Aunt Tigress: A rich blending of traditions enlivens a Tam Lin Tale

Aunt Tigress by Emily Yu-Xuan Qin

2025’s Aunt Tigress brings the reader a rich mix of cultures and folkloric traditions in a story rooted in the Scottish fairy tale of Tam Lin and Janet. Don’t expect a traditional telling of the story here. Emily Yu-Xuan Qin’s story takes place in modern-day Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Tam is Canadian-Chinese, struggling to put some shameful acts behind her and finish college, but her new girlfriend, Janet, and Tam’s powerful, disturbing Aunt Tigress have other plans—especially once Tam is told that her aunt has been murdered, with only her skin left behind.

The hardback’s illustrated cover implies the book is romance-forward, which it is. Janet was the initiator of the relationship. As the book opens, it’s clear Tam has shared some of her magical abilities with Janet, although not all of them. The biggest secret Tam is keeping is one that seems to give her shame. Tam’s father, who died in a car accident, was a tiger, and Tam has inherited some of his tiger traits. Aunt Tigress, as the name implies, is a tigress. When Tam was a teenager, just after her father was killed, Aunt Tigress stepped in to “teach” Tam about her magic. In fact, the ruthless, ambitious Aunt Tigress used Tam as a dupe and a lure in several schemes to take the power of other magical beings. With Aunt Tigress dead, there may be magical beings seeking revenge—or something worse, as the sky suddenly turns red, and the clouds begin to rain earth and stones.

Tam and Janet embark on a journey that will take to the world between the worlds, and deep into the secrets of their personal pasts. They meet a number of well-drawn and colorful beings from various traditions, and team up with Jack, a young First Nations man who works for a demon lawyer. (Insert lawyer joke here.) While they must work together, revelations of Janet’s true motivations have shocked Tam and brought her guilt for past actions even closer to the surface.

My favorite part of the book was Tam’s navigation of the various cultures. In her quest for power, Aunt Tigress bargained, extorted or stole power from any-and-everyone, including a thunderbird. As Tam follows her dead aunt’s trail she is mortified at the degree of theft. The second half of the book shares the stories of others, like the demon lawyer, her spouse, and Jack. Qin doesn’t stint on the involvement of the continental magic of Canada.

My second favorite part is the depiction of Tam’s family. She lives with her mother and her stepbrother in a low-income part of town. Tam’s mother disapproves of Tam’s choices, mostly around the magic, but also her choice of girlfriends, and demonstrates that in small, mean ways, (like speaking only Chinese around Janet). At the same time, it is piercingly clear that she deeply loves her daughter and will do anything to keep her out of danger. Tam’s white stepbrother Paul yearns for magic himself, but is loyal to his sister. At the same time, Tam frequently thinks back to the interval when Paul’s dad, the man she calls “Stepfather Dearest,” lived with them. While not physically abusive, he is controlling and verbally wounding. More seriously, as a vegan, he refuses to accept that Tam must eat meat. Tam thinks back to the years of starving in her family, although her mother fought the battle as hard as she could. Starving to fit in is a powerful metaphor, well used here.

Tam’s mother, now struggling to protect her children physically and economically, is smart, strong, and was once happy, as we see in flashbacks.

It’s Tam’s father who interested me the most, as, over the course of the book, Tam starts to see him in a different light. By the values of his sister, Aunt Tigress, he seemed loving but weak at first, but Tam soon comes to see the strength in him, in her mother, and in herself.

I also loved the physical descriptions, especially of the journey to the world between worlds. That was pure magic, from the boat they take, to the magical beasts drawing it, to the road they follow.

I called the book “rich,” and I stand by it. It may be slightly overstuffed, as Qin juggles family drama, romance drama, guilt and redemption, issues of identity, family secrets, accumulation of power, and racism. With all that, hewing closely to the original tale of Janet and Tam Lin seemed, not unnecessary, but less necessary.

Plotwise, small things were very obvious early on, later revealed with a flourish as if they were surprises. Also, the book seemed to move slowly during the middle third. I’m giving this book nearly five stars, and recommending it highly, but I nearly put it down during the middle. I also had a quibble which isn’t about the author—I wish tradpub hadn’t let go of its old commitment to good line editing.

Between the writing of this and the posting, I skimmed some Goodreads reviews, so I’m going to add something. Other than the obligatory moments of snark between our two twentysomething MCs, I didn’t find this book to be humorous or particularly “sweet.” There is humor, and it’s funny. The thorny relationship between Janet and Tam, the ordeal Janet’s mother faces, the storyline of the thunderbird, are what I would call “poignant” or even sad. The cover, with its bright candy colors, theatrical outfits, and artistically pretty young women may give an impression of hi-jinx and banter which are not where this story goes.

I’m glad I didn’t stop reading, because I can honestly say I have not read another story that contained Chinese tiger magic, First Nations magic and deities, witch trees, revenant four-tailed foxes, incubi, gods-turned-demons and a magical blue umbrella. The love story is powerful, and the stories within the stories delighted me even when they were heartbreaking. This is an immersive fantastical journey, and Emily Yu-Xuan Qin is a writer to watch.