, but I could never quite find it in myself to judge them for it.

By now I think I'm just solidly in love with Nghi Vo's writing. The way she infuses straightforward, simple sentences with magic is something I will probably end up studying more closely. This infusion means that rereading Vo's work will probably also be a lot of fun. More than City in Glass, Siren Queen has a darkness to it, both on and off page, that I found incredibly intriguing. That darkness is also inherent to our protagonist, who, when offered the choice of roles, would rather be a monster. What I really liked, however, is how Vo thematises this issue of servility vs. monstrosity, by having our protagonist come face to face with actresses who choose to play it "safe", playing into certain stereotypes. There is a strength there as well, once which she actually does not possess, and this beautifully complicates the entire theme of the story. Once again, I also adored Vo's descriptions. Hollywood, and LA, here came to life for me in ways they did not in Seven Husbands and the magic of cinema became epic. It reminded me a little of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Silver Nitrate that way. Both nail the Gothic fascination with capturing an image, becoming something else, and the revelatory horror inherent to that, and any, transformation. I can't wait to read more by Nghi Vo!

I don't know if I'm capable of rating any Nghi Vo book any lower than this, but Siren Queen was amazing. With a stunning, Gothic atmosphere, dangerous and alluring magic, and strong explorations of sexuality and immigration, this is a solid recommendation to pretty much anyone!

Thank you to NetGalley for an eArc of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book was a beautiful and haunting look into Hollywood in the 1930's. Luli Wei was a queer Chinese American woman that excelled with the odds against her. Luli was tired of the stereotyped roles Hollywood forced women like her to play and worked hard to break the glass ceiling.

This story guided us through Luli's journey of love, fame and magic while exploring misogyny and bigotry in an already exclusive industry.

The magical elements were laced into the story in a way that occasionally I would get confused as to what was happening, but I think that was sort of the point. Providing a fever-dreamesque landscape for the reader.

I really enjoyed Nghi Vo's writing style and will be reading more of her work.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Nghi Vo for the ARC in exchange for a review!

After finishing reading, all I can say is this book was pure magic. The prose has such a dark and dreamy quality to it, and I felt completely immersed from the first few pages. I adored how the usually glamorized portrayal of old hollywood was completely subverted and turned into something eerie and haunting. Luli Wei was such a nuanced and beautifully written character, and her exploration of her ambition and identity was wonderfully written. I highly recommend this book!!

Lyrical, haunting, sinuous. This book has layers upon layers of meaning and fantasy, with the magical realism dropped in like water into whiskey. An amazing book that brings you into the hidden shadows of film-making and stardom in 1930s LA. Queer through-and-through. My only complaint was the pacing... by the time the plot started running, the book was over and finished. Could have been another 100 pages, easily.

I feel very torn about this one: on the one hand, I love reading about old Hollywood, I found it just so fascinating and this book had everything I wanted for a story set at this time. On the other hand, I felt like it lacked any sort of end goal for the plot. The story unfolded but once I reached the end I left off thinking: that's it? This is where the author wanted to take me? It was a little lackluster in my opinion and I struggled to find anything special about our main character, as well as her motivations, what was driving her to do what she was doing, her end goal, she still felt foreign to me after almost 300 pages. Would classify this as a middle of the road book. 3 stars

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of this book
Nghi Vo the woman that you are!!!! I read this a while ago but I'm only now reviving my netgalley account so bear with me lmao </3 but I really liked this one in which the author crafts a mesmerizing tale that intertwines the glitz of old Hollywood with rich mythological elements, creating a unique narrative that captivated me from start to finish. The protagenist is both relatable and compelling as she grapples with her identity and desires in a world that often seeks to exploit her. The author's enchanting prose and vivid imagery brought the setting to life and making me feel as though I was experiencing the character's glamorous life alongside her. In so many ways this was everything Evelyn hugo wasn't for me which is the highest praise I can offer.

Just realised I never published my review for this omg?? What a disaster bisexual I am.

5/5, amazing, this book got me super invested in every Vo novel.

Luli is a Chinese-American actress in an alternate 1930s Los Angeles where magic is real and movie stars with the right kind of talent might just get immortality. Leaving her poor immigrant family behind, she manages to get hired by a major film company, but being an actor is a dangerous business and Luli goes into it already having enemies.

This book started off too slowly for me and I almost lost interest. I'm glad I kept reading, though, as it ended up being a really good story. Luli has boundaries with what she will do and the roles she will accept, and I appreciated that she wasn't willing to concede them, even though it would have made her life easier. I think the author took the downsides of the film industry and the scariest parts of old fairy stories and combined them in a way that not only works really well but also highlights how hard it is to be successful while breaking out of the stereotypes that others want to define you with.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for and Advance Reading Copy.

This was a pretty short book, but felt so packed with events. It had a dark vibe throughout and I really enjoyed it despite a bit of confusion.

The fantasy elements here gave me a bit of a headache. I like knowing what's going on and why things are the way they are and this left me with a lot of unanswered questions. This is the problem I have with a lot of magical realism books.

Amazing diverse representation,

I am excited to read more novels from Nghi Vo. I really enjoyed this story set in the glam hollywood days gone by. It was also very nice to get an inside look at how racial and sexual identity fit (or really didn't) into Hollywood at that time. As Luli Wei continues on her journey to become a star, it's clear as she finds out, that there are a few things that she thought had to be done in order to become one. Not all of those were in a good light. I really enjoyed reading this novel.

Nghi Vo was able to beautifully weave literal magic into the figuratively magical world of Hollywood. Luli's story was mesmerizing and kept you hanging on every word.

WOW WOW WOW!

I can't even.

Outsiders achieving stardom on their own terms, the dark and mysterious backdrop of pre-Code Hollywood, magical realism and LGBTQ+ themes - this literally checked everything off for me.

I could not put this down!

Multi-layered characters and such a one of a kind story. I absolutely loved it and will read anything that Nghi Vo writes.

A book that directly transports you to another world. I didn't find the intial opening all that intriguing but as I read on, the story became better. I loved how descpritive the world building and it is a book that truly transports you back to old Hollywood adding a little bit of menace and fantasy.

Interesting story but at times I felt the plot line could have been further explained. I did enjoy the characters.

This was my first book by this author (who I’ve heard so much about!) and I thought it was fascinating, well-written, and evocative. I struggle a little with historical fiction but the combination of the themes and the writing carried this one through for me.

Nghi Vo is such a talented writer. I didn't enjoy this story as much as her other works, but Nghi Vo does such a great job of writing full, atmospheric stories. If you enjoyed Hollywood-centric stories then this will definitely work for you.

Just like with The Chosen and the Beautiful, Vo entices and entrances with elaborate and gorgeous descriptions, painting rich tableaus of the fantastic and macabre - but also like The Chosen and the Beautiful, Vo fails to explain and define the lines between magic and reality, leaving us with a sludgy mix of both that doesn't entirely make sense.

We get such a deeply grounded in reality introduction, with the focus on racism, homophobia, and inequity in Hollywood, especially as our main character carves out a space for herself (where "her kind" doesn't belong) by any means necessary. But the fantastical elements devolve into chaos that's difficult to follow and left me wondering what the point was.

I'm a big fan of Vo's novellas, but with both novels being a miss for me, I think I'll probably think twice before picking up another.

This was such a unique take on Hollywood with really great social commentary regarding racism and how people are treated differently based on how they look or their nationality, etc. I wish this were longer because I feel like certain parts could've been a bit more stretched out and gone into with a bit more depth, but still really loved it,

In Siren Queen we follow Luli, a Chinese American who’s willing to do almost anything, even become a monster, to make it into the world of Old Hollywood. This world is not an ordinary world. It’s filled with monsters who guard the gates of the studios, where debts are collected in a strange way, it’s a world where people of different ethnicities get a chance to get a part into Hollywood.

Luli is such a great character, she’s not perfect and I loved that. She’s an independent queer Asian woman who’s so strong, knows what she wants and goes for it without letting the men of Hollywood stereotype her or stand in her way to grow her career.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this one before. It’s so unique! It jumps between genres, from magic realism to fantasy and historical fiction. The magic system is amazing, it doesn’t have the rules set out and I liked that about it even though I’m mostly a person who likes rules in a fantasy world building.

This is my first book by Nghi Vi and I’m amazed by her writing. It’s rich and descriptive which makes the book majestic.

This book has great representation in terms of sexuality and race.

I was wowed by Nghi Vo after her Singing Hills Cycle and so it was a no-brainer to add Siren Queen to my TBR.

My impression of the novel is… mixed. While I enjoy overarching extended metaphors to the silver city and the film industry, and also immensely admire the lead character’s ferocity and determination to “making it big,” some aspects of the magical realism alienated me. But perhaps that was the intention! To invoke the uncanniness - Vo successfully does so through various narrative elements, such as the almost Faustian deal the lead character makes in exchange for fame and power, the weekend parties at the studio and the “hunt.” Hell, even the kitsune-esque roommate/best friend evokes a sense of strangeness yet immense joy (and sorrow). The plot, however, seems to fall a bit flat.

Overall a passable read but doesn’t bring me the same pleasure as Singing Hills. A 3-starter that you can miss but certainly won’t regret reading.