Four young women—strangers to each other, except for the commonality of a shared middle name—become roommates in a small apartment in Los Angeles in the 1950s in The Monstrous Misses Mai. All of them want something. Cordi just wants a job and the ability to live on her own after her parents disowned her. She’s a hard worker and a talented seamstress and fashion designer, but no one would ever give a Vietnamese American girl the chance to become a professional designer. Her roommates’ stories are similar: Tessa wants to be chosen as a model for the department store where she works as a clerk; Audrey wants to succeed at her art; Silly wants to secure an internship that she knows will pave her future path. But for all of them, success seems just out of reach, until Callum—a gregarious, mysterious man who helped all of them find the apartment to rent it together—makes them an offer. What if they could just do a little magic, and get everything they wanted?


At first, the Mais think it’s a party trick, and nothing to worry about. But when the magic works, it’s hard to not want to use it to keep making things come easily. Except…there are consequences, like Cordi’s nails turning black and her fingertips bleeding, or Tessa’s hair falling out, or Silly’s eyesight getting worse. Only Audrey, who refuses to participate, seems to escape. As the stakes rise, Cordi has to figure out what she’s willing to sacrifice for her chance—and whether, if magic got her there, that chance is really hers on her merits. Can she trust a future she didn’t earn?

This novel is steeped in its era, and the slang and clothing (the clothing!) really immerse readers in the 1950s. Hoang does a fantastic job giving us unique young women, all striving for something better, but each of them with a different approach. Cordi is imminently easy to empathize with—she’s talented, and she has tried for years to be a good daughter and sister, only to be told that when she has ideas of her own, she’s not good enough. On her own, she’s also smart enough to realize that things earned by magic aren’t truly earned—but the realization comes too late to stop the cascade of bad luck that follows selfishly-used powers. The magic and its costs are both well-drawn and horrific, and late reveals about the magical societies that work beneath the surface of glamorous Los Angeles bring everything snapping into place. This is Hoang’s first adult novel (she’s also the author of the excellent “Girl Giant” middle-grade series), and readers will absolutely hope she has more on the way. Pick this one up if you like your magic with a side of drama—and if you like your skirts to have pockets.

You know me, I'm drawn to stories about witchcraft and magic like a moth to a flame, so when I read the blurb on The Monstrous Misses Mai while trying to choose my free pre-release book of the month, I was instantly sold. It was certainly unlike any other "witchy" story I've read, but still firmly within my wheelhouse.

Set in 1970s Chinatown, The Monstrous Misses Mai is about a young Vietnamese woman who, disowned by her family, lucks upon an affordable apartment to rent with three other young Asian women (who all happen to have the middle name Mai). Each of the girls has dreams of making it big in the city--one as a designer, another as a model, etc. In pursuit of their aspirations, the young "Misses Mai" find themselves lured in to a dark, dangerous underworld of magic with great rewards and monstrous consequences...

I thought this book was pretty solid. The pace was good and I loved the feeling of growing darkness and impending danger as each page turned.

reminds me of a lot of other fiction and while i liked the premise the delivery was a bit lacking in style and depth, still not a bad read.

This was an incredibly unique and mesmerizing read. Not at all what I was expecting, and yet completely bingeable. There is so much going on in this book. Family dynamics and how that affects you throughout your entire life. Being able to trust, not wanting to be alone, and to feel wanted. To have great success and to be able to put food on the table. All these worries combine to make for a perfect target. All you need is a handsome man, a little bit of magic, and the hope that all will turn out amazing in the end.

Los Angeles in 1959, is an interesting place to be. There is chatter about a war going on in Vietnam and everyone believes that if you are of Asian descent, you are Chinese. This is not so for Cordi, whose family is from Vietnam. She was born in the USA, a citizen, which does not matter to most, you are different, you stick out, you do not blend in enough to work certain jobs. Cordi is desperate, her parents kicked her out, which means she also lost her job at their alteration store. Cordi has been combing the streets for a new job and an apartment. Coming up empty handed, she trudges to the final apartment showing. She discovers a man willing to help and the nicest girl she has ever met. The building owner quickly allows the four girls to live there. Quickly making for a completely different environment than what she is used to. When the man says he has a way for all their dreams to come true, for just a small sacrifice. All bets are off and they are willing to try anything for just a chance...

I loved the characters. Each unique, a backstory to tell, and their personality varying so greatly that they pull you in. Wanting to know more and to see what they can succeed in. There is a twist which almost lost me. Yet I could not put the book down and I am so glad that I didn't. I wanted to see how far they were willing to go, what or who they were willing to sacrifice, for their own gain. Thank you to Van Hoang, 47North, and Over the River Publications for my copy of this intense magical read.

It took me a while to get into this book but once I did I was definitely fully hooked. It was just the right amount of small and contained story that I enjoy. Showing the struggles of the Main character as a child of Vietnamese immigrants into LA without fully focusing on it (because that is not what the book is about)
Cordi's struggles with wanting to be liked and trusting her abilities were also way too real...

Set in 1950's Los Angeles, this novel finds four young women, each with the middle name Mai and of Asian descent, living together in a small apartment. Each dreams of something, hopes for something, strongly desires something. How far will they go to get it? And what are they willing to sacrifice along the way? Meet The Monstrous Misses Mai, Van Hoang's novel of magic and choices. Also, what a stunning, utterly gorgeous cover! Thanks to 47North and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cordi is in a situation! She has been disowned by her parents for disobeying and now she needs to find a place to live. At an apartment viewing, a kind stranger called Callum helps her to snag a loft space. In fact, Callum has somehow helped all her roommates to their rooms as well. To add to the odd coincidence, they all share the middle name Mai. And so, they become the Misses Mais: Cordi, Tessa, Silly, and Audrey. Calum has more "help" to offer, however, in the form of Lura, a dangerous magic which will make all your dreams come true, as long as you're willing to sacrifice something. Good things do start happening. Cordi's dreams of turning her seamstress experience into designing seem to come true. But how much is her hard work and talent and how much is the magic? Does it matter? And what when the cost keeps rising? I found Cordi a really intriguing main character. Van Hoang is clearly trying to say something about the experience of first-gen Americans, of how their parents' immigration background affects their lives, and how these battling cultural expectations create a tightrope walk. This background made me feel for Cordi and also helped me understand why she might be willing to accept a little help, in the form of magic.

Something I liked about The Monstrous Misses Mai was how Van Hoang employed this magic system in a historical fiction context. Lura, the magic of the novel, is something everyone whispers about, something the young women are warned about, and while it is terrifying and powerful, it also works as a solid metaphor for privilege. In a way I prefer Lura as a metaphor, rather than thinking of it as an actual magic system, but that is because of my love for deeply complex magic systems in Fantasy. Lura as a system feels too simple to me, in the sense that Hoang doesn't fully work it out. However, Lura as a metaphor for class and privilege, works brilliantly! In order to belong, you just need to sacrifice something you love, every time. It's not that hard really, just sell your soul, and everything you want will be yours. Don't look to closely at how people use others for their gains, just accept that everything has a cost. In that way, Lura, and the concept of magic, works excellently in The Monstrous Misses Mai. A minor complaint I would attach to that is that I wasn't sure which balance the novel was trying to strike with the themes it was addressing. On the one hand, the novel absolutely addresses race, class, and privilege. On the other hand, the tone of the novel is not overly harsh or horrifying. Rather, there was something a little dreamlike to it for me. Because of that, I was surprised to see this listed as Horror on Goodreads, since I would solidly put it in Fantasy, with a bit of violence. I consider this a minor criticism, because I enjoyed reading The Monstrous Misses Mai a lot, even if I wasn't sure how hard it wanted to go.

This was my first book by Van Hoang and I saw that she has mostly written Middle Grade Fantasy up until now. I can see how she is transitioning from that to a more Adult Fantasy here in The Monstrous Misses Mai. As I said, the tone was quite dreamlike to me, in a good way, but this also made it a gentler read that you can easily sink in to. There is death and danger in this book, but I found myself mostly drawn in by the intriguing internal conflict Cordi experiences, her growth as a young woman, Hoang's commentary, and the beautiful descriptions of the LA high life. I would love to see how Van Hoang continues to develop her adult writing style, because there is definitely a lot of interesting things here. So I'll definitely keep an eye open for future books by her!

The Monstrous Misses Mai is a delightfully twisted read, full of magic and darkness, and yet also beauty, friendship, and self-discovery. Van Hoang weaves in the experiences of first-generation Americans and comments on the impact of class, race, and gender in a 1950s LA.

Thanks to NetGalley, 47North, and Amazon Publishing for this copy of "The Monstrous Misses Mai."

In 1959 Los Angeles, four young women with big dreams of success share an apartment and coincidentally they all have "Mai" as their middle name.

A charming business partner of their landlord promises to make their dreams come true...for a price.

OK, so I got irritated with them the same way that I always got mad at Pinocchio when he's on Pleasure Island.

But I really want to see Cordelia Mai Yin's fashion designs!

Horror is not a common genre that I read, so the experience of reading The Monstrous Misses Mais was exciting and unfamiliar. The premise follows four Asian girls, all with the middle name Mai, as they navigate 1950’s Los Angeles Chinatown. They are manipulated into practicing dark magic, called Lura, that requires sacrifices to fulfill each girl’s desires. Slowly, as the girls start to experience success, the dark magic starts to demand more from them.

I enjoyed my reading experience. The pacing and writing style kept me engaged. The only problem I had with the content was the ending. I felt that for a horror book, the ending was too neatly wrapped up. In terms of genre, I felt that the book was trying to be too many different things. It was a horror but also a fantasy. It was historical fiction yet also a coming-of-age story. I believe books can be many different things, but it should have a core genre or topic that it wants to discuss. I was also disappointed in how the book was advertised as a book dealing with Asian American identity in the ’50s, but I wish there were more discussions about it. It was brushed upon slightly, but was mostly solved as the girls practiced their magic.

As someone who doesn’t read a lot of horror, I enjoyed this book as a stepping stone into the genre. I enjoyed the characters and premise, I believe it can be expanded upon for a more deeper analysis of race and historical context.

Los Angeles on the cusp of the 1960s is a city buzzing with opportunities. But not everyone has equal access to what the city can offer.

As a second generation Vietnamese immigrant and aspiring fashion designer, Cordelia is all too aware of this. She finds kindred souls in 3 young women she encounters, because they are all facing various barriers.

When an unexpected opportunity magically materialises, the quartet - who share the middle name Mai in common - are inclined to accept what is offered. But what is in it for Callum? And what price will they pay for the agreements they enter into?

While the plot is not memorably strong, the book deals with some important things including racism, exclusion, identity and so on. And it provides insights into the time and place of its setting. Overall, this is an entertaining read for those who enjoy magical realism with a dash of horror.

Thanks to the author/publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book tells the story of Cordelia Mai Yin, an aspiring fashion designer who's struggling with finding a job as she gets disowned by her family after a fight, but at least she manages to find an apartment, with roommates who all happen to have the same middle name. They all got the apartment after being helped by a guy named Callum, who seems helpful for no particular reason. And not only that, but Callum is helping them even more by teaching them some magic in order to overcome their financial woes, little did they know that when it comes to magic, everything has a price.

So this is a historical urban fantasy taking place in 1950s Los Angeles, mostly around the Chinatown area of the city. This is one of those books that starta pretty weak but becomes quite good by the end. The writing style (both for the narration and dialogues) does feel a bit juvenile, but not so much that i had to stop reading, and I got used to it later on, even if this also means that the characters feel juvenile too. But at least they're all really distinct from each other and the main character does have a lot of developments. The plot of the book is nothing special. At the beginning, it's quite underwhelming, with everything being so predictable, but that changed near the end, and things became a lot more interesting. The actual ending itself is also quite a bold and somewhat unexpected one, even if it's hindered by the fact that the magic system became so complicated that the resolution of the story became a bit convoluted. Still, it's definitely an improvement over the start of the book. Overall, a decent read that still kinda worked even if it might not be exactly for me.

I struggled with the first third of this book. The beginning had a slow start and Cordi was a weak character that felt like she had little agency in her own life and was just going along with what the stronger characters wanted. The story started to pick up once the lura was involved and I enjoyed the last quarter and felt that Cordi started to make her own decisions. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In 1959 Los Angeles, Cordelia Mai Yin is the first generation child of Vietnamese immigrants. Cordi wants to be a fashion designer in a city that isn't kind to outsiders, and she's an outsider within her own family. She rents a cheap loft and quickly makes friends with Tessa, Audrey, and Silly. The four share the same middle name, making it feel like fate. They struggle to earn a living, and an acquaintance of their landlord introduces them to magic. Each spell requires a sacrifice, but it seems like a small price to pay for comfort. Their wishes get bigger, and so do their sacrifices.

This tale of magical realism borders on horror, and really plays on immigrant themes as well as East Asian culture. Casual racism and ostracism were far more flagrant in 1959 than now, but any person with immigrant parents will feel the difference in their culture of origin and the American way. They must decide whether to hold to the past or give it all up to become American. These four girls are on their own and essentially are told they aren't good enough or worth any attention by the world around them. This is how Callum gets Cordi and the others to start working with lura, the sacrificial magic to get what they want in life. "What is success, anyway, but privilege disguised as opportunity."

Using magic to get jobs or to look prettier seems like such a small ask for magic, especially when it seems to work for two of the girls right off the bat. Life was still a struggle to make ends meet, and magic seemed like an easy way out. Effects don't last, and it struck me that Callum introducing the girls to magic is rather like a drug dealer pushing his wares. With the first twinges of something going wrong, I started worrying about the girls; Audrey stood out as the voice of reason but was ignored by the others' desire even though Cordi second-guessed their use. As the story reached its crescendo, I hoped that Cordi would pull through even as the transformations affected those with the magic. The magical fallout and family dynamics pulled at me and brought me to tears by the end. It's an amazing story, and I adored every page of it.

I’m struggling with what to think of this story, and therefore what to rate it. It was overall entertaining yet not highly enjoyable, and the message seemed murky at best and problematic at worst. Best I could tell, the general lesson was “be careful what you wish for”- but this lesson was being taught to a group of women who were more or less wishing for pretty basic things to help balance out their disadvantages and struggles. There were far more interesting places the story could have gone, with the issues of races, gender, and socioeconomic status in play. And why exactly did they all have the middle name of Mai, other than as a way to insert it in the title?

Thank you Van Hoang, 47North, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Monstrous Misses Mai by Van Hoang was such a captivating historical fiction fantasy story that held my attention from start to finish.
The characters were flawed but still so fascinating.
Well thought out and plotted with strong characters. And the world-building was just amazing!

Thank You NetGalley and 47North for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I really wanted to like this one because I love historical settings/time periods and the concept sounded amazing! Sadly this didn’t work for me.

The pacing was slow and writing overly descriptive. It took way too long to get to the magic, which is the whole point of the book? It’s meant to be dark and yet there’s no tension or suspense, the first 20% (75ish pages) is just minute details telling the reader everything instead of showing us. It’s also incredibly repetitive-
I GET IT CORDI YOU DIDNT HAVE FRIENDS AND HATED THE SHOP BUT LEARNED TO LOVE IT AND NOW SEWING IS YOUR PASSION!! You don’t need to tell me every single chapter 🫠

I DNFd this at 26% (about 92 pages) because after all this time I still count care less about the characters or what happens, just give me the dark magic and mistakes already

The Monstrous Misses Mai is a fun and lightly magical novel that follows four Asian American roommates (the Mais) living in downtown Los Angeles in the 1950s. These four women all have something that they are running from as well as something that they are longing for, and through the main character Cordelia (Cordi), the reader follows the group as they navigate their attempts to gain power and fame in a city that constantly seeks to other them. This is Van Hoang’s adult debut, and I think that it has great potential to appeal to young and new adult audiences alike.

I found the tone and writing style to be a great blend of playful, mysterious, and hard-hitting when it needed to be. In some ways, I was reminded of Mona Awad’s novels (complete with some light body horror!), if they were suitable for a slightly younger audience. Hoang’s themes (class-based oppression, a lack of Asian representation and the presence of anti-Asian racism, cultural obligations towards family, toxic friendships) speak to many issues that are particularly pertinent to young or new adult readers, and her messaging and writing style are easy to interpret without feeling cheesy or heavy-handed.

I also really appreciated Hoang’s attention to detail. Cordi works as a seamstress and is an aspiring fashion designer, and the story is filled with details about clothing and textiles, as well as descriptions of the food the girls eat and the apartment that they share. It really works to flesh out the world and does a great job of showing Cordi’s passions rather than just telling them. The only part of the book that felt under-explained was the magic system itself (known within the book as the lura). While the lura is intentionally mysterious to the main characters, at the end of the novel I was still left with some questions about how the lura interacts with the mortal world, and to what degree the presence of the lura is known or accepted by general society.

There were also a couple of choices made with respect to the side characters that I didn’t love. In particular, the storyline with Cordi’s older sister, Trina, did not wrap up in a way that felt particularly satisfying. She has had to sacrifice so much for her family, and Cordi seems almost entirely ignorant of this for most of the book. While she does have a moment where she is able to see things from Trina’s perspective, it doesn’t feel particularly impactful for her, and the reader is given so little context about the nature of Cordi and Trina’s relationship before Cordi is estranged from her family that Trina’s sudden importance at the end of the book feels a bit out of place. I also found the ending to wrap everything up just a bit too neatly, especially given that at around the 90% mark I had absolutely no idea how anything would be resolved.

But in general I just had a lot of fun reading this book, and really appreciated how Hoang was able to blend her fantasy- and horror-adjacent plot with her social commentary. I’ll for sure be keeping an eye out for her future releases.

Thank you to NetGalley and 47North for the e-ARC of this novel!

What would you sacrifice for success? That is the question that the women in this novel must answer before it is too late. 

This story is about friendship, desire, and ambition. The four women who end up sharing an apartment together don't realize the depths of the situation they find themselves until it is too late. When they say you shouldn't mess with witchcraft, they aren't kidding!

Cordi, Tessa, Silly, and Audrey are these four women. They each have dreams for their future, and when they are offered the opportunity to get it with little work, they jump at the chance. This wasn't the wisest move they could make, and they soon learn that there is a price to pay for success if you don't work for it.

Beyond that, this book explores the friendship between women who may have never met had it not been for this apartment that they share. While this book is set in 1959, it is reflective of nearly any period in time. Family expectations are the same now as they were then. Perhaps a little different, but still somewhat the same. 

Because these women are young (20's), they still lack some maturity when it comes to actions. Cordi is jealous of Silly's friendship with Tessa. It is like Cordi wants to be Tessa's only friend. They seem to shun Audrey because she is a little different, and also doesn't want to be mixed up in the witchcraft. She is probably the smartest one of the bunch. Tessa is all about being seen with the movers and shakers of the city. Little does she realize what that might really mean!

I was engrossed in this novel. Normally, this isn't the type of book I read (magical realism, witchcraft, etc), but there was something about this story that engaged me and kept me glued to the pages. I had a love/hate relationship with all the characters, but they each added a dimension to the story. Whether it was their involvement with the magical aspect, greed, desire, or hope, each character played a part in the final conclusion.

We give this book 5 paws up and recommend it if you enjoy this genre.

While I can appreciate important topics like the poor treatment of immigrants, racism, and the feeling like you never belong to a particular place while searching for the unobtainable “home”, I found Cordi unlikable and the magic missing from the atmosphere. I’m glad to have read it, and want to thank the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

A cautionary tale. The Misses Mai each represent something different and each will make you think about your own experience, It's an interesting read.

*3.5 rounded down for Goodreads score*
Thank you to Netgalley and 47North for my arc in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

"The Monstrous Misses Mai" by Van Hoang follows four young Asian American women who share the same middle name: Mai. Set in 1950s Los Angeles, the four Mais come into contact with some very real magic that can grant them the power to make their every dream come true...but everything comes at a price.

I was so excited for this one. The summary reminded me a lot of Nghi Vo's "Siren Queen," which is one of my favorite books. I think Hoang did a really good job of showing four very different young women from different Asian ethnic groups (Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and I think Japanese?) and the ways that female friendships can form or not. And even though it made me mad, I felt that Hoang did a great job of portraying how toxic some Asian American families can be.

That said, I also had a lot of issues with the book. It might be cause I'm old, but I found Cordi (our main Mai) really exhausting. I know she was dealing with a lot of familial trauma and was figuring out who she was but god, I just...I rolled my eyes SO OFTEN. And I say that as someone who has had to go no contact with some family because of the toxicity. But I also just hated how self-sacrificing and pathetic she was, especially with Tessa. I don't know. It just felt difficult to connect with someone so young and limp. Aside from that, I wish there was more magic in the first third. It was so boring and it really dragged because I didn't like Cordi. By the end, while I liked her more, I felt like the lura stuff and the outcomes weren't really earned. And the lura stuff could have been more expansive, especially with how much time is wasted in that earlier part of the book.

Overall, it's a good book. I think. Parts of it were enjoyable to me and other parts were really not.