Reviews tagging 'War'

All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien

6 reviews

sangsmiles's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, and War

helloitskate's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: War, Alcoholism, and Physical abuse

Minor: Blood and Addiction

ceedy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racism, Murder, and War

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s so nice to read stories that focus on the diaspora outside of the United States. In this case, All That’s Left Unsaid focuses on the Vietnamese diaspora in Cabramatta, a suburb outside of Sydney. This is a heartbreaking story in many ways, drawing attention to the difficulties that shaped the Vietnamese community of this suburb, as well as the life of the protagonist, Ky. While this seems to be marketed as a mystery (which it technically is, since Ky is trying to find out who murdered her brother), this didn’t really read to me as a mystery book. To me, it was more a contemplation on the struggles of this Vietnamese community dealing with unchecked racism, immigration, drug abuse and addiction, the traumas of war which, inevitably, leads to generational trauma. In other words, if you’re hoping for a standard murder mystery, this book won’t meet that expectation.

All things considered, I thought Lien addressed these topics quite well, in the sense that none of them read as superficial or an afterthought. That being said, I think the pacing and execution of the story itself was a bit rough. It took some time to get used to the jumping back and forth between the past and present, which I felt disrupted the overall flow of the book. As a result, this affected the pacing. I didn’t feel engaged during some parts of the book, while other moments were gripping.

Ultimately, though, I think it is worth picking up this book, especially if you’re interested in reading diasporic literature that doesn’t center USians.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Drug use and Child abuse

Minor: War, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

bookishcori's review

challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, and Death

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and War

forgottenangstycharacter's review

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Death, Xenophobia, Racism, and War