When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain

⭐️3Like the first book in this series, 'The Empress of Salt and Fortune', I found this novella to be just okay. This novella didn't touch me at the end, like the first, but I respect what it was trying (and did) to accomplish, as I still believe the concept of the novella series makes the series a little worthwhile. However, I will say I did enjoy this novella a little bit more than the first novella in the series, ‘The Empress of Salt and Fortune’, as I thought it was easier to understand and follow through, and I felt more connected to it, whereas, with the first novella, I felt as if by the end of my reading of the novella for the first time, I felt as if I only truly grasped 70% of the story, as a result of the flowery descriptions that added little to the story, despite Nghi Vo being a great writer, and me just never truly getting a good grasp of the world that the story is set in.Honestly, I must add that it took me a while to finish this novella; I'm talking about about three weeks, which is insane to me because it's less than 150 pages. I was really having an incredibly hard time picking up and reading this novella in December of 2023, which ultimately dragged into 2024, but once I managed to get into it, I was having a decent time.In the end, I think 'When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain' was an okay-ish read to start 2024.As the novellas are so short, I think I will continue reading the series, as I don't find the series to be unbearable or a hassle to read, and I'm also a person who likes to finish series once I start them.