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maeverose's review against another edition
3.0
I can appreciate it but it didn’t hold up to the first book for me. I’m not really a fan of fable-esque stories, and this one is very much that. I like that it brings up the topic of who’s writing history and if they’re really depicting it as it happened, I would’ve liked if it leaned a bit more into that. It was very meh for me overall.
I’m also a bit curious about the ‘romance’ in the book, because to me it felt very typical of fable-esque love stories that are actually pretty toxic from a modern pov, so I wasn’t thinking of it as a romance we were supposed to root for exactly but it seems like some other reviewers felt differently.. because the romance was very toxic both from the human’s and tiger’s povs (stalking, not helping unless they get something out of it, being generally aggressive, etc.).
I’m also a bit curious about the ‘romance’ in the book, because to me it felt very typical of fable-esque love stories that are actually pretty toxic from a modern pov, so I wasn’t thinking of it as a romance we were supposed to root for exactly but it seems like some other reviewers felt differently.. because the romance was very toxic both from the human’s and tiger’s povs (stalking, not helping unless they get something out of it, being generally aggressive, etc.).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
There’s a lot of descriptions of animal gore and eating raw animal parts Also very minor but there was at least one time that I noticed the author used the wrong pronouns for Chih 🙃jaan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A light, entertaining read to sandwich between two longer books. Refreshingly free of Christian influence—there is no good vs. bad narrative, no moral at the end of the story, and humans exist as part of the same system as other animals, instead of separate from and above it all. Loved it. Will be reading the other two novellas in the series.
7/9/2023: Reread this after some time, and after reading Vo’s two other novellas. I think this is my favourite one. It’s possibly the most romantic story I’ve ever read.
7/9/2023: Reread this after some time, and after reading Vo’s two other novellas. I think this is my favourite one. It’s possibly the most romantic story I’ve ever read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cannibalism
overbooked207's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
📖 When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo Book Review 📖
2nd book of January 2022 and 2nd of the year:
I loved the first book in this series, so I had to pick this up! Once again, I loved the beautiful, lush, and poetic writing and descriptions, the queerness in it, and the importance put on stories and storytelling. I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first one, but I still really enjoyed it and find myself liking it more the more I think about it, and I recommend picking it up! TW for death, blood and gore, animal attacks, animal cruelty, animal deaths, murder, cannibalism, cheating, confinement, sexual content, and violence🎧🐅🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
2nd book of January 2022 and 2nd of the year:
I loved the first book in this series, so I had to pick this up! Once again, I loved the beautiful, lush, and poetic writing and descriptions, the queerness in it, and the importance put on stories and storytelling. I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first one, but I still really enjoyed it and find myself liking it more the more I think about it, and I recommend picking it up! TW for death, blood and gore, animal attacks, animal cruelty, animal deaths, murder, cannibalism, cheating, confinement, sexual content, and violence🎧🐅🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Child death, Confinement, Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
Attacks and pursuit by animals. Brief forced marriage/relationship. Drugging/poisoning.wordwilderness's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
What a delightfully weird novella. I don’t know how Nghi Vo came up with the idea to write a triple-narrative, hostile campfire story-time, but she’s a genius for that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Cannibalism
*Cannibalism: mentions of tigers eating other tigers; tigers with human forms threaten to eat humans; one scene where human bites own hand and a tiger feeds on their blood. *Sexual assault: attempted forced marriage; threat of rape is implied.spiritedfaraway's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
“What are you doing?”
“Telling a story.”
I thought I couldn’t love Nghi Vo’s writing more than I already did, but I was wrong. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is the companion novella to The Empress of Salt and Fortune. It again follows Chih, a traveling cleric looking for history and stories to document, and involves a story within a story.
On this adventure Chih and their companions end up at the mercy of three fierce tiger sisters. Stranded and cold, to get out alive Chih must entertain the sisters with a story. But the tigers have their own version of the story and it varies wildly from the one Chih knows.
“Well, then? What’s the real story?”
In this novella you’ll find:
- a tiger/scholar sapphic courtship and romance.
- poetry.
- a traveling non-binary cleric too curious for their own good.
- a mammoth rider with a lance.
- three tiger sisters.
- storytelling and how truth can vary from retelling to retelling, from culture to culture.
- a tiger/scholar sapphic courtship and romance.
- poetry.
- a traveling non-binary cleric too curious for their own good.
- a mammoth rider with a lance.
- three tiger sisters.
- storytelling and how truth can vary from retelling to retelling, from culture to culture.
This novella was everything I wanted and more. I hope Nghi Vo continues to write about Chih and their adventures. These books have truly been a delight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Blood, and Cannibalism
Minor: Infidelity