Review: The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

ARC provided by the publisher through Net Galley.

I had completely forgotten I had received an ARC of this book and just encountered it out in the world enough times I had to read it. Luckily I remembered my ARC and read the whole book before I even got a shipping email for the one I have ordered.

I do not know how to describe my feelings about this book in a manner that does not feel dramatic. I have written then deleted four descriptions that felt overly purple as well as clunky. But basically this book feels like you are listening to a story being told in secret at night, also it is raining. No idea if that makes sense, that is just the feeling I had.

We process this story mostly through the eyes of Chih, a cleric, who has a bird companion named Almost Brilliant, the two encounter Rabbit, an elderly woman who was handmaiden to the Empress of Salt and Fortune. Rabbit tells Chih stories about her time with the Empress, and the story unfolds bit by bit to show us why this story is so significant.

The writing is absolutely beautiful, the plot is incredibly well constructed, and the quiet nature of the story in no way lessens the impact of the words. I love this tiny book.

I don't want to spoil this book in any way; I just want you to read it and hopefully love it as much as I have.

I gave this book five stars on Goodreads and The StoryGraph. I recommend it to everyone who likes fantasy of folklore or being told a bedtime story as a child.