When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain (The Singing Hills Cycle, #2)

by Nghi Vo

“Why are we talking to tigers?” asked Si-yu. “Because they are talking to us,”

To be anyone who was anyone, you should have been born in the capital to one of the six great families, ideally as an able-bodied eldest boy, ideally without a single mark on your skin and without a taste for esoteric magic or radical politics.

When you love a thing too much, it is a special kind of pain to show it to others and to see that it is lacking.

“Because it is not such a good story for humans if they get randomly eaten and do not deserve it,”

They had been taught that where a professional demeanor and inquisitiveness could not be found, honesty would have to serve.