Nghi Vo has genuinely some of the most beautiful writing I've ever encountered, and I'm so glad to have finally read this novella! I usually tend towards longer fantasy, but I absolutely loved this shorter piece and feel that it made fantastic use of its length to be impactful. I loved Chih's careful categorization of the objects around them and the way this beautiful description led us into the story of Rabbit and the Empress in the past. Each woman's story is full of exactly the right details to create a powerful impression of the challenges she faces while also maintaining a perfect sense of atmosphere and mystery. The fact that Rabbit is recounting the past allows for hints at how things will play out at the end of a tale that's already been finished, creating  a strong sense of building tension throughout the work. Such a short book actually made me tear up more than once, the struggles of these two women and their companions within this fraught political atmosphere and beautiful world were absolutely so moving. The reveal at the end was absolutely perfect, too--I was expecting it by that point, but in a way that felt completely satisfying and inevitable for the story. 

I just loved this novella! I enjoyed that Vo trusts the reader to adapt to this fantasy world and figure things out as we go along, and overall keeps things pretty subtle. This was just such a powerful piece of writing, and I cannot wait to keep reading the rest of the novellas in this series!