. . . But I'm not getting all the hype for this book. The cover is semi-stunning. It's very 1930s Hollywood glamour but the super close-up is also a bit disturbing. I thought the synopsis was rather bland. There seems to be a promise of something there but it didn't quite pop. Then I started the excerpt. It was . . . okay. I was a bit confused because the synopsis refers to Luli Wei who is desperate to be a star. But in the excerpt, which is written in the first person, the narrator refers to her sister Luli. So I'm not clear on the disconnect or if that's deliberate. Regardless, the story didn't draw me in. The first line is intriguing, but then there's a long backstory dump that didn't quite work for me. My main issue is based on the synopsis, I don't know if this is historical fiction, literary fiction, or some kind of magical realism/fantasy, and the excerpt doesn't provide any further clues. This one I would hesitate to pick up. Maybe I'd check it out of the library after it's been out a while and I can see some reviews.