Reviews

When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

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ellerue's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced

4.0

thepaperbackplanner's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Nghi Vo’s follow-up to “The Empress of Salt and Fortune” was a knockout. I listened to the audiobook version, but you can bet I’ll be getting a physical version to add to my collection soon because I know I’ll want to read it for myself again someday. You might remember from previous posts that I’ve had some trouble with shorter content recently, always wishing I had more to read, more time with the characters, more plot threads to unravel. That was not the case with this one! It’s all about stories and how we pass them down, and I truly felt like I was just being told a story. I was hooked within 10 minutes. If you’re into folklore, unreliable narration, how history is written, hearing the same story from multiple perspectives, or queer romance, I would wholeheartedly recommend this novella!

katiemulcahy122's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I liked this a little bit more than the first one. In this case, I still preferred the history/myth being told and wanted more, but I did enjoy Cleric Chih’s curiosity overriding everything despite tigers.

faivaira's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

lilyr2023's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a good novella. I read it as an audiobook. I love the storytelling and the representation in the book. For me, the lore or "magic" system confuses me a little. The tigers, as a people, intrigued me as they have a very basic way of viewing the world and lived by their own morals no matter how "bad" they are.

The story that was being told and the two very different versions of it were very interesting. It shows how different information is passed down depending on who is telling it.

Overall, it's very good. Storytelling and representation is 5 stars. I was just a little confused on who was speaking at times and what was happening.