Guerric Haché reviewed Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin
A unique, arresting story from a promising author
4 stars
This was a really enjoyable read overall. I picked it up in the bookstore after only reading the jacket blurb that promised queer monstrous characters, and skimming a few pages to determine that it was in fact set in Canada, which I think makes this the first urban fantasy set in Canada that I've ever read.
I'm really glad with how this turned out; Tam really has done some monstrous stuff, even though much of the agency of it is split between her and her aunt. The book really does go some surprising places, including some very cool twists in terms of character backstories, and some very peculiar and interesting creatures and places in the final act, when the characters travel to an in-between mystical realm.
I really, really liked that Tam and Janet are already dating at the start of the book, rather than there being the …
This was a really enjoyable read overall. I picked it up in the bookstore after only reading the jacket blurb that promised queer monstrous characters, and skimming a few pages to determine that it was in fact set in Canada, which I think makes this the first urban fantasy set in Canada that I've ever read.
I'm really glad with how this turned out; Tam really has done some monstrous stuff, even though much of the agency of it is split between her and her aunt. The book really does go some surprising places, including some very cool twists in terms of character backstories, and some very peculiar and interesting creatures and places in the final act, when the characters travel to an in-between mystical realm.
I really, really liked that Tam and Janet are already dating at the start of the book, rather than there being the typical meet cute and romance arc that see so often elsewhere. And despite this being a primarily single-POV book, the author does a great job of fleshing out side characters by popping in a single short chapter here or there to explain their backstory, and does so with impressive economy.
If I had to complain about anything, it would be that the dialog feels a bit odd or stilted at times, and that Janet, Tam's love interest, feels a bit too conveniently patient and useful and motivating. She's an interestingly challenging character in the first half or so, but then becomes more of a support character and loses some of her potential complexity later on.
Still, overall this was a very compelling debut, and I'll be looking out for what the author writes next.