Disclaimer: If you are in it for a structured magic system that has all the rules set out, this might not be for you. This is if you are able to appreciate magic systems that have no clear origin explained and are in it more for the characters.

“You must have been happy."
She puffed a soft breath between her lips, shrugged. "I was free. That's better than happy. Happy came later. Are you?"
"I will be," I said firmly. "Both.”

Siren Queen is a dark adult historical fantasy set in the golden age of hollywood. Parts of the plot reminded me of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo if Evelyn Hugo had shape-shifting humans, immortality, dark bargains, and a lot more wild metaphors that i’m not sure are still metaphors at some point. And yes, it is most definitely Queer.

“I would much rather be a monster than a victim.”

If there’s a list of books that holds the trophy for complex characters, this is one of them for sure… especially for characters that I'm not even sure are entirely human. The feeling Nghi Vo leaves me with her books is always worth the struggle of my last two braincells to comprehend what's happening in the beginning.

It felt so nuanced and empathetic while being incredibly thought provoking. This is a somewhat intense book that borders on poetic-whimsical and revolves around the intricacies of the behind the scenes of movie productions. Though I cant speak on it’s accuracy or if it even means to be accurate, it sure is incredibly captivating. There is a lot of social commentary on the romanticism of media and sexism there. Which is written in the most deliberately metaphorical-like way but it's funny that a lot of the metaphors aren't actually metaphors (which is how the fantasy aspects come in). I just love it.

“You better know who you are,” she said,
“because you don’t look strong enough to be me.”

Nghi Vo depicts so well the initial wonder, awe, confusion, and all the emotions in between of youth. Especially when faced with something that changes them. She uses a lot of lines that play with contradictions in the writing but they make so much sense relating to the nuance of the media and film industry. Especially adding to the commentary of white washed media and prejudice against Asians in films.

Fair warning, I do think this is the kind of book that you need to be AWAKE reading and it wasn’t something that I could passively read. Not that it’s a bad thing.

"You are already betting on a small piece of forever,"

The way the word "forever" in this context also meant her image as a superstar made everything hit harder.

The magic system doesn't have that much of an explanation so if that's something that you're looking for, that isn't really what the story is about. It's certainly more focused on the characters and the message. I don't really need a plot to fall in love with a story nor do the characters need to be exactly "good" for me to enjoy the story. So this is perfect if you are the same and are looking for the kind of poetic-whimsical story with the atmosphere of old Hollywood. In classic Nghi Vo style, there are scenes within scenes and their skills of being able to tell a story within a story only gets better with each new release she puts out.

↣ This is for sure my favorite Nghi Vo book yet. If dark fantastical Evelyn Hugo sounds intriguing to you... I humbly offer you this book. ↢

*ARC sent by the publisher -Tor/Macmillan- for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

— 4.5 —
⇢ content warnings// Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Household Trauma, Misogyny, Physical Abuse, Sexism, Slight Body Gore, Xenophobia

pre-read review:

tbh, i know nothing about this except that it’s by nghi vo… i got an ARC and now i’m tempted to drop everything and read this book