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Ninetails: Nine Tales
A "smart and deft" fabulist debut collection of stories re-imagining the nine-tailed fox spirit of Asian folklore (C. Pam Zhang).
A fox spirit avenges a teen girl by seducing her abuser. A shapeshifting woman finds herself chased through the woods by fox hunters; meanwhile, an assassination plot called Operation Fox Hunt unfolds against the last Queen of Korea. Chinese migrants hoping to make new lives as “paper children” in America find their pasts—and their hopes for the future—embodied in the foxes that haunt the harbor in 1900s Angel Island. In the nine tales of Ninetails, acclaimed poet Sally Wen Mao reimagines the fox spirit from Asian folklore—a shapeshifter, shaman, and seductress—as an icon of vengeance, solidarity and liberation. The characters of her stories are varied—from silicone sex dolls who come to life with new purpose, to women whose crushes manifest as stones—but they all reach for a common to find truth and belonging in a difficult world determined to consider them alien.
With the fabulist vibrancy of Carmen Maria Machado, the sinuous world-building of Helen Oyeyemi, and the sensuous feminist rage of Han Kang, Ninetails is both timeless—unearthing a cultural icon whose origins date back over a thousand years—and timely in its contemporary political urgency.
A fox spirit avenges a teen girl by seducing her abuser. A shapeshifting woman finds herself chased through the woods by fox hunters; meanwhile, an assassination plot called Operation Fox Hunt unfolds against the last Queen of Korea. Chinese migrants hoping to make new lives as “paper children” in America find their pasts—and their hopes for the future—embodied in the foxes that haunt the harbor in 1900s Angel Island. In the nine tales of Ninetails, acclaimed poet Sally Wen Mao reimagines the fox spirit from Asian folklore—a shapeshifter, shaman, and seductress—as an icon of vengeance, solidarity and liberation. The characters of her stories are varied—from silicone sex dolls who come to life with new purpose, to women whose crushes manifest as stones—but they all reach for a common to find truth and belonging in a difficult world determined to consider them alien.
With the fabulist vibrancy of Carmen Maria Machado, the sinuous world-building of Helen Oyeyemi, and the sensuous feminist rage of Han Kang, Ninetails is both timeless—unearthing a cultural icon whose origins date back over a thousand years—and timely in its contemporary political urgency.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 28, 2024
49 people are currently reading
7219 people want to read
About the author
Sally Wen Mao
11 books157 followersSally Wen Mao is the author of Mad Honey Symposium (Alice James Books, 2014), the winner of the 2012 Kinereth Gensler Award. Her work has been anthologized in The Best American Poetry 2013 and the Pushcart Prize Anthology. She has a forthcoming book, Oculus, out from Graywolf Press in 2019.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
June 9, 2024
This was an interesting collection of stories that wasn’t anything like what I expected. I imagined a book that felt like fairy tales, but while these were born in culture and mythology they didn’t feel like fairy tales to me (it doesn't meant hey weren’t). A couple of the stories were pretty interesting (I especially liked the guide to revenge). A few I found pretty bizarre and almost all I had a hard time losing myself in. I did like that some of the stories tied together a bit and I loved the look at the unfair treatment of Chinese people and of women. I think these are the kind of stories that will stay with me as my mind continues to turn them around and pull more and more meaning from each one. I will say there should be trigger warnings for sexual content, abuse, and suicide. I’m not going to go through the stories and summarize them, while the book caught me off guard it was in the best of ways. I wavered between 3 and 3.5 stars so it is at 3 for now but I may come back to bump that up later.
May 30, 2024
Sally Wen Mao is a talented author, but I didn't feel much emotion for this short story collection.
This collection is composed of eight short stories spread between one longer story carried out through several POVs. While the writing and themes explored were compelling, I struggled with staying engaged. The themes of immigration, misogyny/sexism, oppressive patriarchal ideals, and identity in one's culture would barely be touched in the story before it ended.
Without a doubt, the interspersed story was the most engaging, but only once I reached the last part did I feel that way. It came together in a collective tale that was powerful and moving.
While I'm sad this collection didn't work out well for me, the mythology's gorgeous, and the prose phenomenal. The themes are impactful even if the stories felt too brief for them to land. Mao has beautiful original ideas, so I will be checking out her other collections.
(I won't be leaving descriptions of the separate stories since I believe it best to go in blind, but here are my ratings for each.)
Angel Island collection avg.: 3 stars
Love Doll: 3.5 stars
Beasts of the Chase: 3 stars
Turtle Head Epidemic: 2 stars
The Fig Queen: 2 stars
A Huxian's Guide toSeduction Revenge Immortality: 5 stars
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: 2 stars
Lotus Stench: 3.5 stars
The Crush: 3 stars
CW: Body Horror, Death, Suicide, Bullying, Violence, Abortion, Gore, Racial Slurs, Cheating
*this list comprises only what I noted and is not extensive*
Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Books for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This collection is composed of eight short stories spread between one longer story carried out through several POVs. While the writing and themes explored were compelling, I struggled with staying engaged. The themes of immigration, misogyny/sexism, oppressive patriarchal ideals, and identity in one's culture would barely be touched in the story before it ended.
Without a doubt, the interspersed story was the most engaging, but only once I reached the last part did I feel that way. It came together in a collective tale that was powerful and moving.
While I'm sad this collection didn't work out well for me, the mythology's gorgeous, and the prose phenomenal. The themes are impactful even if the stories felt too brief for them to land. Mao has beautiful original ideas, so I will be checking out her other collections.
(I won't be leaving descriptions of the separate stories since I believe it best to go in blind, but here are my ratings for each.)
Angel Island collection avg.: 3 stars
Love Doll: 3.5 stars
Beasts of the Chase: 3 stars
Turtle Head Epidemic: 2 stars
The Fig Queen: 2 stars
A Huxian's Guide to
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: 2 stars
Lotus Stench: 3.5 stars
The Crush: 3 stars
CW: Body Horror, Death, Suicide, Bullying, Violence, Abortion, Gore, Racial Slurs, Cheating
*this list comprises only what I noted and is not extensive*
Thank you, NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Books for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
June 5, 2024
I love mythology turned feminist, but something about this was so on the nose that it didn’t quite pull me in. I will revisit in a different mood to see if I feel differently, but alas, being an ARC, a review is due now. Solid three stars it is.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 23, 2024
I am very thankful that I received an advanced copy of this book in a goodreads giveaway.
The writing was extremely good in the book, Sally Wen Mao does a great job of keeping the reader engaged. It really would have been better if there was some type of introduction explaining the myth of the ninetail fox. I had to go do my own research to try to understand what was going on a bit better, but like everything myth, there are so many variations and beliefs, it really would have helped if the author would have explained the one they were going with in the short stories.
Although these were just side plots in the stories, my favorite parts were learning historical facts. I hadn't thought about the 1910 earthquake in California in years. I have never heard about Empress Myeungseong before. This book really isn't the type of genre I am really interested in, but would be if it was just the history.
The writing was extremely good in the book, Sally Wen Mao does a great job of keeping the reader engaged. It really would have been better if there was some type of introduction explaining the myth of the ninetail fox. I had to go do my own research to try to understand what was going on a bit better, but like everything myth, there are so many variations and beliefs, it really would have helped if the author would have explained the one they were going with in the short stories.
Although these were just side plots in the stories, my favorite parts were learning historical facts. I hadn't thought about the 1910 earthquake in California in years. I have never heard about Empress Myeungseong before. This book really isn't the type of genre I am really interested in, but would be if it was just the history.
April 17, 2024
This collection of short stories was a breath of fresh paper. A little bit weird, mysterious, and foxy. The layout was clever too, with a prevailing story dissected into segments with other short stories in between. The main story was solid and I liked how it was presented through the different POVs. I never thought I would enjoy a short story about a sex doll in Hong Kong as much as I did. The author kept the tone serious and classy while maintaining a good level of humor.
There were historical elements in each story, and it was interesting to learn more about the fox folklore. There was just the right amount in each story to support the overall theme, which helped keep the focus on the unique storytelling. Some of the stories were better than others, but overall I enjoyed the entire collection.
There were historical elements in each story, and it was interesting to learn more about the fox folklore. There was just the right amount in each story to support the overall theme, which helped keep the focus on the unique storytelling. Some of the stories were better than others, but overall I enjoyed the entire collection.
June 10, 2024
Had to DNF the last two stories which is why it lost a star. But otherwise I really enjoyed it! Each of the stories felt unique while still being slightly connected. I really enjoyed them until the last two—not sure what happened there, but the last two were just incredibly slow for me.
August 20, 2025
omg ...... omg *bares fangs* channeled such electric storytelling and emotions. my only huh is sometimes i didn't feel like things were so tied to foxes. a few stories are sticking with me for a long time (not all) but so many adventures were ones i loved being along for
September 18, 2024
CW (non-exhaustive): body horror, suicide, death, violence, abortion.
It’s funny how certain books always seem to find me exactly when I need to hear some harsh truths, just like the fox spirits that found the women in these stories did, when they were (in the words of a creative mentor) “straddling the line of (personal) catastrophe and navigated that emotional threshold.”
there was an inherent melancholy that tied these stories together underneath the anger, the indignation, and anxiety that varied across these stories grounded in history and mythology and realism alike. it’s strangely comforting that the act of recognition across realms will always be world-altering yet grounding, in a reorientation of sorts.
favorite stories include: The Haunting of Angel Island, Love Doll, The Fig Queen,The Huxian’s Guide to Immortality, and Lotus Stench.
It’s funny how certain books always seem to find me exactly when I need to hear some harsh truths, just like the fox spirits that found the women in these stories did, when they were (in the words of a creative mentor) “straddling the line of (personal) catastrophe and navigated that emotional threshold.”
there was an inherent melancholy that tied these stories together underneath the anger, the indignation, and anxiety that varied across these stories grounded in history and mythology and realism alike. it’s strangely comforting that the act of recognition across realms will always be world-altering yet grounding, in a reorientation of sorts.
favorite stories include: The Haunting of Angel Island, Love Doll, The Fig Queen,The Huxian’s Guide to Immortality, and Lotus Stench.
August 20, 2024
decided I don't like surrealism. be real
June 13, 2025
i thought i would really like this collection since it seemed right up my alley, but the more i read it the less i liked it. there’s a lot to like; the prose is great, clear without too much pretense. characters are compelling and complex. there were a lot of stories that individually, i really liked. i think my problems with it come down to presentation.
i understand the decision to revolve all stories around fox spirits, but interestingly, i think it detracted from the collection’s unity rather than added to it. another reviewer phrased it as “on the nose” and while i’m hesitant to use that expression, i understand the sentiment. the introduction of the fox spirits at times reduced the complexity of characters’ decisions instead of adding to it. if the authors intent was to display the variety and diversity of what fox spirits represent, why choose only one myth to revisit as the recurring theme, suggesting that many of the roles they took are ultimately redicuble to the same essence, almost in an encyclopedic way?
it especially left kind of a bad taste when the collection closed with a brief passing remark about how gumiho and kitsune are the same under a different name, when the entire collection has been purely drawn from chinese tradition. like, really? thats the kind of asia for asians mentality i expect from the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere, not here. it felt almost gender essentialist, at times, especially with the conflation of yin and yang; the kind of feminism that upholds the gender binary instead of interrogating it. not to say that that’s what the author intended, but care must be taken when using concepts like this.
another thing that kind of left a bad taste was the introduction of a non-binary character in one of the later stories, seemingly purely for the heck of it? the story gained nothing by making them non-binary, and it felt like empty representation to me. kind of fitting that that’s a problem i would have with it, considering my main gripes.
regardless, i stand by my sentiment that many of the stories are very good, individually. there are some wonderful premises that are delivered well. perhaps my opinion of them would be much better in isolation.
i understand the decision to revolve all stories around fox spirits, but interestingly, i think it detracted from the collection’s unity rather than added to it. another reviewer phrased it as “on the nose” and while i’m hesitant to use that expression, i understand the sentiment. the introduction of the fox spirits at times reduced the complexity of characters’ decisions instead of adding to it. if the authors intent was to display the variety and diversity of what fox spirits represent, why choose only one myth to revisit as the recurring theme, suggesting that many of the roles they took are ultimately redicuble to the same essence, almost in an encyclopedic way?
it especially left kind of a bad taste when the collection closed with a brief passing remark about how gumiho and kitsune are the same under a different name, when the entire collection has been purely drawn from chinese tradition. like, really? thats the kind of asia for asians mentality i expect from the greater east asia co-prosperity sphere, not here. it felt almost gender essentialist, at times, especially with the conflation of yin and yang; the kind of feminism that upholds the gender binary instead of interrogating it. not to say that that’s what the author intended, but care must be taken when using concepts like this.
another thing that kind of left a bad taste was the introduction of a non-binary character in one of the later stories, seemingly purely for the heck of it? the story gained nothing by making them non-binary, and it felt like empty representation to me. kind of fitting that that’s a problem i would have with it, considering my main gripes.
regardless, i stand by my sentiment that many of the stories are very good, individually. there are some wonderful premises that are delivered well. perhaps my opinion of them would be much better in isolation.
October 12, 2025
Eight stories with one theme layered between them. I really like short story collections. I thought this one would have a more mythology or fairytale feel but they were just interesting stories with varying themes and ideas. Some stories were harder than others but I do love that they tackled racism, feminism and, of course, rage. I liked how I could see tie in to Ninetails. It's a nice set and I enjoyed them!
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
August 29, 2024
I think I'm ODing on fox spirits, this book presents multiple, interlinked stories about the critters. Some where they are hunted down and slain as well as stories where they kill the abusers an everything in between. I read this book, I think it might not make a great audio book, it jumps around a lot and it would be easy to forget which thread is what.
It was a decent if bizarre read, a mix of traditional and modern folklore.
It was a decent if bizarre read, a mix of traditional and modern folklore.
July 5, 2024
I wasn't quite sure how to rate this book. It is well written yet I struggled to get through it. I guess its philosophy is just not my thing.
September 10, 2024
A bit didactic and every story read like every other. I know what the word crepuscular means. I don't need to see it repeated 1,00 times.
July 18, 2024
The Fox spirits of Eastern Asia have always fascinated me: how could you not like spirits who can attain immortality after devouring men's souls? I couldn't resist checking this collection out on NetGalley. It may not have been what I expected, but it certainly surprised me in some very welcome ways. Despite my rather lukewarm rating, I'm very glad to have read this.
The overarching story is the definitely best written and most well thought-out—even if I think my personal favorite is "Love Doll," one of those aforementioned welcome surprises. I also love the way that the overarching story, "The Haunting of Angel Island," provides a contrast from the rest of the stories by being a little more planted in realism—with speculative elements.
Speaking of haunting, though, I will not only be haunted by some of these stories (like the way I actually enjoyed the story about love dolls the most, like the extremely devastating last paragraph of the second and third entries of the overarching story) but also by some of the things I learned from them. I now more about figs, wasps, and sweat bees than I would like. These true facts/stories are also incorporated into the collection's stories in a very organic and relevant way. But I was surprised how important a role insects play within them, considering the collection is about fox spirits, who actually seem to appear less.
What aren't very organically incorporated into the stories are the social justice causes that the author cares about. There isn't one of these that I disagree with, but they're presented in such a way that makes me instinctively shy away from them, a kind of preaching or lecturing style. But lately, I also feel that this kind of thing is pretty accepted as a trend—so I might just be a grump about it.
Looking up a little bit more about the author after finishing this, I've learned that she is a poet. This makes a lot of sense, considering her very vivid writing and colorful metaphors (that sometimes work, sometimes don't). Even if I didn't enjoy all of her works in this collection, I might check out some of her poetry.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books for letting me read a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Individual story ratings:
The Haunting of Angel Island: ★★★★O
Love Doll: ★★★★O
Beasts of the Chase: ★★OOO
Turtle Head Epidemic: ★½OOO
The Fig Queen: ★★★OO
The Quillian's Guide to Seduction Revenge Immortality: ★★★½O
The Girl with Flies Coming out of Her Eyes: ★★OOO
Lotus Stench: ★★OOO
The Crush: ★★OOO
The overarching story is the definitely best written and most well thought-out—even if I think my personal favorite is "Love Doll," one of those aforementioned welcome surprises. I also love the way that the overarching story, "The Haunting of Angel Island," provides a contrast from the rest of the stories by being a little more planted in realism—with speculative elements.
Speaking of haunting, though, I will not only be haunted by some of these stories (like the way I actually enjoyed the story about love dolls the most, like the extremely devastating last paragraph of the second and third entries of the overarching story) but also by some of the things I learned from them. I now more about figs, wasps, and sweat bees than I would like. These true facts/stories are also incorporated into the collection's stories in a very organic and relevant way. But I was surprised how important a role insects play within them, considering the collection is about fox spirits, who actually seem to appear less.
What aren't very organically incorporated into the stories are the social justice causes that the author cares about. There isn't one of these that I disagree with, but they're presented in such a way that makes me instinctively shy away from them, a kind of preaching or lecturing style. But lately, I also feel that this kind of thing is pretty accepted as a trend—so I might just be a grump about it.
Looking up a little bit more about the author after finishing this, I've learned that she is a poet. This makes a lot of sense, considering her very vivid writing and colorful metaphors (that sometimes work, sometimes don't). Even if I didn't enjoy all of her works in this collection, I might check out some of her poetry.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books for letting me read a copy in exchange for an honest review!
Individual story ratings:
The Haunting of Angel Island: ★★★★O
Love Doll: ★★★★O
Beasts of the Chase: ★★OOO
Turtle Head Epidemic: ★½OOO
The Fig Queen: ★★★OO
The Quillian's Guide to Seduction Revenge Immortality: ★★★½O
The Girl with Flies Coming out of Her Eyes: ★★OOO
Lotus Stench: ★★OOO
The Crush: ★★OOO
November 15, 2024
They're all variations on the same themes and images, which are all very well done, but really robbed the stories of some impact for me. I always felt I knew where it was going. I was sometimes wrong, but the feeling persisted.
May 21, 2024
"Did you know? Like in those Pu Songling stories, you become either a ghost or a fox."
Sally Wen Mao weaves a masterful fairytale across a broad canvas, with the Ninetails fox appearing whenever she wishes.
But here there are monsters. Faint of heart, be wary. The author writes with a feminist urgency that is apparent in each story, whether ghostly-faint or angrily in your face.
"The silence between them was a landmine filled with poetry."
Each story is clever and unique, unconventional, and genre-bending.
"...smiling against the desperate poems of women long departed..."
Oh, and read Dickinson sometime.
Sally Wen Mao weaves a masterful fairytale across a broad canvas, with the Ninetails fox appearing whenever she wishes.
But here there are monsters. Faint of heart, be wary. The author writes with a feminist urgency that is apparent in each story, whether ghostly-faint or angrily in your face.
"The silence between them was a landmine filled with poetry."
Each story is clever and unique, unconventional, and genre-bending.
"...smiling against the desperate poems of women long departed..."
Oh, and read Dickinson sometime.
October 4, 2024
3 Stars
One Liner: Interesting but a mixed collection
Ninetails is a collection of short stories re-imagined and based on the fox spirit in Chinese mythology. It is a feminist anthology dealing with misogyny, immigration, racism, and different types of abuse against women, especially Asian women (by fellow Asians and Westerners).
Apart from the individual short stories, there’s an overarching story set on Angel Island where the Chinese people land in the US. The immigration office decides the fate of these people after the men and women are separated and made to stay in different buildings. The conditions are pathetic and deplorable.
As always, I made notes for each story (presented below with only grammatical edits):
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
Arrival: Tye arrives at the island for her new job as an interpreter at the immigration office. We get her past and a glimpse of the mythical fox. The beginning of the overarching story. I’m curious!
Love Doll: What happens when a love doll (a human-sized s*x toy) starts to have feelings? In the first-person POV of the doll, the story takes us through her life and that of its new owners. Falls flat when it should have hit the high note.
Beasts of the Chase: What happens when a woman decides to turn back into a fox (vixen)? How does her ethnicity affect her life? Okay!
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
More events at the immigration office. Different women, several stories, and different fates.
Turtle Head Epidemic: Meng Li was an eighteen-year-old student when the turtle head epidemic swept Singapore. Was it because of a dead pig, a woman, or a fox spirit? This should have been better.
The Fig Queen: What happens when a woman with a troubled life becomes tiny and someone else takes her place? A story of metamorphosis in many ways. Kafkaesque almost!
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
The overarching story continues as more women arrive and await the decision of the immigration officers.
A Huxians Guide to Seduction RevengeImmortality: The longest story in the book with a first and second-person narration. Well-written and better than the previous ones.
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: Started great but I soon lost interest! The title says it all. Won’t reveal anything else.
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
More women, ghosts, spirits, and opposite faiths; believe your God or the White God?
Lotus Stench: The story of a fox spirit and a ghost (woman, obv.), and that ties them together. An interesting read.
The Crush: Another lengthy story about love… or as the title says crush. How do crushed manifest? What to do with them? Feels more mellow than the other stories.
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
Tye is the focus again as the connecting storyline comes to an end.
Departure: What kind of departure can this be? After all, there are many ways to depart! Surreal… (which is the aim of the collection).
Thanks to a review by Sarah, I went into the book with fewer expectations. This helped since most stories didn’t have much impact and felt they couldn’t reach their potential. A couple of stories were above-average but most were the kind I forgot a day after reading (the notes saved me).
Fortunately, the overarching piece is a lot better. And, I now know some random information about figs, wasps, bees, foxes, etc.
To summarize, Ninetails has its moments with poetic prose and surreal situations. However, the stories have a varied impact, which dilutes the overall enjoyment.
Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Books, for a copy of the book. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
#NetGalley #Ninetails
One Liner: Interesting but a mixed collection
Ninetails is a collection of short stories re-imagined and based on the fox spirit in Chinese mythology. It is a feminist anthology dealing with misogyny, immigration, racism, and different types of abuse against women, especially Asian women (by fellow Asians and Westerners).
Apart from the individual short stories, there’s an overarching story set on Angel Island where the Chinese people land in the US. The immigration office decides the fate of these people after the men and women are separated and made to stay in different buildings. The conditions are pathetic and deplorable.
As always, I made notes for each story (presented below with only grammatical edits):
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
Arrival: Tye arrives at the island for her new job as an interpreter at the immigration office. We get her past and a glimpse of the mythical fox. The beginning of the overarching story. I’m curious!
Love Doll: What happens when a love doll (a human-sized s*x toy) starts to have feelings? In the first-person POV of the doll, the story takes us through her life and that of its new owners. Falls flat when it should have hit the high note.
Beasts of the Chase: What happens when a woman decides to turn back into a fox (vixen)? How does her ethnicity affect her life? Okay!
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
More events at the immigration office. Different women, several stories, and different fates.
Turtle Head Epidemic: Meng Li was an eighteen-year-old student when the turtle head epidemic swept Singapore. Was it because of a dead pig, a woman, or a fox spirit? This should have been better.
The Fig Queen: What happens when a woman with a troubled life becomes tiny and someone else takes her place? A story of metamorphosis in many ways. Kafkaesque almost!
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
The overarching story continues as more women arrive and await the decision of the immigration officers.
A Huxians Guide to Seduction RevengeImmortality: The longest story in the book with a first and second-person narration. Well-written and better than the previous ones.
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: Started great but I soon lost interest! The title says it all. Won’t reveal anything else.
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
More women, ghosts, spirits, and opposite faiths; believe your God or the White God?
Lotus Stench: The story of a fox spirit and a ghost (woman, obv.), and that ties them together. An interesting read.
The Crush: Another lengthy story about love… or as the title says crush. How do crushed manifest? What to do with them? Feels more mellow than the other stories.
• The Haunting Of Angel Island
Tye is the focus again as the connecting storyline comes to an end.
Departure: What kind of departure can this be? After all, there are many ways to depart! Surreal… (which is the aim of the collection).
Thanks to a review by Sarah, I went into the book with fewer expectations. This helped since most stories didn’t have much impact and felt they couldn’t reach their potential. A couple of stories were above-average but most were the kind I forgot a day after reading (the notes saved me).
Fortunately, the overarching piece is a lot better. And, I now know some random information about figs, wasps, bees, foxes, etc.
To summarize, Ninetails has its moments with poetic prose and surreal situations. However, the stories have a varied impact, which dilutes the overall enjoyment.
Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Books, for a copy of the book. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.
#NetGalley #Ninetails
June 5, 2025
I found this collection of shot stories to be visceral and lush in its tellings of the violence Chinese women faced, and continue to face, all with the backdrop of fox-spirit lore.
Mao's skills as a poet lend Ninetails it's strongest most enjoyable attribute, which is the incredibly vivid prose. All of the imagery she paints, both the beautiful and the horrific, are so vivid in their descriptions and bring the characters, their emotions, and their plights all to life. She is especially successful when it comes to describing touch and feeling, it was a wonder to read through these stories and feel their sensations in my hands.
But while the prose is beautiful, the content it describes is VERY heavy. Do take care to check for trigger warnings before jumping into this book. Sexual assault, suicide, murder, racism, abortion, racial imprisonment, it is all here. Heavier still is the weight that all of this is the reality women face every day, especially women of color.
I remember vaguely learning about Angel Island in history class in school, and I'm sure the vagueness was intentional as to gloss over the inhumane conditions that the immigrants who were imprisoned there had to face.
The chapters of Ninetails that cover those trapped on the island were some of the most engaging, heart-wrenching parts of the book. The characters might be fictional individually, but their stories ring true to the the hundreds, if not thousands of soul who landed on the shores of Angel Island hoping for the American Dream and to find their fresh starts and instead suffered like livestock. there. (Totally random, but if you like paranormal stuff, Ghost Adventures did an investigation on Angel Island and it is one of the scariest episodes in the series, like ever. That place is mad haunted!!!)
For the standalone stories, these were my favorites in the bunch:
-The Fig Queen (very, very surreal but packs such a poignant punch about self-identity and the way women make themselves small to fit into the shape of their lives rather than shaping it themselves)
-A Huxian's Guide To Seduction, Revenge, Immortality (Just a really good story of a scumbag getting what he deserves. Lots of real bad, heavy stuff leading up to his karma though...)
-The Crush (Easily the most grounded of the stand alone stories, save for the pearls that grow into boulders based on people's doomed infatuations. It was angsty and real and relatable and relevant and just a refreshing change of pace after all the book's other phantasms)
Mao's skills as a poet lend Ninetails it's strongest most enjoyable attribute, which is the incredibly vivid prose. All of the imagery she paints, both the beautiful and the horrific, are so vivid in their descriptions and bring the characters, their emotions, and their plights all to life. She is especially successful when it comes to describing touch and feeling, it was a wonder to read through these stories and feel their sensations in my hands.
But while the prose is beautiful, the content it describes is VERY heavy. Do take care to check for trigger warnings before jumping into this book. Sexual assault, suicide, murder, racism, abortion, racial imprisonment, it is all here. Heavier still is the weight that all of this is the reality women face every day, especially women of color.
I remember vaguely learning about Angel Island in history class in school, and I'm sure the vagueness was intentional as to gloss over the inhumane conditions that the immigrants who were imprisoned there had to face.
The chapters of Ninetails that cover those trapped on the island were some of the most engaging, heart-wrenching parts of the book. The characters might be fictional individually, but their stories ring true to the the hundreds, if not thousands of soul who landed on the shores of Angel Island hoping for the American Dream and to find their fresh starts and instead suffered like livestock. there. (Totally random, but if you like paranormal stuff, Ghost Adventures did an investigation on Angel Island and it is one of the scariest episodes in the series, like ever. That place is mad haunted!!!)
For the standalone stories, these were my favorites in the bunch:
-The Fig Queen (very, very surreal but packs such a poignant punch about self-identity and the way women make themselves small to fit into the shape of their lives rather than shaping it themselves)
-A Huxian's Guide To Seduction, Revenge, Immortality (Just a really good story of a scumbag getting what he deserves. Lots of real bad, heavy stuff leading up to his karma though...)
-The Crush (Easily the most grounded of the stand alone stories, save for the pearls that grow into boulders based on people's doomed infatuations. It was angsty and real and relatable and relevant and just a refreshing change of pace after all the book's other phantasms)
July 6, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Sally Wen Mao for an Advanced Reader's Copy of this title!
I don't usually pick up short stories, but I was super drawn by the cover and description of "Ninetails" and I'm really glad I was able to request it! The nine stories told within this book all center around the title idea of the nine-tailed fox, but also delve into the stereotypes of the kinds of women the nine-tailed fox represent - independent, hungry, othered, powerful, mysterious, and dangerous. The blend of modern and mystical - sometimes clear, sometimes left to the imagination of the reader - was fun to explore, and I really like (surprisingly, because I don't always personally love stories that are set in the immediate here and now, which is 2024 as of this review) how many of the stories were up-to-date with current events and helped ground the supernatural elements as really believable.
One thing I also really like about this book was that the stories weaved together - there was a central location that was mentioned in most stories where characters could weave in and out of each other's tales, and it helped bring this book of individual stories together into one cohesive work that I really liked. It's not something I've necessarily seen before (and that's probably because this is outside my normal genre), and it helped ground the experience of reading and examining the overarching theme of each story really tidily.
While this is a book about fox spirits first and foremost, it is much more about the women who seek more from life and are unfairly villainized from it. I think those who need to read stories about women who rise above their expectations - their own, or those that are prescribed to them - and face the morning, or who need stories about the loneliness of choices, or who seek stories about the ways women weave in and out of each other's lives, would really like this book.
I don't usually pick up short stories, but I was super drawn by the cover and description of "Ninetails" and I'm really glad I was able to request it! The nine stories told within this book all center around the title idea of the nine-tailed fox, but also delve into the stereotypes of the kinds of women the nine-tailed fox represent - independent, hungry, othered, powerful, mysterious, and dangerous. The blend of modern and mystical - sometimes clear, sometimes left to the imagination of the reader - was fun to explore, and I really like (surprisingly, because I don't always personally love stories that are set in the immediate here and now, which is 2024 as of this review) how many of the stories were up-to-date with current events and helped ground the supernatural elements as really believable.
One thing I also really like about this book was that the stories weaved together - there was a central location that was mentioned in most stories where characters could weave in and out of each other's tales, and it helped bring this book of individual stories together into one cohesive work that I really liked. It's not something I've necessarily seen before (and that's probably because this is outside my normal genre), and it helped ground the experience of reading and examining the overarching theme of each story really tidily.
While this is a book about fox spirits first and foremost, it is much more about the women who seek more from life and are unfairly villainized from it. I think those who need to read stories about women who rise above their expectations - their own, or those that are prescribed to them - and face the morning, or who need stories about the loneliness of choices, or who seek stories about the ways women weave in and out of each other's lives, would really like this book.
August 4, 2024
A beautifully written and angry set of stories deploying the Asian fox spirit as character, metaphor, symbol, critical appraisal of folklore, summary of the Chinese immigrant experience, and more. Individual stories ranging in time and place (one is set in 2020 SF, others in Indonesia in the 60s, NYC more or less today, and so on) are framed by connected narratives set in Exclusion-era Angel Island and organized around the law's inherently sexist structure and application. Whenever and wherever they're set, the stories use the trope to highlight international traditions, dating back centuries, that lock women into one role, even in folklore--as one story about a love triangle containing a ghost, a fox spirit, and an entitled male writer (very few men come off well here) notes in an aside, "this was all according to the classical stories of the strange, the zhiguai and the chuanqi. There weren't many stories of women with interiority coupling with charming ghosts, of course--most consisted of this tedious heterosexual tale between a grown man and beautiful melancholy ghost girl--nine times out of ten, she was a teen virgin."
My favorites: the how-to-take revenge story, featuring the classic (as far as I can tell from here) fox spirit getting revenge on one manipulative man, in a story that refers to, among others, Woody Allen, Harvey Weinsteimn, and Bret Kavanaugh; the one set in an apocalyptic (fires and that day the sky was orange, but not COVID) 2020 SF where unrequited love manifests as a quite literal weight; the one interchanging fox facts, the murder of a Korean empress, and a fox spirit escaping the hunt; and, of course, the one about the solidarity of love dolls. Third contemporary feminist love-doll story (Bora Chung, Jessie Ren Marshall) I've read this summer. Someone needs to compile an anthology already.
My favorites: the how-to-take revenge story, featuring the classic (as far as I can tell from here) fox spirit getting revenge on one manipulative man, in a story that refers to, among others, Woody Allen, Harvey Weinsteimn, and Bret Kavanaugh; the one set in an apocalyptic (fires and that day the sky was orange, but not COVID) 2020 SF where unrequited love manifests as a quite literal weight; the one interchanging fox facts, the murder of a Korean empress, and a fox spirit escaping the hunt; and, of course, the one about the solidarity of love dolls. Third contemporary feminist love-doll story (Bora Chung, Jessie Ren Marshall) I've read this summer. Someone needs to compile an anthology already.
November 11, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
This was a collection of good stories, but not a good collection of stories. In other words, the cohesion between them seemed a little lacking at points. I think some stray too far from the nine-tailed fox mythos that is supposed to tie them together.
The Haunting Angel Island Collection: This was a story that I feel would have read better as a full length novel. The ideas and the history were both beautiful and tragic. I wish that other perspectives could have been revisited other than just Tye. The effort to provide closure for everyone at the end fell a little short. 3/5
Love Doll: A completely shocking point of view that really threw me for a loop. If it weren't for an abrupt ending, I think I would have liked it more. 3/5
Beasts of the Chase: I liked the more fairy tale feel to this one. Some of the history mentioned was a little jarring in how distant it felt from the narrative (George Washington's fox hunts), but at other points I really liked the historical bits sprinkled in. 4/5
Turtle Head Epidemic: Not what I expected, but I liked it all the same. Again, not the biggest fan of the ending. 4/5
The Fig Queen: This one was my least favorite. It felt very far from the fox imagery and just did not capture my attention. 2/5
A Huxian's Guide to Seduction Revenge Immortality: I'm always down for a revenge tale against a man who deserves it!!! 5/5
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: This one also felt too far removed from the fox imagery and was not a fan of the abrupt ending. Could have been longer to flesh out some of the ideas of "appropriate" grief. 2/5
Lotus Stench: I liked this one a lot! Reminded me of Death Becomes Her but like with a more feminist message. 5/5
The Crush: My favorite of the collection, even though again the fox mythos was lacking. I found the pace and tone to be beautiful and it captured the feelings of unrequited love so well. 5/5
This was a collection of good stories, but not a good collection of stories. In other words, the cohesion between them seemed a little lacking at points. I think some stray too far from the nine-tailed fox mythos that is supposed to tie them together.
The Haunting Angel Island Collection: This was a story that I feel would have read better as a full length novel. The ideas and the history were both beautiful and tragic. I wish that other perspectives could have been revisited other than just Tye. The effort to provide closure for everyone at the end fell a little short. 3/5
Love Doll: A completely shocking point of view that really threw me for a loop. If it weren't for an abrupt ending, I think I would have liked it more. 3/5
Beasts of the Chase: I liked the more fairy tale feel to this one. Some of the history mentioned was a little jarring in how distant it felt from the narrative (George Washington's fox hunts), but at other points I really liked the historical bits sprinkled in. 4/5
Turtle Head Epidemic: Not what I expected, but I liked it all the same. Again, not the biggest fan of the ending. 4/5
The Fig Queen: This one was my least favorite. It felt very far from the fox imagery and just did not capture my attention. 2/5
A Huxian's Guide to
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: This one also felt too far removed from the fox imagery and was not a fan of the abrupt ending. Could have been longer to flesh out some of the ideas of "appropriate" grief. 2/5
Lotus Stench: I liked this one a lot! Reminded me of Death Becomes Her but like with a more feminist message. 5/5
The Crush: My favorite of the collection, even though again the fox mythos was lacking. I found the pace and tone to be beautiful and it captured the feelings of unrequited love so well. 5/5
June 10, 2025
My short story collection for the year. A better choice than most years: creative, cohesive, and clearly written with a huge amount of love and passion. I still can’t help that short stories are just not for me. Better luck next time, 2026!
Haunting of Angel Island, 1-9: most are mid, but the last story pulls it all together beautifully, 4/5
Love Doll: most intriguing of the collection, we start off with a bang, 4.5/5
Beasts of the Chase: visuals were gorgeous, 3.5/5
Turtle Head Epidemic: plot-wise, the most exciting and intriguing of the collection, 4/5
Fig Queen: I was bored. 2/5
A Huxian’s Guide to Immortality: the tone didn’t land for me. bored again, 2/5
The Girl With Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: I barely remember this one, 1/5
Lotus Stench: also boring, and I couldn’t keep the two characters straight (was this purposeful? why name them Liana and Lillian??), 1/5
The Crush: back on the up! I liked this one more. still felt underdeveloped, 3/5
I think my biggest criticism throughout is that there was a lot of spoon-feeding the reader how the characters were feeling and how to interpret different situations. The premise for each story was solid but sometimes the metaphor was so heavy handed that it was hard to get through.
Haunting of Angel Island, 1-9: most are mid, but the last story pulls it all together beautifully, 4/5
Love Doll: most intriguing of the collection, we start off with a bang, 4.5/5
Beasts of the Chase: visuals were gorgeous, 3.5/5
Turtle Head Epidemic: plot-wise, the most exciting and intriguing of the collection, 4/5
Fig Queen: I was bored. 2/5
A Huxian’s Guide to Immortality: the tone didn’t land for me. bored again, 2/5
The Girl With Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes: I barely remember this one, 1/5
Lotus Stench: also boring, and I couldn’t keep the two characters straight (was this purposeful? why name them Liana and Lillian??), 1/5
The Crush: back on the up! I liked this one more. still felt underdeveloped, 3/5
I think my biggest criticism throughout is that there was a lot of spoon-feeding the reader how the characters were feeling and how to interpret different situations. The premise for each story was solid but sometimes the metaphor was so heavy handed that it was hard to get through.
July 31, 2025
“Ninetails: Nine Tails” Is an Asian fox-spirit themed collection of stories by Sally Wen Mao. Ms. Mao is probably best known for her poetry, of which there are three published collections so far. Ninetails is her first published prose fiction collection.
It does indeed feature nine tales, as the title suggests. However, chapters of one story, “The Haunting of Angel Island,” begin and end the book, as well as sit between the other stories. Almost all stories deal directly or indirectly with the shape-shifting fox spirits of Asian lore. These vary from the fully ascended Kumiho, which are the celestial nine tailed foxes who have achieved divinity, to those who aspire to become these beings. There are various paths to this elevated state that are explored.
The stories all mesh together in a very satisfying way, but of course all of them will not please the average reader. Some will stand out more than others. Another aspect of the work that is disturbing is the historical context of how Asian women were treated, and indeed are still treated today. It’s only painful because it’s accurate. However, in many cases, the characters rise above their situations, and there are positive outcomes. Overall, I think this is a very interesting and engaging collection.
It does indeed feature nine tales, as the title suggests. However, chapters of one story, “The Haunting of Angel Island,” begin and end the book, as well as sit between the other stories. Almost all stories deal directly or indirectly with the shape-shifting fox spirits of Asian lore. These vary from the fully ascended Kumiho, which are the celestial nine tailed foxes who have achieved divinity, to those who aspire to become these beings. There are various paths to this elevated state that are explored.
The stories all mesh together in a very satisfying way, but of course all of them will not please the average reader. Some will stand out more than others. Another aspect of the work that is disturbing is the historical context of how Asian women were treated, and indeed are still treated today. It’s only painful because it’s accurate. However, in many cases, the characters rise above their situations, and there are positive outcomes. Overall, I think this is a very interesting and engaging collection.
December 8, 2024
These stories are the best folklore-meets-modern-times I've ever read, and that's because there's so much purpose behind them. This short story collection is really literature as activism. Here are these beliefs about women that go back centuries -- some of them as far back as BCE -- and it's disturbing to see in 2024 (almost 2025) that some of these beliefs still exist. I hope these stories make people feel uncomfortable because people shouldn't be comfortable about the way women are perceived and treated. Really, men need to read these stories, but I feel like the men who would read them aren't the ones who really need to. For me, the story with the strongest punch to the gut is "A Huxian's Guide..." Those three-example inserts that highlight some of the recent set-backs in our government and society (like a couple men who rose up to the highest court in the land despite sexually abusing and raping women, and then those men contributed to the overturn of Roe vs. Wade), and all influenced by archaic beliefs and man-made superiority. Anyway, this is an amazing collection, and I am grateful for it.
April 27, 2025
A set of modern stories steeped in traditional Chinese strange tales of fox spirits, ghosts, and liminal spaces. Strange tales can often be a little nasty, with body horror and creepy dudes, and I like that the author leans into that aspect of the genre. I loved that the stories are told from the point of view of the women/foxes/spirits, like in her story “Lotus Stench,” which flips Pu Songling’s “Lotus Fragrance” on its head. The story with chapters sprinkled throughout the collection was particularly powerful: “The Haunting of Angel Island.” I have visited Angel Island and been in the barracks where immigrants were detained, which is now a historical exhibit. Some of their poems are still carved into the walls, and this story brought to life the emotions everyone must have felt during that time when the Chinese Exclusion Act was in place. Together, the stories feel like a conversation with history, with the strange tale genre, with gender oppression, and with xenophobia. I highly recommend this collection!
July 29, 2024
Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.
Ninetails tells the stories of Asian woman's experience, interwoven with the presence of fox spirits of Asian folklore. The stand-alone tales are allegorical and bring to light how they are perceived in the male-dominated society, and how the women 'fight back' with the help of the fox spirits. The short stories are interludes from a nine part narrative "The Haunting of Angel Island", set in the early 1900's and describes the treatment of Asian migrants coming to America (specifically on the West Coast) and the concept of 'paper children' (those abandoning their former lives and creating a new identity in the "Beautiful Country' (the literal translation of America in Mandarin/Cantonese).
These tales, while fictional, could be very much drawn from real world experiences, only with the inclusion of the fox spirit, which adds a fantastical element to the narrative.
Ninetails tells the stories of Asian woman's experience, interwoven with the presence of fox spirits of Asian folklore. The stand-alone tales are allegorical and bring to light how they are perceived in the male-dominated society, and how the women 'fight back' with the help of the fox spirits. The short stories are interludes from a nine part narrative "The Haunting of Angel Island", set in the early 1900's and describes the treatment of Asian migrants coming to America (specifically on the West Coast) and the concept of 'paper children' (those abandoning their former lives and creating a new identity in the "Beautiful Country' (the literal translation of America in Mandarin/Cantonese).
These tales, while fictional, could be very much drawn from real world experiences, only with the inclusion of the fox spirit, which adds a fantastical element to the narrative.
August 21, 2024
Exploring and rearranging the stories of foxes and their place in Chinese mythology, Ms. Mao’s stories are poignant, humorous, bloody, frightful, puzzling and fraught with tension. The foxes are invariably female and thus the book is written with a decidedly female slant.
Stories of fox spirits who give up their selves for a happily-ever-after with some hapless males are treated with derision. These women have a chance to party in the heavens with other nine-tailed fox spirits. Why would they trade that for sweaty sex with some silly male human? So the stories are concerned with female autonomy—the acts women must commit to gain a living (or simply to live), to master a language, learn a trade, get a husband or learn to live without one.
Whether mischievous or mournful, spiteful or sprightly, these females pose different alternatives for young girls to learn how to deal in a patriarchal society.
Stories of fox spirits who give up their selves for a happily-ever-after with some hapless males are treated with derision. These women have a chance to party in the heavens with other nine-tailed fox spirits. Why would they trade that for sweaty sex with some silly male human? So the stories are concerned with female autonomy—the acts women must commit to gain a living (or simply to live), to master a language, learn a trade, get a husband or learn to live without one.
Whether mischievous or mournful, spiteful or sprightly, these females pose different alternatives for young girls to learn how to deal in a patriarchal society.
December 6, 2024
I took my time with this one. The language is very rich, and the stories, very dark and gritty. Not the sort of thing you speed right through.
Definitely some sensitive subject matter covered here. As others have advised, I would suggest checking for a Trigger Warnings list.
That said, once I got over my initial shock at the seedy-underbelly vibe, I really loved it. Maybe I didn’t feel a resonant catharsis with the collection’s conclusion, but I appreciated its artistry.
I also really respected the author’s creative bravery. Some of the stories were so surreal! But she made them work.
I knew almost nothing about fox spirits before reading this book. Would that background knowledge have enhanced my reading pleasure? Perhaps. There could have been an introduction that supplied some insights. Even without one, however, these stories create an intense impact. Possibly more intellectual than emotional, but pleasing all the same.
Definitely some sensitive subject matter covered here. As others have advised, I would suggest checking for a Trigger Warnings list.
That said, once I got over my initial shock at the seedy-underbelly vibe, I really loved it. Maybe I didn’t feel a resonant catharsis with the collection’s conclusion, but I appreciated its artistry.
I also really respected the author’s creative bravery. Some of the stories were so surreal! But she made them work.
I knew almost nothing about fox spirits before reading this book. Would that background knowledge have enhanced my reading pleasure? Perhaps. There could have been an introduction that supplied some insights. Even without one, however, these stories create an intense impact. Possibly more intellectual than emotional, but pleasing all the same.
August 21, 2025
A lyrical collection of nine tales that all explore the mythology of fox spirits and what it means to be an asian woman in a world built for men. Even though relatively short, this book took me nearly four months to finish, partially because it was a physical copy and partly because I had a hard time getting pulled in. Given the mostly depressing topic matter (and many content warnings abound fyi), even when I enjoyed a story, it was hard to want to read another right away. My favorite was probably the Huxian's Guide to Immortality, though it was peppered with tragic current event headlines as a heads up. I also liked the historical fiction nature of the Angel Island saga.
As a reference the stories include:
The Haunting of Angel Island (told in 9 parts)
Love Doll
Beasts of the Chase
Turtle Head Epidemic
The Fig Queen
A Huxian's Guide toSeduction Revenge Immortality
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes
Lotus Stench
The Crush
As a reference the stories include:
The Haunting of Angel Island (told in 9 parts)
Love Doll
Beasts of the Chase
Turtle Head Epidemic
The Fig Queen
A Huxian's Guide to
The Girl with Flies Coming Out of Her Eyes
Lotus Stench
The Crush
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