Siren Queen

Nghi Vo

May 2022 · Sold by Tor Books

About this ebook

"Lyrical, mesmerizing, and otherworldly. . . stunning proof that Nghi Vo is one of the most original writers we have today. A beautiful, brutal, monstrous Hollywood fantasy.”—Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Immortality is just a casting call away.

World Fantasy Award Finalist
Locus Award Finalist
Ignyte Award Finalist
An Amazon Best Book of 2022
One of NPR’s Best Books of 2022
Vulture’s #1 Fantasy Novel of 2022
Indie Next List Reading Group Book of 2023

Best of Year Selections at Apple Books | B&N Booksellers | LibraryReads | TIME Magazine | Oprah Daily | The Philadelphia Inquirer | Publishers Weekly | Buzzfeed | Chicago Review of Books | LitHub | Book Riot | Paste Magazine | Geek Girl Authority | Bookish | The Mary Sue | New York Public Library | Vulture | Locus Recommended Reading List | Kobo | The Quill to Live | Goodreads | L. A. Public Library | Audible | Amazon | NPR

An Indie Next and LibraryReads Pick
A Brooklyn Library Prize Finalist

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic.

“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.” Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill—but she doesn't care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.

But in Luli's world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

What if the Hollywood stars made bargains and sold pieces of themselves to the studios that hired them, literally, for a chance at stardom? Well, that is what this story is about. The ones who run the studios are more like otherworldly fae, with a little bit of demon, so I guess they are of the Unseelie court. I mean, there is even a Wild Hunt that goes around. The bargains are fairly gruesome at times but that was pretty interesting in that people are willing to sacrifice so much for a chance.

NOTE: I was given early access to this manuscript in exchange for writing an impartial review. Thank you netgalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge. Publication Date: May 10, 2022 This is a powerfully written, deeply emotional exploration of an ambitious Chinese woman who will stop at nothing to achieve stardom in Hollywood. It belongs to a genre that was unfamiliar to me: adult historical fantasy. So while it tells the story of Luli Wei's professional rise, from a child playing bit parts to lead actress under the old "studio system" -- it also contains actions that fall squarely into the realm of make-believe. I assume that since this is set in Hollywood, including make-believe in the story is exactly what author Nghi Vo thought most appropriate. An Asian woman in 1930s Hollywood was something of an anomaly and a victim of substantial racism. The powerful wolves that ran the big studios did not know quite what to do with Luli Wei. But Luli is smart and persistent and manages to avoid the traditional pitfalls of rising stars, chiefly by using the very same tricks employed by the powerful. The novel is a downright ugly glimpse into Hollywood, where hedonism reigns, where actors rise and fall on the whim of an executive, and where people sometimes disappear mysteriously. It's a place full of LGBTQ folks, all of whom are forced to hide that part of themselves, continually fearful of being outed to the public. Yet, at the same time, everyone seems to know who they really are. The big strength of this book for me was the writing. But the genre of adult historical fantasy is not one I plan to explore further.

Thank you to MacMillan-Tor/Forge and BookishFirst for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! 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. According to the synopsis, the movie studios "run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic." Will Luli be able to achieve her dream, and what will she give up to achieve it? Here is a magical excerpt from Chapter 1: "“Well, it’s a nickel if you’re ordinary, but you girls aren’t, are you?” Up until that very moment, Luli and I would have given absolutely anything to be ordinary, to live in one of the pastel boxes off of Hungarian Hill, to have curly blond or brown hair instead of straight black, and to have pop eyes instead of ones that looked like slits carved into the smooth skin of a melon. The way the beautiful Black woman spoke, however, I started to wonder. If I couldn’t be ordinary, maybe I could be something better instead. Maybe I could get into the nickelodeon. Luli tugged at my hand fretfully, but I squeezed tighter, comforting and bullying at once. “We’re not ordinary at all,” I declared. “And we don’t have any nickels.” The woman touched a neatly manicured nail to her full lower lip, and then she smiled. “An inch of your hair,” she said at last. “Just one inch for two of you.”" Overall, Siren Queen is a wonderful look into the rise of a Chinese American actress in pre-code old Hollywood. First off, I am so excited to read and support this #ownvoices book. As a reader of Chinese descent myself, I was so happy to read a book that partially shows how Chinese Americans lived at the time. One highlight of this book is the amazing writing and dialogue. I felt like I had been transported to the 20th century, and it was a magical place. I could not stop reading this book, and I did not want to leave. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of books that blend history with magical realism, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in May!

About the author

Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.