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Thank you to NetGalley and HarperVia for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: death, racism, homophobia, misogyny, outdated racial terms (used by those of that race), racial slurs (specifically anti-Asian and Chinese racial slurs), relationships between an adult/minor.

Growing up, Wong Liu Tsong falls in love with silent films, running home to mimic the expressions of the actresses she sees on screen. Taunted at school for her Chinese heritage, she dreams of becoming a star, picking out her own stage name as a child: Anna May Wong. While her sister Lulu is obedient, helping their parents faithfully at their laundry, Anna is a rebel, drawing the ire of their father. But when all of her hard work pays off and Anna gets an opportunity as an extra in The Red Lantern, she's hooked for life -- and there's no one who can stop her. Pitted against white actresses in yellowface, predatory film executives, and an American audience that wants their Chinese heroines either unsympathetic villainesses or good girls who always die, Anna rises in the industry nonetheless, and leaves a lasting impact that will change the lives of many Chinese and Chinese-American women for generations.

Anna May Wong has captured the imaginations -- and hearts -- of people ever since she debuted in 1919. A trailblazer by every definition of the word, she's someone who fought time and time again against discrimination and oppression, and although we now look back on her as a woman who was successful, she often felt the stinging blow of being denied role after role, only to have it taken by a white woman in dreadful, monstrous yellowface. Tsukiyama makes an effort here to peel back the layers, to allow us to see the film icon from her own perspective, and to also help us understand the setbacks she faced and overcame each time. 

As a fan of Wong's, it was a thrill to see this book available on Netgalley. The cover, with its beautiful photograph of her with the haircut that inspired so many others to chop their bangs, caught my attention instantly. Reading the first page of The Brighest Star, however, I'm afraid to say that I felt the first, slightest hints of apprehension. This is my first time reading a novel by Tsukiyama, but she's famous and well-regarded, so I wasn't very concerned that I would dislike her writing. With that being said, as difficult as it is to say this, I'm not a fan of Tsukiyama's writing in the slightest. My main problem is partly due to writing style, which is all tell, no show, and partly due to pacing, which takes you so quickly through every part of Wong's life that it feels as if you get no time to absorb it whatsoever.

This is one of my biggest disappointments of 2023. It's hard to emphasize how much the pacing damages this story; it feels almost like flashes of her mind and thoughts and then, in the blink of an eye, it's gone. To put it simply, everything is flat, particularly Wong's inner monologue. There's absolutely no personality, and it's extremely off-putting, especially when you consider what an interesting and brave person Wong was. One other problem: the depiction of her relationship with Marlene Dietrich. Many people are aware of their relationship, but while Tsukiyama gives much dedication to the relationships Wong had with older, predatory men (including those when she was underage), and gives much detail to their "love and passion," Marlene is many times called nothing more than a friend. Very strange.

So, with all of that being said, I couldn't in good conscience give The Brightest Star a rating higher than two stars.

Book Review: Lucky Red by Claudia Cravens

 

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Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: violence, death, homophobia, misogyny.

Bridget is only sixteen when she arrives in Dodge City, a newly-made orphan with nothing to her name but her bright red hair and boldness. It doesn't take long before she's approached by one of the Buffalo Queen's madams, who thinks that Bridget will earn them a pretty penny with her fresh-faced prettiness. As Bridget learns the trade and lives at the brothel, for the first time she finds herself with money and security, and the friendship of other women. But Bridget's relatively peaceful life will change forever when a female gunslinger and bounty hunter, Spartan Lee, rides into town -- and makes quick work of stealing Bridget's heart. Deeply in love and quickly garnering a reputation as a troublemaker, Bridget's lucky streak is running out, and she won't be the only one facing the consequences in the end. 

The word 'cinematic' is used in the blurb for this book, and there's truly no better descriptor for it than that. This is a Western, but one that doesn't simply include women and LGBTQ representation: it centers them totally. It's got all the grittiness and hardness of Tombstone, but also a profound sense of family and connection -- and all the conflicts that come with it.

Our heroine is Bridget. She's known nothing but hardship for the entirety of her sixteen years, and so to her, the Buffalo Queen represents comfort, prosperity, and, again, family. Her two madams take her under their wing, but it's her relationship with Constance, a fellow sex worker, that really ends up helping her to define her life. Bridget is exactly what you look for in a main character: she's tough and bold, but she's also prone to making mistakes and getting herself into situations that aren't easily remedied. What particularly sealed my love for her is the fact that Cravens never shies away from making her sometimes difficult, or petty, or selfish. It makes her instantly human, relatable, someone that you end up rooting for because she is complex and three-dimensional. 

Bridget's lesbianism is also a central theme throughout. It's a major part of how she ends up getting herself into so much mischief and trouble, and it was a joy to read about her discovering herself, unable to hide her thoughts or love on her face and all of the other girls being aware that she was head over heels. Lucky Red is primarily a journey of self-discovery, not only with regards to Bridget's sexuality, but also with her trying to figure out exactly what she wants and what she's willing to risk to get it. Also, despite the fact that there is homophobia at play in Lucky Red, it was a relief to have it juxtaposed by the accepting nature of others in Bridget's life. However 'historically accurate' it may be, it gets tiresome to read the same stories again and again, focusing only on the painful parts of being LGBTQ+.

To put it simply, this is a book I will be recommending to everyone. It's sharp, clever, gritty, and an absolutely fantastic homage to classic Westerns. This one deserves its five stars and then some, folks.

Book Review: Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine

 

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Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for allowing me to read this ARC!

Content Warning: violence, death.

Maddalena and Luisa are opposites: Maddalena from a wealthy, patrician family, Luisa a foundling, forever indebted to the Ospedale della Pietà, the convent school that has taken her in and taught her music. When Maddalena's fortunes change -- due to the questions surrounding her parentage, and her mother who has apparently run off with a lover -- her brothers and father decide to send her off to the Pietà, too, hoping to make her into a respectable young woman who will be married off to an equally respectable young man. When Luisa and Maddalena meet, they feel an immediate connection, beyond anything either of them has ever experienced before. But Maddalena has dangerous plans to secure her own future, and as she draws Luisa deeper into her world, both girls learn that everything comes with a price.

Starting off truthfully, I have very conflicted feelings about this book. The first few pages were captivating, filled by beautiful, flowery writing, but it quickly became a double edged-sword. Having never read anything by Fine before, I didn't know what to expect, but any book set in eighteenth century Venice, featuring a romance between two women, is enough to entice me into requesting the ARC. However, as I went through the novel, I found myself never quite able to fully invest myself in the story, particularly when it came to Luisa's character.

The setting is rich with potential, and our opening, with the bold and slightly calculating Maddalena, certainly caught my interest. Maddalena is like many female characters who end up being my favorites: not quite likable, in a way that actually increases one's interest and enjoyment of her. Luisa, on the other hand, seems all right upon our first meeting with her, but as time went on, I grew increasingly irritated and frustrated with her naïveté and her inability to take any initiative whatsoever. Although Maddalena is manipulative and borders on being unkind, she's fascinating, layered and her motivations change and shift throughout. Strangely enough, it was Luisa who stuck me as being slightly false, and because of this, not very likable.

Perhaps it's partly my fault, but I also wasn't aware that the storyline heavily features magical realism, and that a large part of it includes rather abstract and surrealistic scenes. I'm not against those things by any mean, but I felt that to some degree, it was used to orchestrate and engineer the plotline to the author's liking. Not quite a deus ex machina, but something very like it, which for me, doesn't work. One more thing I'm awfully sore about: the relationship between Luisa and Maddalena. This is categorized as LGBT, and in some ways it is (Maddalena is very obviously a lesbian), but if you're hoping for a complex relationship between Luisa and Maddalena, I'm afraid you'll be very disappointed indeed. Look, I'm a huge fan of toxic, slightly cruel relationships between women (a la Villanelle and Eve, or Frances and Lilian in The Paying Guests), but this flops between being one-sided and maybe? Possibly? Something else. It's confusing, but not in a rewarding way.

Now, for the positives: Again, Maddalena's character is one that has stuck with me for a while, even after completing this book months ago. Fine's writing is really, genuinely beautiful, and I think there was so much potential here, but unfortunately it just ended up falling flat. By no means is this an awful book, but instead, sadly a bit mediocre.