Sister Snake

A Novel

De: Amanda Lee Koe

Narrado por: Zoë Chao

A glittering, bold, darkly funny novel about two sisters—one in New York, one in Singapore—who are bound by an ancient secret

Sisterhood is difficult for Su and Emerald. Su leads a sheltered, moneyed life as the picture-perfect wife of a conservative politician in Singapore. Emerald is a nihilistic sugar baby in New York, living from whim to whim and using her charms to make ends meet. But they share a secret: once, they were snakes, basking under a full moon in Tang dynasty China.

A thousand years later, their mysterious history is the only thing still binding them together. When Emerald experiences a violent encounter in Central Park and Su boards the next flight to New York, the two reach a tenuous reconciliation for the first time in decades. Su convinces Emerald to move to Singapore so she can keep an eye on her—but she soon begins to worry that Emerald’s irrepressible behavior will out them both, in a sparkling, affluent city where everything runs like clockwork and any deviation from the norm is automatically suspect.

Razor-sharp, hilarious, and raw in emotion, Sister Snake explores chosen family, queerness, passing, and the struggle against conformity. Reimagining the Chinese folktale “The Legend of the White Snake,” this is a novel about being seen for who you are—and, ultimately, how to live free.

©2024 Amanda Lee Koe (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

I disagree with the darkly funny claim

This was an engaging mix of Asian folklore and modern day, conformist satire. It had luxurious imagery and a wide variety of LGBTQ characters. While I found it sly and wry, however, I didn’t find it darkly funny as the summary claimed. There are a number of adult topics, but violence and language is more comic book YA than adult graphic. It was a solid enough book that I’d be interested in more by this author.

magical realism done right

I think I only decided to be get this based on all the great reviews. Well, here's another. You won't regret it.

AMAZING

This boom is AMAZING! The story line of two sisters is sweet and cruel at the same time! The author did an incredible job of creativity novel and just simply captivating in her writing! I highly recommend this book to anyone!

Diverting and original

I really enjoyed this story about two snakes who could become human. The author conveyed the complicated relationship of siblings in a way that felt natural even while crazy things were happening. Sometimes magical realism feels stilted but not here. Fun read.

Great narrator! Great book!

I really enjoyed the book despite going in blind. Was a fun book to discuss with a book club!

Vague & uninspiring. I tried several times to engage with this book.

My red light showed up with the snake gang bang scene. No artistry. Just scarring and the readers had to watch.
I’m not prudish one bit. But something like that could be a great literature moment. But it wasn’t.
The rest was intriguing but the writing was spongy.

LOVED everything about it!!

It took out of my post election misery, I read and listened. Amazing story and narrator. Want more

Amazing!!

The creativity of this story is extraordinary!! I love this book and highly recommend it. The narration was perfect! Ten out of ten!!

Disappointed

An intriguing blurb prompted me to purchase this book. I don't have the words to express the extent to which it didn't deliver. It is repeatedly described as "hilarious." I am yet to find a single hilarious moment in this novel, maybe the chapter titles? But, it is not at all funny, not at all clever or witty. It is unnecessarily dark, and it is always disturbing when characters are casually and brutally killed; this happens at least three times. There is an extremely violent assault scene; a scene this graphic (it is metaphoric, but this only adds to the violence) has to serve a greater purpose than simply setting the scene for two characters to meet and bond. The novel concludes with a bit of a massacre. And yes, what we see of the husband is odious, but the violence of the consequences is displaced to his body. In many ways, the husband Paul is also a kind of snake, but one who never denied who he was; to accept the comforts of his identity is not without consequences. Yet, we see little to no awareness by either main character of how they might be catalysts to the scenarios that they "correct" through violence. Yes, this was a disappointment.