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Sister Snake
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 as she freely uses her beauty and 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.
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 as she freely uses her beauty and 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.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published December 3, 2024
About the author
Amanda Lee Koe
3 books330 followersBorn and raised in Singapore, Amanda Lee Koe has lived in Beijing, Berlin and Bangkok and is now based in New York.
She was the youngest winner of the Singapore Literature Prize for the short story collection Ministry of Moral Panic (Epigram, 2014), shortlisted for the Frankfurt Book Fair's LiBeraturpreis and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt's International Literature Prize.
Her debut novel, Delayed Rays of A Star (Doubleday, 2019), won the Henfield Prize, awarded to the best work of fiction by an MFA candidate at Columbia University's School of the Arts. It was a Straits Times #1 Bestseller, and an NPR Best Books of the Year.
Her second novel, Sister Snake, is forthcoming in August 2024 from Ecco Books.
She was the youngest winner of the Singapore Literature Prize for the short story collection Ministry of Moral Panic (Epigram, 2014), shortlisted for the Frankfurt Book Fair's LiBeraturpreis and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt's International Literature Prize.
Her debut novel, Delayed Rays of A Star (Doubleday, 2019), won the Henfield Prize, awarded to the best work of fiction by an MFA candidate at Columbia University's School of the Arts. It was a Straits Times #1 Bestseller, and an NPR Best Books of the Year.
Her second novel, Sister Snake, is forthcoming in August 2024 from Ecco Books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 287 reviews
January 14, 2025
the surefire way to get me to read a book is to make it lit fic about sisters
(review to come / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
(review to come / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)
July 10, 2024
A darkly humorous romp! 🐍
I'm on BookTube. Come find me at Hello, Bookworm📚🐛
"And so that fateful mid-autumn night, when the moon was at its brightest, in the year 815 in the Tang dynasty, the green snake swam to an underwater cave and obtained a lilac lotus sown by a goddess."*
What I thought this book would be: An amusing journey that spans centuries, following two sisters with diametric personalities who can transform into snakes, kiss girls, and sometimes take people out with their fangs.
What it actually was: All of the above! 😀
Sister Snake had me laughing one minute and gasping in horror the next, as all dark comedies should. It primarily follows East Asian "sisters" Su and Emerald who were born snakes but spent years self-cultivating to become humans. Their wildly different personalities find them living completely different lives, one in New York and the other in Singapore.
As someone who lived in Singapore for four years, I can attest that Sister Snake gives an accurate portrayal of life in Singapore (author Amanda Lee Koe was born there, after all). Characters engage in balanced conversation on the ways in which Singapore is both a glimmering future city as well as a city state that has a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the enlightened world.
One of my favorite things about this book are the entertaining chapter titles, such as "A Self-Possessed Woman Can Turn Your World to Dust"*, "One Hundred Percent Prepared to Go Full Death Metal"*, and my top favorite: "His Erections Are as Lackluster as His Poems."*
Amanda Lee Koe's writing is so luscious! The story is adorned with rich sensory details about the loamy scent of decaying foliage, the musky smell of creatures in the undergrowth, mossy trees and wild orchids, and more.
Sister Snake is both a dazzling contemporary retelling of the Legend of the White Snake (Chinese Folklore) and a love story (in more ways than one). Beautifully written, good for a laugh, and delightfully queer. Highly recommend!
I'm exceeding grateful to Ecco Press for sending me an early copy of this book.
*Note: Quotes taken from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change in the final printing.
--
ORIGINAL POST 👇
A queer retelling of the Legend of the White Snake (Chinese folklore). And one of the sisters lives in Singapore. I'm definitely going to read this. 🐍👀
I'm on BookTube. Come find me at Hello, Bookworm📚🐛
"And so that fateful mid-autumn night, when the moon was at its brightest, in the year 815 in the Tang dynasty, the green snake swam to an underwater cave and obtained a lilac lotus sown by a goddess."*
What I thought this book would be: An amusing journey that spans centuries, following two sisters with diametric personalities who can transform into snakes, kiss girls, and sometimes take people out with their fangs.
What it actually was: All of the above! 😀
Sister Snake had me laughing one minute and gasping in horror the next, as all dark comedies should. It primarily follows East Asian "sisters" Su and Emerald who were born snakes but spent years self-cultivating to become humans. Their wildly different personalities find them living completely different lives, one in New York and the other in Singapore.
As someone who lived in Singapore for four years, I can attest that Sister Snake gives an accurate portrayal of life in Singapore (author Amanda Lee Koe was born there, after all). Characters engage in balanced conversation on the ways in which Singapore is both a glimmering future city as well as a city state that has a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the enlightened world.
One of my favorite things about this book are the entertaining chapter titles, such as "A Self-Possessed Woman Can Turn Your World to Dust"*, "One Hundred Percent Prepared to Go Full Death Metal"*, and my top favorite: "His Erections Are as Lackluster as His Poems."*
Amanda Lee Koe's writing is so luscious! The story is adorned with rich sensory details about the loamy scent of decaying foliage, the musky smell of creatures in the undergrowth, mossy trees and wild orchids, and more.
Sister Snake is both a dazzling contemporary retelling of the Legend of the White Snake (Chinese Folklore) and a love story (in more ways than one). Beautifully written, good for a laugh, and delightfully queer. Highly recommend!
I'm exceeding grateful to Ecco Press for sending me an early copy of this book.
*Note: Quotes taken from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change in the final printing.
--
ORIGINAL POST 👇
A queer retelling of the Legend of the White Snake (Chinese folklore). And one of the sisters lives in Singapore. I'm definitely going to read this. 🐍👀
October 25, 2024
3.0 Stars
Video Review https://youtu.be/y9h_dc_MtCo
Darkly literary satire is a tough subgenre to pull off, but when it's done well, it can be amazing. I am always on the lookout for this kind of off kilter books so I had to check this one out.
I liked this one but I must acknowledge that it didn't quite live up to my hopeful expectations. I felt it played it a little safe and didn't get as biting and dark as I hoped it would go. I instead found this one a touch flat which is disappointing, given the potential this one had.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Video Review https://youtu.be/y9h_dc_MtCo
Darkly literary satire is a tough subgenre to pull off, but when it's done well, it can be amazing. I am always on the lookout for this kind of off kilter books so I had to check this one out.
I liked this one but I must acknowledge that it didn't quite live up to my hopeful expectations. I felt it played it a little safe and didn't get as biting and dark as I hoped it would go. I instead found this one a touch flat which is disappointing, given the potential this one had.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
January 26, 2025
As a work of fiction this was a fun modern take on the rich mythology of the Nagas, half-snake half-human beings (prevalent in Southeast Asia). The punk sister, Emerald, and the elegant housewife, Su, reconnect after many years.
The author is an accomplished Singaporean writer who won a scholarship to Columbia university on the back of her writing talent. What this book really does is share her take on the ruling elite in Singapore and the government’s stance on the queer community, which is pretty controversial in this city state, to put it mildly. The book shows that a public sector that is a “vector of stability” is central to the government’s strategy, and all that implies.
Despite this, today the book is still available in the public libraries in Singapore, an indication of the government’s willingness to make space for young voices to contribute to public discourse.
The author is an accomplished Singaporean writer who won a scholarship to Columbia university on the back of her writing talent. What this book really does is share her take on the ruling elite in Singapore and the government’s stance on the queer community, which is pretty controversial in this city state, to put it mildly. The book shows that a public sector that is a “vector of stability” is central to the government’s strategy, and all that implies.
Despite this, today the book is still available in the public libraries in Singapore, an indication of the government’s willingness to make space for young voices to contribute to public discourse.
December 18, 2024
I almost never review books I don’t enjoy but the positive reviews this book has received makes me feel like I should offer some perspective for readers who want something like I want from fiction.
Characters are one-dimensional. Emerald is a free spirit. Su is an uptight rule-follower. Su’s husband is a straightforward villain. Emerald’s gay best friend is a Gay Best Friend who becomes part of Emerald’s life when the novel begins and proves to be entirely disposable. Tik the bodyguard is the only character crafted with any complexity.
Worldbuilding is sloppy. Dialogue is cringe. There isn’t much in the way of plot. The ending feels like the author just got tired of writing. Most importantly, for me: The author introduces some very dark content that she doesn’t seem prepared to deal with.
Midway through this novel, I was prepared to give up. Then I thought that I might enjoy it if I thought of it as a romance novel or some other variety of genre fiction. So, I kept going and I think that I would have liked this novel more if I had given up.
Characters are one-dimensional. Emerald is a free spirit. Su is an uptight rule-follower. Su’s husband is a straightforward villain. Emerald’s gay best friend is a Gay Best Friend who becomes part of Emerald’s life when the novel begins and proves to be entirely disposable. Tik the bodyguard is the only character crafted with any complexity.
Worldbuilding is sloppy. Dialogue is cringe. There isn’t much in the way of plot. The ending feels like the author just got tired of writing. Most importantly, for me: The author introduces some very dark content that she doesn’t seem prepared to deal with.
Midway through this novel, I was prepared to give up. Then I thought that I might enjoy it if I thought of it as a romance novel or some other variety of genre fiction. So, I kept going and I think that I would have liked this novel more if I had given up.
December 8, 2024
A combination of feminist lit, Chinese folklore, and horror, Sister Snake examines sibling bonds/rivalries, what it means to be human. Emerald is the queer, impetuous, grab-life-by-the horns sister. Su is the trophy wife of a Singaporean diplomat. Neither sister is thriving in the human world, and after a long time apart, they reunite. Disaster ensues as Su's animal nature is unleashed and she punishes all the humans (mostly men) who've wronged her. The first half of the book took a minute to find its feet, but the second half flew by. Weird (I mean that as a compliment), satirical, and entertaining.
May 7, 2024
this book rocked !!! sisters who are snakes !!!
November 19, 2024
i feel so american (derogatory) but i also feel like a woman (uplifting)
January 24, 2025
TW: Graphic gang rape scene early on in the book. It's snake rape but rape nonetheless.
4.5⭐ stars rounded up. Sister Snake is a queer book written by a queer Singaporean writer for other queer Singaporeans. Few stories made me feel incredibly SEEN as this one. As a queer Singaporean, it's like if every angry thought, every time you express something in righteous fury of how you as a member of the LGBTQ+ community are erased, downplayed, suppressed and stripped of certain basic human rights in this country was made into a book. Was it rather heavy-handed, completely devoid of subtlety about its politics, and even preachy at times? Very much so. But living in a country all my life where the mainstream national media upholds the establishment that contributes to queer oppression, where the freedoms of activists to speak out and call out authoritarianism are now threatened more than ever—fuck it, go OFF, Amanda Lee Koe. Speak your truth.
Overall, I enjoyed this very much and devoured it a little over a day. Emerald is unapologetically queer and outspoken on issues, which makes her my undoubted fave out of the two sisters. What especially struck me though is her love for her sister Su, that SHE was the one who initiated the process of attaining human form all because of Su's Part of Your World-esque desire to be human. 800 years of self-cultivation ... because her sister wanted it. How could I not love her.
I also found Su to be a compelling character, even with all her flaws. It's easy to empathise with her desire to assimilate, to "pass" in order to attain the safety and security in a society that hates the Other. Her snake spiritness. i.e. the ability to shed her snake form in preference for her human form, is written like a trans allegory of Feeling Like You Were Born In the Wrong Body. ALK even outright uses dysphoria to describe Su's discomfort. With the way Su is obsessed with passing for fear of having her secret being outed and being thrown into danger over it, one can't help but be reminded of the violence the trans community faces.
That said, it's not surprising that Su and Emerald will disagree on how to live with their snake/human duality. Su's even a downright terrible sister with how she's willing to throw Emerald under the bus to preserve her skin. I do find their tumultuous relationship interesting to read, and it's because of Su's inherent desire to survive in such hateful world as a trans-coded character that I don't outright despise her. I may not AGREE with nor condone her actions, like when she let Emerald take the fall back in that Victorian London Incident or when she didn't immediately stand up to her transphobe of a husband, but I can UNDERSTAND why. What I don't particularly care for is Su abandoning Emerald very early on in their lives over a MAN (heavily implied to be Xu Xian from the original myth), of all things. A man that Emerald didn't even care for nor tried to pursue. How could you pick a man you weren't even with over your sister for centuries?? That wasn't about survival.
My other favorite part of SS is the inclusion of a Malay lesbian character, Atika AKA Tik. Given the length of the novel, she didn't have that big of pagetime, but I adored the portrayal that ALK gave us, especially of her complicated relationship with her mother. As a Muslim of Malay descent, I haven't come across a sapphic character like that in the books I read till now, and I CRIED at the resolution she got. The casual racism Tik experienced as an ethnic minority was a necessary addition if you're ever writing about Singapore, given how much it likes to pride itself of how racism ~doesn't exist~ here, not like the Unruly West.
This wasn't an insta 5-star because the ending didn't quite... STICK its landing with me. While I enjoyed the feminine rage and unhinged violent chaos we got, it's unsatisfying to me that Su's shitty husband Paul got a humanizing ending. The man violated his wife's bodily autonomy, is outright transphobic AND misogynistic by wanting a woman he supposedly loved to be subservient, so I think he needed his head bitten off like that other character. 🤪 "I hope she kills her husband" was literally my vibe before that ending. I also would've liked for Su to acknowledge her fucked up mistreatment of Emerald in the past and properly apologise; saving Emerald's life isn't an apology.
Regardless, this is a new fave and I'm grateful to ALK for putting this out into the world.
4.5⭐ stars rounded up. Sister Snake is a queer book written by a queer Singaporean writer for other queer Singaporeans. Few stories made me feel incredibly SEEN as this one. As a queer Singaporean, it's like if every angry thought, every time you express something in righteous fury of how you as a member of the LGBTQ+ community are erased, downplayed, suppressed and stripped of certain basic human rights in this country was made into a book. Was it rather heavy-handed, completely devoid of subtlety about its politics, and even preachy at times? Very much so. But living in a country all my life where the mainstream national media upholds the establishment that contributes to queer oppression, where the freedoms of activists to speak out and call out authoritarianism are now threatened more than ever—fuck it, go OFF, Amanda Lee Koe. Speak your truth.
Overall, I enjoyed this very much and devoured it a little over a day. Emerald is unapologetically queer and outspoken on issues, which makes her my undoubted fave out of the two sisters. What especially struck me though is her love for her sister Su, that SHE was the one who initiated the process of attaining human form all because of Su's Part of Your World-esque desire to be human. 800 years of self-cultivation ... because her sister wanted it. How could I not love her.
I also found Su to be a compelling character, even with all her flaws. It's easy to empathise with her desire to assimilate, to "pass" in order to attain the safety and security in a society that hates the Other. Her snake spiritness. i.e. the ability to shed her snake form in preference for her human form, is written like a trans allegory of Feeling Like You Were Born In the Wrong Body. ALK even outright uses dysphoria to describe Su's discomfort. With the way Su is obsessed with passing for fear of having her secret being outed and being thrown into danger over it, one can't help but be reminded of the violence the trans community faces.
That said, it's not surprising that Su and Emerald will disagree on how to live with their snake/human duality. Su's even a downright terrible sister with how she's willing to throw Emerald under the bus to preserve her skin. I do find their tumultuous relationship interesting to read, and it's because of Su's inherent desire to survive in such hateful world as a trans-coded character that I don't outright despise her. I may not AGREE with nor condone her actions, like when she let Emerald take the fall back in that Victorian London Incident or when she didn't immediately stand up to her transphobe of a husband, but I can UNDERSTAND why. What I don't particularly care for is Su abandoning Emerald very early on in their lives over a MAN (heavily implied to be Xu Xian from the original myth), of all things. A man that Emerald didn't even care for nor tried to pursue. How could you pick a man you weren't even with over your sister for centuries?? That wasn't about survival.
My other favorite part of SS is the inclusion of a Malay lesbian character, Atika AKA Tik. Given the length of the novel, she didn't have that big of pagetime, but I adored the portrayal that ALK gave us, especially of her complicated relationship with her mother. As a Muslim of Malay descent, I haven't come across a sapphic character like that in the books I read till now, and I CRIED at the resolution she got. The casual racism Tik experienced as an ethnic minority was a necessary addition if you're ever writing about Singapore, given how much it likes to pride itself of how racism ~doesn't exist~ here, not like the Unruly West.
This wasn't an insta 5-star because the ending didn't quite... STICK its landing with me. While I enjoyed the feminine rage and unhinged violent chaos we got, it's unsatisfying to me that Su's shitty husband Paul got a humanizing ending. The man violated his wife's bodily autonomy, is outright transphobic AND misogynistic by wanting a woman he supposedly loved to be subservient, so I think he needed his head bitten off like that other character. 🤪 "I hope she kills her husband" was literally my vibe before that ending. I also would've liked for Su to acknowledge her fucked up mistreatment of Emerald in the past and properly apologise; saving Emerald's life isn't an apology.
Regardless, this is a new fave and I'm grateful to ALK for putting this out into the world.
January 5, 2025
✨ "What do I do with you? What do I do without you?"
This was SO good, where do I even begin? Born and bred in Singapore, lived here all my life, and here comes a groundbreaking novel that has me questioning and reflecting about everything.
I was in love right from the start. The writing and plot are so compelling; the sisters and their characterisation and their backstories so fascinating, the social commentary so FLAWLESS.
All my complicated feelings about the place I call home, its many contradictions, its beauty, its evolution, its culture... I also loved the sisterly bond so much that the book made me cry more than once.
The author truly nailed it with this one. Just beautiful. Searing. Exquisite.
✨ "Having someone bear witness to your pain is risky: it takes the experience out of your hands, makes things real in a way you cannot unmake. Alone, you're free to rearrange the pieces till they sit right in your head. If no one else saw the way you cried, you can tell yourself it didn't matter that much, did it?"
This was SO good, where do I even begin? Born and bred in Singapore, lived here all my life, and here comes a groundbreaking novel that has me questioning and reflecting about everything.
I was in love right from the start. The writing and plot are so compelling; the sisters and their characterisation and their backstories so fascinating, the social commentary so FLAWLESS.
All my complicated feelings about the place I call home, its many contradictions, its beauty, its evolution, its culture... I also loved the sisterly bond so much that the book made me cry more than once.
The author truly nailed it with this one. Just beautiful. Searing. Exquisite.
✨ "Having someone bear witness to your pain is risky: it takes the experience out of your hands, makes things real in a way you cannot unmake. Alone, you're free to rearrange the pieces till they sit right in your head. If no one else saw the way you cried, you can tell yourself it didn't matter that much, did it?"
December 1, 2024
Queer books often celebrate found family, understandably. Sister Snake explores how found family can hurt you just as much as biological family. Su and Emerald's relationship, built over centuries and across continents, is impossible for anyone else to equal. And yet, they can’t seem to understand each other. Every time they reach out to each other, they’re hurt. The truth is, like biological family, found family can know you so intimately that they can also wound you like no one else.
While most of the book takes place in Su and Emerald’s present life, I enjoyed the glimpses into their pasts, from their time together as snakes in Tang dynasty China to attending Hirschfield’s lectures on the rights of homosexuals in pre-WWII Germany to their disastrous attempt to live together in Victorian England.
(Emerald has some women love interests during the book, and there’s a F/F relationship between side characters, but there isn’t a prominent romance plot.)
This is such a thoughtful, layered book, and I feel like I’m only beginning to pull apart what it has to say about family, assimilation, and passing. It’s one I would love to discuss with other readers, so this is your invitation to pick it up and tell me your thoughts!
Full review at the Lesbrary.
While most of the book takes place in Su and Emerald’s present life, I enjoyed the glimpses into their pasts, from their time together as snakes in Tang dynasty China to attending Hirschfield’s lectures on the rights of homosexuals in pre-WWII Germany to their disastrous attempt to live together in Victorian England.
(Emerald has some women love interests during the book, and there’s a F/F relationship between side characters, but there isn’t a prominent romance plot.)
This is such a thoughtful, layered book, and I feel like I’m only beginning to pull apart what it has to say about family, assimilation, and passing. It’s one I would love to discuss with other readers, so this is your invitation to pick it up and tell me your thoughts!
Full review at the Lesbrary.
June 16, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco for the ARC of Sister Snake by Amanda Lee Koe in exchange for an honest review. This book is a fast-paced contemporary retelling about sisters who turn into snakes in Chinese mythology. I enjoyed reading this book because it's funny and glamorous. While I found it a bit middle-of-the-road, it was still a lot of fun to read. I expect that changes will be made once the final book is published later this year but I'm sure it'll be well-liked by audiences. There were times when things were unnecessarily wordy and borderline mundane which took me out of the story but the good moments were great. It sags a little in the middle but being able to read about these sisters and the things they go through in their day-to-day lives was interesting. Emerald was suffering in New York and her sister Su was suffering as well in Singapore. When they came together, I felt a spark but I also liked the invisible strings that bound them. All in all it's a pretty solid book but I don't know how memorable it will be for me.
July 29, 2024
this book was WAY messier than expected. also sadder and more violent. overall a good time, but also heavier than the synopsis or the general concept would suggest
I loved Tik and Ploy, and felt so deeply for Su; Emerald kind of annoyed me tbh but I liked her by the end.
I finished this in a day so I can confirm that it is a quick, compelling read! yay for snake women and thank you to Annie!
I loved Tik and Ploy, and felt so deeply for Su; Emerald kind of annoyed me tbh but I liked her by the end.
I finished this in a day so I can confirm that it is a quick, compelling read! yay for snake women and thank you to Annie!
January 29, 2025
Full Rating: 4.5 stars rounded up
Amanda Lee Koe’s Sister Snake is a sharp-fanged, lyrical retelling of “The Legend of the White Snake” that slithers between myth and modernity, immortality and the mundane. With thrumming prose, Koe unspools the tale of Emerald and Su, two snake sisters who have shed their scales for human skin—but not their hunger.
Emerald, the green snake, is a restless sugar baby navigating the neon-lit corridors of New York’s Upper East Side. Jaded, immortal, and unapologetically feral, she siphons qi from her wealthy clients, feeding off their life force in a way that makes capitalism feel almost honest. Her sister Su, the white snake, has spent the last decade in Singapore, subsuming herself into human life with Botox and marriage to Paul, a powerful politician. Su has renounced her immortal self, believing civilization to be a salve, while Emerald scoffs at the idea that humanity is anything but a fragile masquerade. “Assimilate all you want,” Emerald tells her, “but don’t pass your self-loathing off to me.”
The tension between the sisters is as hypnotic as it is heartbreaking. Su’s desire for stability is haunted by past trauma—a violent assault by male snakes that first brought the sisters together—while Emerald’s rejection of human norms is less reckless than it seems. The novel hums with a desperate yearning: for safety, for connection, for something real in a world of artifice. When Su discovers a video of Emerald, in snake form, being shot by police in Central Park, she boards a plane to New York without hesitation. What follows is a reunion laced with betrayal, murder, and the reawakening of long-buried instincts.
Koe’s storytelling is mesmeric, weaving visceral imagery with biting humor. She writes with the sharpness of a fang sinking into flesh, making every line pulse with urgency or dark humor. The novel wrestles with identity and transformation, asking: How much of ourselves can we abandon before we become unrecognizable? Is survival worth the cost of erasure? Su’s carefully constructed human life begins to unravel, especially when she discovers she is pregnant and fears the child will be born a snake. Her decision to terminate the pregnancy is complicated by a primal, unexpected protectiveness, and as the sisters return to Singapore, the boundaries between past and present, self and other, human and beast blur beyond recognition.
Like Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder, Sister Snake is a feral, feminist meditation on the wildness that civilization tries to tame. Koe unflinchingly critiques conformity, particularly within the rigid expectations placed on women. Su and Emerald are bound not just by blood but by the shared burden of navigating a world that demands their submission. But where Su seeks invisibility, Emerald demands to be seen, sharp teeth and all. Their love is bruising and relentless, shifting between tenderness and violence, much like the ever-changing nature of identity itself.
For readers who revel in lush prose, mythic reinvention, and stories of women who refuse to be caged, Sister Snake is a must-read. It coils around you, tight and unrelenting, until you feel its stinging bite.
📖 Recommended For: Fans of mythic retellings and feminist speculative fiction; readers drawn to themes of transformation, sisterhood, and rebellion; lovers of Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder or Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.
🔑 Key Themes: Identity and Assimilation, Primal Instincts vs. Civilization, Sisterhood and Betrayal, Power and Survival.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Alcohol (moderate), Blood (minor), Transphobia (moderate), Medical Content (minor), Sexual Assault (moderate), Gun Violence (minor), Misogyny (minor), Drug Use (minor), Abortion (moderate), Vomit (minor), Biphobia (minor), Murder (minor).
Amanda Lee Koe’s Sister Snake is a sharp-fanged, lyrical retelling of “The Legend of the White Snake” that slithers between myth and modernity, immortality and the mundane. With thrumming prose, Koe unspools the tale of Emerald and Su, two snake sisters who have shed their scales for human skin—but not their hunger.
Emerald, the green snake, is a restless sugar baby navigating the neon-lit corridors of New York’s Upper East Side. Jaded, immortal, and unapologetically feral, she siphons qi from her wealthy clients, feeding off their life force in a way that makes capitalism feel almost honest. Her sister Su, the white snake, has spent the last decade in Singapore, subsuming herself into human life with Botox and marriage to Paul, a powerful politician. Su has renounced her immortal self, believing civilization to be a salve, while Emerald scoffs at the idea that humanity is anything but a fragile masquerade. “Assimilate all you want,” Emerald tells her, “but don’t pass your self-loathing off to me.”
The tension between the sisters is as hypnotic as it is heartbreaking. Su’s desire for stability is haunted by past trauma—a violent assault by male snakes that first brought the sisters together—while Emerald’s rejection of human norms is less reckless than it seems. The novel hums with a desperate yearning: for safety, for connection, for something real in a world of artifice. When Su discovers a video of Emerald, in snake form, being shot by police in Central Park, she boards a plane to New York without hesitation. What follows is a reunion laced with betrayal, murder, and the reawakening of long-buried instincts.
Koe’s storytelling is mesmeric, weaving visceral imagery with biting humor. She writes with the sharpness of a fang sinking into flesh, making every line pulse with urgency or dark humor. The novel wrestles with identity and transformation, asking: How much of ourselves can we abandon before we become unrecognizable? Is survival worth the cost of erasure? Su’s carefully constructed human life begins to unravel, especially when she discovers she is pregnant and fears the child will be born a snake. Her decision to terminate the pregnancy is complicated by a primal, unexpected protectiveness, and as the sisters return to Singapore, the boundaries between past and present, self and other, human and beast blur beyond recognition.
Like Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder, Sister Snake is a feral, feminist meditation on the wildness that civilization tries to tame. Koe unflinchingly critiques conformity, particularly within the rigid expectations placed on women. Su and Emerald are bound not just by blood but by the shared burden of navigating a world that demands their submission. But where Su seeks invisibility, Emerald demands to be seen, sharp teeth and all. Their love is bruising and relentless, shifting between tenderness and violence, much like the ever-changing nature of identity itself.
For readers who revel in lush prose, mythic reinvention, and stories of women who refuse to be caged, Sister Snake is a must-read. It coils around you, tight and unrelenting, until you feel its stinging bite.
📖 Recommended For: Fans of mythic retellings and feminist speculative fiction; readers drawn to themes of transformation, sisterhood, and rebellion; lovers of Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder or Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.
🔑 Key Themes: Identity and Assimilation, Primal Instincts vs. Civilization, Sisterhood and Betrayal, Power and Survival.
Content / Trigger Warnings: Alcohol (moderate), Blood (minor), Transphobia (moderate), Medical Content (minor), Sexual Assault (moderate), Gun Violence (minor), Misogyny (minor), Drug Use (minor), Abortion (moderate), Vomit (minor), Biphobia (minor), Murder (minor).
January 28, 2025
“Alone, you’re free to rearrange the pieces till they sit right in your head. If no one else saw the way you cried, you can tell yourself it didn’t matter that much, did it?”
I received my lit joy copy in the mail last week and was excited to read it. I have to say the artwork and stenciled edges make this a gorgeous book. I’m a sucker for pretty books.
This is ultimately a story of found family, mixed with a strong mysticism. I read on every break I got.
For me it hits around a 3.5/5 stars. Rounded up to 4 stars for Goodreads.
I received my lit joy copy in the mail last week and was excited to read it. I have to say the artwork and stenciled edges make this a gorgeous book. I’m a sucker for pretty books.
This is ultimately a story of found family, mixed with a strong mysticism. I read on every break I got.
For me it hits around a 3.5/5 stars. Rounded up to 4 stars for Goodreads.
January 8, 2025
3.75 - "A queer retelling of the Chinese folklore Legend of the White Snake", this book actually has elements of literary fiction and light horror while giving us a feminist story of two sisters who are in fact ancient shapeshifting snakes.
It took a while to get going and I almost lost interest half-way through, but the final chapters really brought me back in. These snake sisters showing what it means to be human, especially a woman, in the world today really got to me.
It took a while to get going and I almost lost interest half-way through, but the final chapters really brought me back in. These snake sisters showing what it means to be human, especially a woman, in the world today really got to me.
January 23, 2025
5 blazing stars. I just have no words to describe how I feel honestly and I am feeling a LOT. Brb gonna go stare at a wall - it was THAT good.
Read
June 10, 2024i've been waiting for a new alk for 4 years and its WHITE SNAKE she's going to devour this
June 4, 2024
This was a beautiful retelling. Thank you Ecco and NetGalley for the ARC
January 10, 2025
It’s stories like this one that remind me of what it was like to read as a teenager- falling hopelessly in love with characters, a meticulously created world, and hypnotic prose. That feeling of finishing a book and feeling genuine sadness that my time with it has come to an end. This book is so exquisitely written, and heartbreakingly authentic, that I know I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time to come.
Perfect for fans of fantasy and familial drama alike, “Sister Snake” is at its heart, a love story about chosen family, and if you’re in the market to take your emotional body to the literary gym, I could not recommend this more. Expect a heart-cracking experience from which you will surely emerge having shed a world- weary skin you didn’t even know was there.
Thank you, NetGalley & Ecco for beautiful gift of a read!
December 27, 2024
I really enjoyed this story as a big fan of 白蛇传 and all the period dramas played on Channel 8 day time television. It's an enduring story for good reason. Traditionally, the story is about an evil snake demoness who becomes sexually involved with a human man (always like that lah) and either he dies or they get married and then he finds out who she is and he dies. Either way, he dies, which then makes her the villainess, and the moral of the story is that spirits and mortals cannot be together. You know how it goes.
In this original retelling, Suzhen and Emerald have lived for centuries and now estranged even though they used to be extremely closer. While Emerald is living hand to mouth in NYC, shacking up with a friend, and luring sugar daddies on an app, Suzhen is living in Singapore as the trophy wife of the Minister of Education. She has completely repressed her snake form and strives to be more and more human, performing her role to perfection. She is a victim of trauma and Singapore with its rules and laws and manicured greenery and conformity makes her feel safe. Everything is going well until one day, she finds out she's impossibly pregnant and that her sister got shot. She immediately brings Emerald to Singapore, thinking to protect her, but their proximity unleashes her base instincts and soon turns her entire life upside down.
There is a subplot of a school that disallowed a transgender student from wearing the girls' uniform despite her already having the official diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The school and the ministry went so far as to harass the doctor who gave the diagnosis, restricting his ability to prescribe HRT to the student. This leads to protests outside MOE, but as expected, the ministry doubled down on its transphobia and fear-mongering. It's very true to life, isn't it? I love it when fiction holds up a mirror. All I can say is that it ends spectacularly.
In this original retelling, Suzhen and Emerald have lived for centuries and now estranged even though they used to be extremely closer. While Emerald is living hand to mouth in NYC, shacking up with a friend, and luring sugar daddies on an app, Suzhen is living in Singapore as the trophy wife of the Minister of Education. She has completely repressed her snake form and strives to be more and more human, performing her role to perfection. She is a victim of trauma and Singapore with its rules and laws and manicured greenery and conformity makes her feel safe. Everything is going well until one day, she finds out she's impossibly pregnant and that her sister got shot. She immediately brings Emerald to Singapore, thinking to protect her, but their proximity unleashes her base instincts and soon turns her entire life upside down.
There is a subplot of a school that disallowed a transgender student from wearing the girls' uniform despite her already having the official diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The school and the ministry went so far as to harass the doctor who gave the diagnosis, restricting his ability to prescribe HRT to the student. This leads to protests outside MOE, but as expected, the ministry doubled down on its transphobia and fear-mongering. It's very true to life, isn't it? I love it when fiction holds up a mirror. All I can say is that it ends spectacularly.
December 4, 2024
A really good quick-ish read. Mythology, monsters, LGBT characters/issues... what's not to love? Definitely an author I'll check out again.
EDIT: Correction! I went to see her other works and I actually also read her book Delayed Rays of a Star, which was great. So two for two. And I like an author who can swing from one genre to a wildly different one with such ease.
EDIT: Correction! I went to see her other works and I actually also read her book Delayed Rays of a Star, which was great. So two for two. And I like an author who can swing from one genre to a wildly different one with such ease.
January 7, 2025
What an exceptional, magical gift of a book. It’s been ages since I was so captivated.
January 11, 2025
Great book loaded with sharp social commentary, dealing with existentialism, women’s rights, sexual assault, body autonomy, the full gamut of LGBTQ issues, racism, wrestling with traditions, political corruption, power and control issues, classism, and on and on… It’s modern twist on an ancient tale. A page tuner with swift narrative that keeps the story flowing. Highly recommend.
December 30, 2024
“to be sisters with you in one lifetime is not enough”
love love loved this book. something about stories revolving around sisterhood just really gets me. the audiobook was also really good
love love loved this book. something about stories revolving around sisterhood just really gets me. the audiobook was also really good
December 14, 2024
Dying, this was so good, propulsive and sinuous and so effortlessly tepat in its references and rhythm. A mocking love letter to the singaporean cityscape and ideology, a tender knowing of the damages of love with and without understanding.
January 25, 2025
where do i even start? this novel is about two snake-spirit sisters, one in new york and the other in singapore, and it is an allegory/satire/fantastical representation of the phenomenology of the two cities, yada yada yada... perhaps a quotation ("to toe the the line she swallowed the hook" went pretty hard), or maybe a ramble about how amanda lee koe is probably my favourite singaporean writer. there's just a certain liberated quality about her authorial voice that means that she does the whole "immigrated-singaporean-looking-back-in" so much more non-performatively (?) than others i've read, and it comes with a depth of experience that i'm always convinced of, a been-there-seen-that-done-that-lived-that mirror to this place that i think is fair and balanced, or maybe just gives voice to mine.
i mean, yeah sometimes it gets a little ridiculous. the novel is peppered with lines like "thotty baesians are in high demand" and "i'm a patricia highsmith bipolar lesbian stan". ALK is on the gay hipster leftist interwebs and god forbid you don't know that, baby. the ending is one hell of a set-piece sequence and certainly a sort of wish-fulfillment in action. but there's also bits that go like "Mr Ong needs to think for the whole country," Tik says. / Emerald looks at her. "Aren't you part of this country too?" and they make something in me twinge. sometimes sister snake is loud and unsubtle about its roots and i, perhaps sheepishly, having been away for months and will be for many more still, see much of myself in how Su or even Paul proclaim its merits (public transport! safety, something about jogging at 3am without fear!) and hear my own voice in its descriptions of local cuisine and dish-namedropping (god knows how many times i've moaned about the food in cambridge).
it reminds me of how much i love and appreciate the "real" spaces of home, and i love the way ALK has drawn out the way "realness" and spatiality exists in singapore, all convoluted and censored and contested. through Emerald and Bartek and New York (the city or the character?) i'm reminded of the wonder i felt, getting to my college and seeing that giant pride flag at the gates, at the easy way everyone talks about queerness here, at how nobody bats an eye when you're making out with another woman at the back of a club. in Su i remember the comfortable shape of the country—Su loves Singapore. It's small, it's safe, it's shiny. Just like her, Singapore has a meticulous and cautious character—the shape i feel like i am. (i think of Walcott, that bit in "Isla Incognita" where he asks "whether living on islands means a surrender to their size.") in Tik and Ploy, i think maybe there's a way to be both.
sure, the novel's a little heavy-handed and messy and occasionally one-dimensional, but weirdly following the narrative itself, the process of reading this book, has gifted me ways of forgiving these flaws, and by extension undoing (or at least beginning to) the little knot of bitterness that i have about being an island gal whose island isn't sure if she's the right shape. lol. maybe this has been a very self-indulgent and selfish way of reading this novel. i don't really care though. i'm gay and i've been homesick for months, let a girl live.
i mean, yeah sometimes it gets a little ridiculous. the novel is peppered with lines like "thotty baesians are in high demand" and "i'm a patricia highsmith bipolar lesbian stan". ALK is on the gay hipster leftist interwebs and god forbid you don't know that, baby. the ending is one hell of a set-piece sequence and certainly a sort of wish-fulfillment in action. but there's also bits that go like "Mr Ong needs to think for the whole country," Tik says. / Emerald looks at her. "Aren't you part of this country too?" and they make something in me twinge. sometimes sister snake is loud and unsubtle about its roots and i, perhaps sheepishly, having been away for months and will be for many more still, see much of myself in how Su or even Paul proclaim its merits (public transport! safety, something about jogging at 3am without fear!) and hear my own voice in its descriptions of local cuisine and dish-namedropping (god knows how many times i've moaned about the food in cambridge).
it reminds me of how much i love and appreciate the "real" spaces of home, and i love the way ALK has drawn out the way "realness" and spatiality exists in singapore, all convoluted and censored and contested. through Emerald and Bartek and New York (the city or the character?) i'm reminded of the wonder i felt, getting to my college and seeing that giant pride flag at the gates, at the easy way everyone talks about queerness here, at how nobody bats an eye when you're making out with another woman at the back of a club. in Su i remember the comfortable shape of the country—Su loves Singapore. It's small, it's safe, it's shiny. Just like her, Singapore has a meticulous and cautious character—the shape i feel like i am. (i think of Walcott, that bit in "Isla Incognita" where he asks "whether living on islands means a surrender to their size.") in Tik and Ploy, i think maybe there's a way to be both.
sure, the novel's a little heavy-handed and messy and occasionally one-dimensional, but weirdly following the narrative itself, the process of reading this book, has gifted me ways of forgiving these flaws, and by extension undoing (or at least beginning to) the little knot of bitterness that i have about being an island gal whose island isn't sure if she's the right shape. lol. maybe this has been a very self-indulgent and selfish way of reading this novel. i don't really care though. i'm gay and i've been homesick for months, let a girl live.
January 23, 2025
An apt read for the year of the snake. I love a tale of sisters, I love the themes Koe has chosen to explore (class, identity, chosen families) and how she used this fantastical premise to explore it.
January 24, 2025
Unsure how i feel so I’m settling on 3.5⭐️
December 21, 2024
"I love you in metric. I love you in imperial. I love you through the Copernican revolution, the rise of communism, the fall of capitalism, the final hour of the Anthropocene. Love you enough to swallow an ocean, to shoot down the sun. Love you in any and every form, be it corporeal or even immaterial, love you in every direction of space and time. A snake can shed its skin a hundred times, but it will always remain a snake. To be sisters with you in one lifetime is not enough."
I'm a big fan of Amanda Lee Koe in general, and Sister Snake was no exception. It stands as a sharp examination of the relationship between two sisters with fundamentally different natures, hurting and healing each other across centuries. I thought the prose was beautiful (as evidenced by my love of the above quote), alternating between bitingly simple and flowery. Additionally, the plot twists themselves/ the re-examination of the Legend of the White Snake kept me intrigued (finished it over the span of a day).
Overall, highly recommend.
I'm a big fan of Amanda Lee Koe in general, and Sister Snake was no exception. It stands as a sharp examination of the relationship between two sisters with fundamentally different natures, hurting and healing each other across centuries. I thought the prose was beautiful (as evidenced by my love of the above quote), alternating between bitingly simple and flowery. Additionally, the plot twists themselves/ the re-examination of the Legend of the White Snake kept me intrigued (finished it over the span of a day).
Overall, highly recommend.
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