Vo’s spellbinding prose captures the allure and discomfort that Hollywood holds for outspoken, witty Luli ... Beyond its intricate world building and incisive cultural commentary, Siren Queen is a moving exploration of romance, loss and complex family dynamics. Readers will be fully invested in Luli’s journey as she comes into her own, defies the industry’s attempts to own her and pursues her happiness.
... take[] history and imbue it with elaborate yet grounded fantasy that feels at once shocking and intimate. No matter how strange or frightening, it still feels real in that curiously contradictory way only speculative fiction can manage ... Vo delicately threads that needle, managing to make the reader sympathize with Luli without sugarcoating or simplifying her ... Nghi Vo is the kind of writer who starts off remarkable yet somehow gets better and better with each book. Her short speculative fiction made her mark on fiction, her novellas demonstrated her sheer talent, and her novels have taken alternate history to new heights. Siren Queen is the best thing she’s written thus far.
... darkly enchanting ... Nghi Vo reimagines a recognizable time in American history by weaving magic into its roots to create a world in Siren Queen that is both familiar and enchanted. Her heroine is bold and brave, exploring first loves and self-identity while balancing her own ambition with the demands of her deadly employers. Vo packs the novel with themes of racism, queer identity, immigrant experience and the freedom to define one's own life and relationships, while maintaining a richly cultivated and dreamlike world. With lush imagery and a gorgeously rendered atmosphere worthy of its complex heroine, Siren Queen is magical realism at its most beautiful and intoxicating.
In this stellar novel, Vo (The Chosen and the Beautiful, 2021) turns Hollywood into a fairyland—the kind from the old stories, sharp and dangerous—and laces the sparkling silver romance of the movies with a dark, exploitative, hungry greed ... Luli must hide her sapphic romances as well as her best friendships, because no one at the studios is safe from exposure, betrayal, or simply being emptied out. Pair that vivid world with the stubborn, passionate Luli and a pace that turns from slow and delightfully sexy to vast and terrifying with the turn of a page and you have the brilliantly searing Siren Queen.
... an absolute treasure. Vo’s storytelling style is atmospheric and immersive, leaving you feeling slightly dazed after finishing the book ... Filled with vivid scenes of female rage and queer love, this book is perfect for those looking for something a little darker to sink their teeth into.
This is a richly atmospheric story that seamlessly, and often horrifyingly, incorporates magic and fantasy into the world of Pre-Code Hollywood, a time period in which pretty much anything could happen on and off screen ... Hollywood is probably scary enough without adding magic, but the supernatural elements add an enormous amount in terms of horror and in terms of showing why people crave fame ... The complexity of the characters and their various situations makes the book satisfying as something you could read again and again and interpret differently every time ... While I think Siren Queen will be especially beloved by movie buffs, it can be enjoyed by anyone. I loved the atmosphere, the relationships, the main character, and the integration of magic into the setting and the theme. Two thumbs up, as they used to say!
Movie magic is made manifest, beguiling, and deadly in Vo’s (The Chosen and the Beautiful) tale about Luli, a Chinese American girl who is determined to realize her dreams of movie stardom, no matter how much she has to lie, cheat, or steal ... Luli is a compelling character both on and off the screen in this story that takes the mythmaking of Hollywood and transforms it and her into something transcendent. Highly recommended.
...spellbinding ... Vo’s hypnotic prose blends metaphor with magic so seamlessly that reality itself becomes slippery. Her dazzling voice, evocative scene setting, and ambitious protagonist make this a knockout.
