Welcome to Litsy!

I'll be filling out both book bracket designs throughout the year to see if they yield different results, but probably just gonna post one each month here on Litsy.

Here's my fiction choice for January. This was tough. The Mimicking of Known Successes was a strong contender that might earn a wild card spot later on. But Siren Queen really got me thinking and I love a book I can't get out of my head.
#ReadingBracket2024

Siren Queen is the tale of a young Chinese American girl as she falls in love with movies and is determined to make her way into Hollywood, while refusing to buy into stereotypical maid/foreign roles. Except magic, myths, & monsters are very much real & embedded into life, through contracts, film, & the power of a name. The story is told in the style of a memoir and chronicles her journey with her family, sexuality, and finding her place as a star

Okay WOW review to come but I just finished listening to this and it was so good! 🤯
I actually picked this one up for a new book club I'm going to try out at the indie bookstore near my work. I can't wait to discuss it with the group tonight, I am a bundle of social anxiety but hopefully I meet some cool like-minded people 🤞🏼

#Scarathlon - Photo Challenge - Day 3 - Dead/Death

This isn‘t in the Litsy database, it seems but is available on Kindle/Amazon. I enjoyed the tagged book by the same author so I‘m going to give this a spin at some point this month. #TeamWhoYaGonnaCall

I was a bit confused and underwhelmed for a bit at the start. Somewhere in the middle, though, it sneakily got a hold of me. This is a story of the very real magic and monsters and stars of early Hollywood… told by Luli Wei, a young, queer, Chinese woman and aspiring actress. I can‘t wait to see what the rest of the book group thinks!

Delicious anticipation after reading the first couple of pages so set myself up with drinks, snacks, and dove into old time Hollywood where a young queer Chinese woman falls accidentally into acting and a studio contract. Studios were fiefdoms back then, and this vision of supernatural Hollywood has demon studio heads, real consequences for failure; where stardom means immortality and power retreats when faced with acting artistry.

interesting book but never really grabbed me. tried to bring a magical or supernatural world to old hollywood but doesnt really go hard enough.

The magic of early sound cinema—except this time, it‘s the actual magic. Changelings, terrifying deals with scary fae, stolen names, sacrifices.

All in exchange for the most everlasting, shiniest form of immortality.

Enter a young queer girl of Asian descent who doesn‘t want to be cast as a maid.

She plays a monster instead.

A tad disjointed, but has a lot of atmosphere.

3.75/5

I'm legitimately not sure how to describe this book except to say I really enjoyed it and I can understand why it's on #TimeMagazineTop100ReadsOf2022. Old Hollywood meets magic and prejudice. Loved the characters and the story. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I have two lists to grab pick from for March! This is my young adult/adult list, and next I‘ll be posting all the middle grade books I have on my TBR.

Have you guys read any of these? Are there any I should prioritize or pass on?

#MiddleGradeMarch #MarchMadness #ispybingo #bookspinbingo

This didn't quite suit my taste, but I still think it merits a pick. I feel like the world-building should have been a little more developed. I liked the historical Hollywood setting with diverse characters.

This firmly walked the line between real & unreal - casually using magic as metaphors for believable debauchery & faux glamor of (Old) Hollywood that still feels quite relatable. A bit confusing but that‘s because a lot is left up to interpretation.

Took me some time getting into this story, but then l really enjoyed it. More for the world than for the characters or the plot, l should say

This is Hollywood where movie stars may really become immortal. Film producers are monsters and if you get lost in among the fires lit in the night, you might not be able to go back.
The surreal mood is very strong and l loved it, but in some places it made it hard to figure out where the story was going.

Waiting for my coaching call today and reading Siren Queen in a cosy bar 😁

It's taken me quite some time to connect with this book. But at 73% l'm now really enjoying it.

It took a bit to get going, but at the 24% l'm quite hooked.
I'm loving the atmosphere and the ethereal rendition of magic.
Not sure I'm connecting with the MC, but she is interesting enough.

Just started this.
I'm really excited by the magic realistic setting. I'm less sure about the writing style.
But we'll see.

#NetGalley

This was so fascinating. Historical fantasy set during Hollywood's golden age, featuring a lesbian MS. So. Good.

#12Booksof2022 @Andrew65

Wonderful retelling of old Hollywood without stripping away the magic and fantasy. Left me wanting more but still a good read. 4.5/5 🌟

This book was fantastic! The glamour and fear of the era were made magical, almost dreamlike.

This was great and it could have and should have been so much more. This should have been an epic. It should have spanned her whole lifetime.

This was so different than I was expecting! I liked the Old Hollywood aspect of it, and the magic was just vague enough to feel surreal. It‘s beautifully written.

There was a lot I loved about this book. The magic in it was beautifully vague but made just enough sense that you could tell what‘s going on. The writing felt very ethereal. I think this would make a good movie.

Old Hollywood but queer and with magical realism! Luli is a Chinese-American aspiring actress who is trying to figure out the studio system and what she will have to sacrifice to be a success.

Waiting in line to get Siren Queen signed for Brynne- I will send it to her for All Hallows‘ Read (one of my favorite holidays) but now I also want a copy for myself!

This is just so enthralling. Part Old Hollywood, part supernatural, I started it this morning and am already halfway through; I just can‘t put it down. 😍 #sirenqueen #nghivo

It was a productive reading week. Finished both of my #LMPBC books and really liked them both. I will get them in the mail tomorrow. Also, how gorgeous are these covers!

This is my second Vo book and I am enamored. I love her mix of magical realism and this Hollywood setting really is the perfect setting for it. There is a scene where a character is being form manipulated by a producer that reminds me of a movie I cannot put my finger on.
Her characters lose and find themselves again in interesting and challenging ways. Old Hollywood glamour mixed with seediness that makes for the most interesting storytelling.

If you‘ve ever thought “I‘d love a book about Pre-Code Hollywood but make it queer, add magic & a some horror, & have the MC be a Chinese-American lesbian who stars in monster movies as a killer mermaid” I‘d say read Siren Queen. this book can be read in different ways, a story about racism as our MC is othered to play this villian but she accepts bc she has agency to a degree with choosing this role. sad but triumphant in some ways. I loved this.

It‘s like Nghi Vo wrote SIREN QUEEN with my wishlist in mind. Her Old Hollywood overflows with queerness, intuitive yet grounded magic, metaphors made flesh, and dark fairy tale energy. I don‘t want to analyze it in public. I just want to wallow in my response to it, and to be so, so glad it exists.

I didn‘t have high hopes for SIREN QUEEN. I loved Nghi Vo‘s first two novellas (especially the second one), but I didn‘t like THE CHOSEN AND THE BEAUTIFUL at all.

This one, though! I‘m 66 pages in and I‘m pretty sure I‘m in love with its vicious Old Hollywood full of magic that everyone takes as given and nobody fully trusts. Gimme more.

This is really good so far. It explains very little, but you very quickly realise that certain things are not metaphors and what kind of tropes you should be looking for. I still don't know how everything works yet, but I know enough about the “rules“ now that I won't be (too) surprised when it does. It's so cleverly done.

I wanted to like this much more than I did. I felt the world was just too vague. I love Luli's story, and if it played as a slightly heightened Hollywood tale, it would have been excellent, but there was too much magic with no real explanation or purpose. I kept expecting it to come into play somehow significant, but there just kept being teases of something more that was never explored. More magic or less magic, but this balance wasn't right.

A gorgeous dark magical historical fiction novel. The movie studios of 1930s Hollywood are controlled by monstrous humans and monsters posing as human. For aspiring actresses like Luli, sacrifices must be made in order to achieve their dreams. But Luli has no interest in becoming some fainting leading lady, and when she's cast as a siren, she realized being a monster is the best way for her to succeed.

More fodder for your TBR!

bookriot.com/queer-sff-june-2022/

A Queen & King from my TBR list for the Day 12 prompt for the #BigJuneReadathon #photochallenge @Clwojick

June #bookspinbingo list
@thearomaofbooks

I really liked Luli‘s story and her determination to obtain what she wants in her life. The narrative is fast moving and kept me hooked. The audiobook was a good listen. Naudus narrates the story in such a way that you are almost transported into the story. I liked the voices she used for the various characters, specifically the female ones. It flowed well and, for the most part, it added to my enjoyment of The Siren Queen.

This blend of fantasy, old Hollywood, the Fairy Court & other monsters makes for a fresh & intriguing listen! It opens up with the main character as a child drawn to the movies- sneaking onto to sets and eventually becoming a paid extra known only as “CK” for “Chinese Kid”… But her ambition solidifies as she gets older & is determined to be a star- to never take a role with an exaggerated accent, as a servant or a weak woman. Engaging & original!

#NetGalley #AudioARC

I've seen other books by this author but this is the first one I've read. Now that I've finished this one I quickly put other books by Vo on hold at the library. 😁

This could have been just a good story had the author focused only on being a Chinese-American in the film industry in the 1930s. Instead what we get is an amazing story that takes all that and adds in monsters, magic, and forbidden love.

Loved it! 💚

Unfortunately, I thought the execution was incredibly dull. I expected intrigue. I expected horror. Instead, I got something that barely held my attention and failed to feel as unsettling as I‘m sure reality was/is. I convinced myself that the slow beginning was leading up to something spectacular and persevered into a sense of extreme dissatisfaction.

Full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4451926388

Won this ARC from Tor.com Instagram page! Not sure if I'll get to it before vacation, but I'm looking forward to reading it. I love classic Hollywood.

I'm looking forward to this #BOTM box! 👏🏽

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo is an absolutely amazing #ownvoices blend of history and magical realism. It will appeal to fans of Netflix's Hollywood and other tales of class movie star glamor. The story revolves around Luli Wei, a Chinese American girl who dreams of becoming a movie star. With her wit and a bit of magic, she's able to start her journey. Will Luli be able to achieve her dream, and what will she give up to achieve it?

#BookspinBingo #Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
I love when an author brings two different worlds together and blends them into an amazing story. It would have been a compelling enough book just about a Chinese American woman trying to make it in "Old Hollywood", but throw in that magic and monsters are real and it turns things up a notch. Took me a bit to get used to the writing style, but then it was smooth sailing
????. #ARC

#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain 📚

1. Siren Queen📘, These Silent Woods🎧, How High We Go I'm The Dark📗, Secret Agent:The Atomic Spy In America Who Got Away🎧
2. I just checked out Invisible Child:Poverty, Survival, & Hope in an American City
3. Before the book in #2, Along Came A Spider 🕷

#BookspinBingo #Doublespin
@TheAromaofBooks
Excited for Siren Queen, not sure what to expect from my Doublespin. My Goodreads TBR is ridiculously long and picked this one by random number generator.🤷‍♀️

#Two4Tuesday
@TheSpineView 🌻

1. I was lucky enough to get an ARC of the tagged book.

2. It may not be overused, but it drives me crazy when people pronounce Frustrated as Fustrated. Lol.

A 1930s Hollywood as grimly magical as it is glamorous and a heroine whose rising star is sharp enough to draw blood—this is a silver screen-infused spectacle you won‘t want to miss. In Siren Queen, a queer Chinese-American actress yearns for the spotlight in a pre-code Los Angeles where stars are struck through deals with the devil, Fae deal out fame, and celebrity means shining forever—even if she has to play a monster to get it.

I got an ARC of this book in the mail today! 🎉🎉🎉 It looks AMAZING! I really love the shorter work I've read by this author so I'm super excited for this one! It's being published this May! Chaplin couldn't wait to show it off! 😹❤📖 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #chaplin