{"id":3174,"date":"2022-05-09T06:30:13","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T13:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/?p=3174"},"modified":"2022-02-21T09:11:18","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T17:11:18","slug":"book-review-siren-queen-by-nghi-vo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/book-review-siren-queen-by-nghi-vo\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Vo, Nghi. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/title\/siren-queen\/oclc\/1263340365\">Siren Queen<\/a>. TorDotCom. 2022. $26.99. HC. 288 p. 9781250788832.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Luli Wei knows what girls that look like her end up doing in the movies, and she?s determined to<br \/>\nbe none of those things ? she?s going to be a star. But becoming a star in a world that survives on<br \/>\nthe currency of the expendable masses reaching for glory requires more than a pretty face and a<br \/>\nlittle luck. It will take allies, cunning, ruthless ambition and an iron fortitude. It will take a<br \/>\nmonster.<\/p>\n<p>Nghi Vo has crafted a world that is recognizable and utterly unfamiliar. Although the rules of the<br \/>\nworld are not explicitly stated, it doesn?t take long to be eased into understanding. It?s a quiet<br \/>\nkind of worldbuilding that assumes you already live there, but also doesn?t want you to turn the<br \/>\ncorner blindly. Luli Wei?s Hollywood is cruel and beguiling, her family situation complicated,<br \/>\nher friends passionate about their work, her lovers passionate.<\/p>\n<p>This is a book that dwells somewhere between satire and horror, and situated firmly within<br \/>\nqueerness. It brings to mind questions about secrecy, about the price we?re willing to pay to live<br \/>\nauthentically, what we?re willing to do to be free, and what paying those prices will do to us. It<br \/>\nalso interrogates the part racism and sexism (among other isms) plays in what we achieve, what<br \/>\nwe?re asked to overcome, and how to use those differences against those who would capitalize<br \/>\non them.<\/p>\n<p>After you read and love this one, try Aliette de Bodard?s Fireheart Tiger, or for something with<br \/>\ncomparable themes but more in the YA realm, Xiran Jay Zhao?s Iron Widow.<\/p>\n<p>Nadia M Orozco-Sahi (she\/they)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vo, Nghi. Siren Queen. TorDotCom. 2022. $26.99. HC. 288 p. 9781250788832. Luli Wei knows what girls that look like her end up doing in the movies, and she?s determined to be none of those things ? she?s going to be a star. But becoming a star in a world that survives on the currency of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3174\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glbtrt.ala.org\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}