avatar

curlyjeannine

just an adhder looking for her next fictional world to fixate on | 28 • la/ny • taurus 🌱🍄🧚🏼‍♀️

1752 points

0% overlap
Made for the Movies
Iconic Series
Love by the Town Limits
My Taste
Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)
The Song of Achilles
Blood Over Bright Haven
First-Time Caller
The Invincible
Reading...
Dungeon Crawler Carl
10%
The Book of Azrael (Gods and Monsters, #1)
9%

curlyjeannine wrote a review...

2h
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    curlyjeannine
    Jul 23, 2026
    The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    5.0
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0
    🐇
    🧂
    🦣

    I picked this book up a few months ago and put it down because I wasn’t in the right headspace to fully understand the prose. I am so glad I came back to it though.

    Wow, what a feat by Vo to write such a powerful story in 150 or so pages (ebook version). You spend such little time on paper with Sukai and Phoung yet the fates they meet punch you right in the heart. And the ending was one I was not expecting but was so satisfying and such a reward.

    I feel like I have so many takeaways from this story that have stuck with me but I need time to parse through and feel them fully. Highly recommend reading this story and giving it the space and time it deserves despite being short fiction.

    3
    comments 0
    Reply
  • curlyjeannine commented on a post

    3h
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    helli
    Edited
    Thoughts from 59% (Chapter Eight)
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    36
    comments 13
    Reply
  • curlyjeannine commented on a post

    3h
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    Andeng
    Edited
    Thoughts from 53% ━━━ Poor Kazu . . .
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    12
    comments 3
    Reply
  • curlyjeannine commented on a post

    3h
  • The Empress of Salt and Fortune
    Thoughts from 50% (page 59) End of ch. 7

    Rabbit’s repeated question, “Do you understand?” has become one of my favorite parts of this book. The more stories she tells, the more it feels like she’s asking something much bigger than whether Chih is following along.

    At this point it feels like understanding isn’t about knowing the facts. Chih can record names, events, and objects, but Rabbit seems to be asking whether they understand the people behind them. The sacrifices, grief, love, anger, and survival that history often leaves out.

    I also love how the question keeps turning back on me as a reader. Every time Rabbit asks it, my answer is the same as Chih’s: I understand a little more than before, but not completely. And maybe that’s the point.

    Me whenever she asks that question:

    alt text

    51
    comments 14
    Reply
  • curlyjeannine made progress on...

    3h
    The Empress of Salt and Fortune

    The Empress of Salt and Fortune

    Nghi Vo

    100%
    0
    0
    Reply

    curlyjeannine made progress on...

    3d
    The Book of Azrael (Gods and Monsters, #1)

    The Book of Azrael (Gods and Monsters, #1)

    Amber V. Nicole

    9%
    0
    0
    Reply

    curlyjeannine made progress on...

    3d
    Dungeon Crawler Carl

    Dungeon Crawler Carl

    Matt Dinniman

    10%
    0
    0
    Reply

    curlyjeannine started reading...

    3d
    Dungeon Crawler Carl

    Dungeon Crawler Carl

    Matt Dinniman

    0
    0
    Reply