This slim novel took a while to warm up but had me by the midway point. The twist didn't work for me at all, but it doesn't ruin the rest of the book. I do wonder if it's even needed though. 

I didn't know anything about this world of Indonesia's elite, and this was a fascinating introduction.

Anyway, I'm glad to have finally read this, some passages were beautifully written while others were a touch overworked, but this was certainly more literary than thriller in style. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read, enjoyed it thoroughly, was hooked from the first page, loads of twists and turns, would recommend it x

I loved Tsao's Oddfit series, so had to pick up a copy of The Majesties, and I was hooked from the first line, which reminded me so much of one of my favorite books, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. This book has the same dark, slow reveal -- a jaunty descent into madness. Tsao unfolds the story expertly, balancing three different timelines at once. Expertly crafted, fun to read.

he Majesties is a complex novel with many sub-plots, which sometimes lose themselves among the book, but always re-emerge, not leaving any stone unturned.
The toxic and dark family dynamics portrayed in the novel perfectly symbolise the dark twist ending (which I won’t spoil!), but that reveals a double façade, which is constant throughout the book. The rich family hides many secrets, which every member is a part of, and to a certain extent, is happy to be part of: unveiling the truth would mean the demise of the dynasty, and the loss of every privilege acquired.
Although a thriller, The Majesties is so beautifully written, and lyrical, that one forgets its genre: you could easily put it in the literary fiction category, similarly to Silence of the Lambs, or Gone Girl. Although there is always a sense of mystery and darkness, there are also points in the novel where one forgets the objective of the mystery (why did Estella kill her whole family? and why did Doll survive?), as the author recounts the prejudice Chinese-Indonesians face, and the power they have within the island.

I really enjoyed this novel, and I feel like it can be compared to a mix of the newly published Sisters by Daisy Johnson, and the classic Crazy Rich Asians, by Kevin Kwan.
Tiffany Tsao did an amazing job, portraying very real and vivid characters, that were unlikeable (if I must say so!), but genuine.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for sending me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book wasn't what I expected. It was marketed as a thriller, but I would describe it more as a family drama. It's not the kind of thing I would usually choose to read.

I was curious to find out what was going on - why had Estella poisoned her whole family? That curiosity kept me reading. But I found I couldn't connect to any of the characters, and I wasn't invested in what was going on at all. The big twist at the end didn't work for me. Some parts of the book were a little slow, and I found myself reading just to get to the end (I'm one of those people who hates giving up on a book).

There was some beautiful imagery throughout, and I did like reading about a lifestyle and culture so different to my own. Overall though, I think this book just wasn't for me.

From the blurb, we know that Estella has poisoned her entire family but leaving one survivor - her sister Gwendolyn. We are introduced to Gwendolyn immediately but in an unusual way, she is in a coma after the nearly fatal encounter, this is where the tale begins to be told, with the reader present within Gwendolyn's mind as she works to piece together reliant upon medical machines to stay alive and without much of a family to return to. The Majesties is told from a first person view point and it is with this formatting that I felt allowed me as a reader to be drawn further into the complex dynamic of the sister's family, from the knowledge provided about the cut throat way in which the family had gain high financial status, to the sibling connection between Gwendolyn and Estella. With Chinese tradition and values sewn into the narrative, you begin to understand the tight knit feeling of not only the family, but also the business world, where money is everything. The Majesties is a haunting slow burner of a novel, but in a way that Tiffany has created the foundations which has contributed towards the developments of not only the characters but the series of events which build up to create a breath-holding number of revelations.

I'd say that The Majesties was a dark family drama mixed with a flourish of literary fiction, with it's focus on Estella and Gwendolyn's social commentary and the interesting character involvement, as I've already mentioned. The Majesties has a dark tone mixed with a multi-layered plot that has been written with strong attention to details in quite an atmospheric way. The injection of mystery in relation to why Estella poisoned her family kept me hooked, with the fascinating information in regards to the Why, how and who. FASCINATING!

The Majesties is the story of a family. Of their money, power and also corruption. 

It is told by Gwendolyn (Doll) who is lying in a hospital bed, in a coma. She’s the only survivor of a mass poisoning that her sister, Estella (Stell) was responsible for.

As she struggles to wake up, she is reliving her memories to try to find out why Stell would do such a thing.

Doll and Stell were sisters, they were very close until Stell married Leonard. They had been born into a very wealthy family and lived a life of luxury and power. But, there is something rotten at the heart of it all.

As Doll remembers, her rose tinted glasses are ripped away as she begins to see the family's true colours. Stell has made her see the darkness, the secrets that their wealth has been built on, and kept.

This is not a fast paced story, but is slow, immersive and beautifully written and had me gripped from start to finish. It’s not a thriller in the usual sense, but there is a tension throughout, as you wonder why Estella would kill her whole family.

It is full of luxury and opulence, but also domestic violence, murder and secrets.

Doll also runs a business, Bagatelle, where she creates living jewellery, made from living insects and butterflies that are controlled by a fungal parasite ( think zombie ant but beautiful). Just a creepy thought!!

This is a tale of family and love, but also incredible wealth, power and corruption and the lengths taken to keep it. It’s heartbreaking at times too.

If you like a family drama, with a dark edge then you are going to love The Majesties. Just a fantastic read that’s going to stay with me.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC of The Majesties. This is my honest and unbiased review.

This story begins with Gwendolyn in a coma as the sole survivor of her twin sister, Estella’s,  poisoning of all their relatives and friends. As she lies in hospital, she tries to work out  what led to this event..Taking us back in time ,she  unravel the secrets of the Sulinado family. It offers a very insightful view of the Chinese Indonesian ways in modern Indonesia. Not the most riveting of reads as it meanders through but It offers a very insightful view of the Chinese Indonesian ways in modern Indonesia.

I loved Tiffany Tsao's Oddfits books so grabbed a review copy of The Majesties from NetGalley purely on the strength of her name. I didn't realise that this publication is actually a re-release of a novel that was first published under a different title a couple of years ago. Fortunately I hadn't previously read that original version or I would have been very disappointed now! I didn't notice misguided publicity comparing The Majesties to Gone Girl and Crazy Rich Asians either (though on finishing and checking Goodreads, I did spot plenty of reviewers slating The Majesties because they had expected a work along those lines).



The Majesties is a tense family drama narrated by the sole survivor, Gwendolyn, of a mass poisoning event, a survivor who is now lying comatose is a hospital ward with only her memories to help her try and deduce what led her beloved sister, Estella, to commit such a horrific crime. I was totally gripped by the vivid first pages and Tsao kept me glued all the way through to her breathtaking conclusion. I loved getting to know the sisters' awful extended family though Gwendolyn's recollections. Super rich and powerful, their ideas and motivations are completely at odds with my own worldview, but I could clearly understand what drove their actions and their glamorous lifestyle is jawdropping.



Gwendolyn and Estella aren't your typical little girls. Gwendolyn recollects their joint obsession with collecting and cataloguing insects, a hobby which grossed out many of their peer group and horrified their grandmother! The theme of insects, butterflies in particular, recurs throughout The Majesties with both direct and metaphorical links to the subject. I found Gwendolyn's high fashion insect 'bagatelles' to be a gruesome idea however one which I would be unsurprised to see replicated on callous haute couture catwalks if it were actually possible. Replicating the phases in a butterfly's lifecycle for Estella's life was an interesting idea that played out well for me.



I'm confident that The Majesties is my favourite Tiffany Tsao novel (so far!) I love her inventiveness, the memorably unique characters she created and the darkness of this world they inhabit. I can often be underwhelmed by thrillers, but The Majesties was everything I had hoped for and more!

Ever since I first heard of The Majesties by Tiffany Tsao, I've been intrigued by the novel's plot and underlying mystery. Published by Pushkin Press and characterised as a 'riveting tale' of betrayal, revenge and family bonds, The Majesties is a haunting read about the dark side of wealth and the lengths people with power are willing to go to maintain what they have.

The plot follows two sisters, Gwendolyn and Estella, heiresses of the Sulinado family, a wealthy Chinese-Indonesian family and their journey to unravel the deep-seated secrets that their family harbours. The novel begins in quite an eventful and shocking manner, as the entire family has just been poisoned by Estella while attending a wedding. Gwendolyn (affectionately called 'Doll' by her older sister) is the sole survivor of this incident and she is currently in a coma, trying to piece together the events that led her sister to commit such a heinous act. 

As Gwendolyn lies in the hospital bed, unable to move or speak, she delves deep into her memories taking the reader along, recounting various events such as their university days, her sister's meeting with her future husband, their aunt's sudden disappearance, while attempting to understand and reveal Estella's breaking point that led to this tragedy. Although seemingly perfect and superficial, the sisters' lives are filled with deception, lies and abuse, and the novel shows the slow escalation of the events until we reach the day of the incident.

Tsao has managed to build her plot masterfully and create a steady pace that gradually intensifies as more and more secrets are revealed and the Sulinado's entire life is being deconstructed. The story starts with the mystery of finding out the reason why Estella resorted to poisoning all 300 members of her family, yet the suspense keeps on building up as we discover more and more about this rich but deeply problematic family. Gwendolyn's own narration of her recollections start as very simple, coherent and clear, but as the plot moves forward they culminate in a hazy and feverish recounting of the last conversations she had with Estella before the poisoning.

The Majesties combines the elements of a psychological mystery with a literary style, and, along with its fast-paced plot and suspense, it manages to keep the reader at the edge of their seat until the very last page. What initially appears like 'rich people problems', superficial worries about mundane things, quickly escalates to much more serious themes of abuse, both physical and psychological, deception, loss of freedom and, eventually, loss of identity.

The premise of two sisters, one of which ends up killing their family (and herself in the process in the case of The Majesties) initially reminded me of Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in The Castle. Although they are two very different books in their respective plots and eventual execution, Tsao has crafted an equally intriguing psychological mystery, exploring the darkness that resides in one's heart and the lengths certain people are willing to go to in order to keep up appearances and preserve their supposed image.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed The Majesties and Tsao's portrayal of the seemingly ideal yet corrupt world of this Asian family, as well as exploring the psychology of both sisters and their attempt to cope with a reality that seems to increasingly suffocate them and entrap them.

A captivating read that I just wanted to gobble up in one sitting - this was like travelling without ever leaving my sofa! 
This story begins with Gwendolyn in a coma, the lone survivor of her twin Estella’s mass poisoning of all their family and friends. As Gwendolyn lays in hospital, she tries to piece together the events that led to this tragedy - taking us on a journey from universities in the US & Australia, fashion shows in Paris, and home in Indonesia to unravel the secrets of the Sulinado family.
I was immediately gripped by this story, and found the writing made this very quick and easy to get through to reach the final reveal, however I did find it lost its way a little in the last few chapters. I loved the imagery of the silkworms and butterflies (‘The Majesties‘) and found this a very vibrant, colourful story. All the glamour and riches of Crazy Rich Asians but with murder and intrigue - a great escapist read. Actual rating 3.5 - look forward to more from Tsao!

1.5 rounded down

I found this to be an incredibly dull, pedestrian read which didn't work for me on any level. Don't believe the comparisons to Crazy Rich Asians - while the family are Asian (Indonesian) and are crazy (no spoilers) and kind of rich the plots of the books couldn't be more different. This is being billed a thriller but I didn't even understand the twist when I got it - and didn't care enough to go back and work it out. 

Honestly not sure why I finished this, and I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to either.

Interesting concept and well-written but as a whole, this fell flat for me. It was just a bit slow, and even moments which should have been pivotal felt lacklustre.

I couldn't get into this one. Despite a very dynamic opening that presented a rather interesting concept, the writing is significantly overwritten, plumb full of details that feel superfluous rather than adding to the overall feel of the book. I suspect what this book could have done with was a little more work on structure and finessing the writing style enough that it matched the potential of the idea. Not for me, I'm afraid.

A really unusual book, but a fascinating insight into the horribly wealthy - and at times just plain horrible - lives of a Chinese family and their friends living in Indonesia. The focus is on two sisters and the opening of the book is brilliant, with one sister wondering, from her hospital bed, why her sister decided to murder her entire extended family and all their friends - 300 people in total...

The book isn't a thriller as such, it is more of an examination of the lives of Estella and Gwendolyn and their families, and the ups and downs of their sisterly relationship and the events leading up to the mass murder. It is a little confusing at times, and I still haven't quite got y head around the twist at the end, but it's a really enjoyable read.

This book is one that truly unravels in a delicious way. It starts out with a dark premise, but by the end of it, you can start to emphasise with the debauched acts of one of the main characters. Having grown up in Jakarta, I truly enjoyed this book and it was like going home in a way. I recommend it for those that enjoy a good story that doesn't have a happy ending.

I was so looking forward to reading this but unfortunately it just fell flat. It was very slow and I think the story needed a bit more beefing out in places. I was hoping for a really good thriller and it was more family drama than anything else.

Thank you to Netgalley, Pushkin Press and Tiffany Tsao for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review.  From the very first line this book drew me in. To say that I loved it and I found the dynamic between the sisters fantastic.

Great beginning ('when your sister murders three hundred people, you can't help but wonder why') and a good ending that has a kind of twisted logic to it - but I found the pacing of this not quite right. There's a l-o-o-o-o-n-g central part where all kinds of wheels are turning but the story doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. Various trips merge into each other and a whole courtship/difficult marriage seems to take up far more page space than is warranted (though the end deals with this in part). After not much happening, there's a sudden flurry of events and revelations towards the end but they start, to be honest, to become so melodramatic that they're almost cartoonish. 

There are some lovely images along the way - the bagatelles lifting into flight on the catwalk, for example - but Tsao seems to be reaching for symbolism of cocooning and metamorphosis that doesn't quite work in the story as it stands. Great ideas, lots of potential but the story on the page doesn't seem to come to fruition in the way that might have been intended. Fabulous cover, though!

The Majesties
by Tiffany Tsao
Published by Pushkin Press

With its shocking opening, this quirky tale is a dramatic story of Gwendolyn & Estella - sisters with a shared childhood interest in entomology. This bugs & butterflies hobby leads to a business for one of them & aids a crime for the other.

We travel between continents and time periods. Life in Jakarta, studies in Berkley, USA, as jet-set family. It's not a disjointed time-lapse at all but we see how they're used to the glitzy high life of the Chinese Indonesian variety. But is it there just for others to see?

The way Tiffany Tsao writes about the tangled adventures makes us care about the sisters even though they're surrounded by unusual family dynamics with some puzzling & disturbing connections.

'When your sister's last words are "Please forgive me" it's fair to say life will change forever' lets us know this is no ordinary story.

Discovery of a confusing photo leads the sisters on an unexpected adventure & their worlds really start to unravel. Their curiosity could never even be close to what is actually revealed.

Definitely not your average warm & fuzzy read but the story delivers twists & turns all the way through to the final pages. We see riches & poverty collide, unthinkable plans hatched and family morals going out the window in the many threads of this dark story.

Also: Never order the Shark's Fin soup!