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lomahongva's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Death, Death of parent, and War
lifeonasofa's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
The Magic Fish 🐟 Review
Real life isn’t a fairy tale. In fairy tales, the prince falls in love with the princess. But Tien had a different story to tell. His parents are refugees struggling to learn English, and he doesn’t know how to come out to them in Vietnamese. If he doesn’t even have the right words, how can he ever known if his parents will accept him? 💕
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5 Stars
STUNNING STORY! I was mesmerised by the way fairy tales were used in this book to move the story forward. The illustrations were SO beautiful and colours used, so simple and clever! With language being a barrier for Tien, this graphic novel captured the story perfectly. 🎨
The relationships were everything in this story. Tien and his mother, his parents, his friendships and his family across the pond. They were so heartwarmingly powerful and necessary when both Tien and his mother felt lost in this world. 🥰
Heads up, this is a really emotional read, check triggers. Some of the illustrations during fairy tale retellings are a little gory. But the representation in this book *chefs kiss* I can hear all the queer hearts singing around the world. 🌈
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Outing
birdieblue's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Homophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Blood, War, and Classism
Minor: Religious bigotry, Outing, and Abandonment
jayisreading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
What a quiet and beautiful story. The intertwining of fairy tales and Tiến‘s life was so well approached to gently open up a difficult-to-navigate conversation. An all-too-familiar situation that many immigrant families find themselves in, Tiến (the protagonist) struggles to figure out how to talk to his refugee parents in Vietnamese, as they are struggling to learn English, about a delicate topic. In this case, it’s Tiến‘s sexuality.
Of course, more that happens than this basic premise. There are so many layers to this graphic novel, exploring the complexities of grief from various perspectives in Tiến‘s family as well as in the fairy tales themselves. As gentle as this graphic novel can be, it will also tug at your heartstrings as Nguyen guides the reader through Vietnamese culture and storytelling.
Lastly, I just want to say how stunning the illustrations are. Each page was absolutely breathtaking, especially when they transitioned into fairy tales. I also thought it was incredibly clever to intertwine what was happening in “real” life and in fiction based on color.
I highly recommend picking this graphic novel up. It’s beautiful in every sense of the word.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
Minor: Emotional abuse and Cannibalism
henriediosa's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Religious bigotry
chave_cempasuchil's review
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
oh my god
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Death
thevampiremars's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
An enchanting story that weaves together narratives of the past, the present, and fairy tales. The Magic Fish broke my heart and lovingly stitched it back together.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Grief, and Outing
Moderate: Animal death, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, and War
temporarilyhuman's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Outing
mariebrunelm's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is a beautiful, sensitive, gentle and raw tale of belonging, growing and coming out. Tiến was born in the USA from a Vietnamese mother, and he's always switched between the different languages, coming up with a personal mixture of both when talking with his mother. When the time comes to come out to her, he wishes he knew the word for gay in Vietnamese, and so he turns to the book of fairy tales they've been reading together.
This graphic novel blends beautifully the American and Vietnamese visual identities, gracing characters from The Little Mermaid with traditional clothing, or Cinderella with haute-couture-inspired gowns. The limited colour palette, working in monochromes of red, blue and yellow, ties together each of the interweaving storylines effortlessly. Seeing Tiến interact with his classmates was especially endearing as they're very mindful and loving.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Minor: Death, Blood, and Cannibalism
doogle's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
okay i'm very emotional right now so get ready for a very emotional 2 am word barf.
just wow. absolutely beautiful and moving and i'm definitely not crying (i am). let me explain:
Tien, a young Vietnamese boy struggling to come out to his Vietnamese immigrant mother, but that isn't the entire premise of this story. Trung Le Nguyen explores how different languages and cultures intertwine within different generations in a single family. Tien's mother, Helen, struggles with English, while her son easily reads and writes in English, even conversing and reading out loud to help her practice.
just wow. absolutely beautiful and moving and i'm definitely not crying (i am). let me explain:
Tien, a young Vietnamese boy struggling to come out to his Vietnamese immigrant mother, but that isn't the entire premise of this story. Trung Le Nguyen explores how different languages and cultures intertwine within different generations in a single family. Tien's mother, Helen, struggles with English, while her son easily reads and writes in English, even conversing and reading out loud to help her practice.
"To me, language is a map to help you figure out where you are. If you can't read the map, you're lost.
"I wonder if I'll ever find my way home."
seeing something i can relate a little too much illustrated and beautifully portrayed made me an emotional mess. as the child of a sino-viet immigrant mother, i saw myself in Tien. i saw how my complicated and unique take on languages were reflected in Tien and Helen's situation. i teared up one too many times.
not only does Nguyen explore the complexity of languages in the relationship of an immigrant parent and their English-speaking child, he also weaves in parallels of Helen's memories with the stories being read out loud by Tien. it was just so beautiful and heartbreaking to see the scene of Helen's future (Tien) reading out a story that directly reflects Helen's past traumas. i really appreciated Nguyen touching on bits of pre-war and post-colonial Vietnam, however vague it was portrayed.
"Don't forget me.
"Do not—
"forget."
i also loved the details in traditional clothing of Vietnam, China, and historical European clothes worn by the fictional characters in Tien's stories.
so much culture and history is embedded in the fictional stories and represented through clothing which i really loved to see. Nguyen's notes at the end really added so many more layers to reveal and dig deeper into.
"Joy is a precious thing. And precious things are few.
"So we learn to hold on to them.
"We keep them close."
can we talk about this being a non-tragic gay story? wow. i went into this expecting to feel completely crushed and be in a pit of despair but i am so glad this graphic novel went in the direction it did. i loved the hopeful ending, especially considering Tien's very asian background. this hurt me a little too much when i looked back on my own family and culture's views on the lgbtq+ community. seeing Tien and his mother's relationship (especially towards the end) tugged my heart and made me wish i could experience that sort of unconditional love and support.
i appreciated how there was an emphasis on Tien's friends and their support. i loved how it showed how important this support system is during times of self-doubt and grief.
though this is for a younger audience, i found so much comfort and relief in this? it was a nice, short read, but sosososo worth it. it's so important and healing to see writers and artists that are just like you, especially at a young age. it's so important that these voices are heard and seen and amplified so all the kids struggling out there can be heard and seen.
the art and flow of the stories were just stunning and absolutely beautiful. i cannot stress that enough. please give this a read. it hurt and healed me so deeply and i will be grabbing my own physical copy of this asap.
if you've read The Prince and the Dressmaker, i guarantee you will love this as well. and vice versa, if you loved this just as much as i did, go check out The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang.
my heart is so full right now.
"So they lived on, together. And they were happy."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Grief
Moderate: Death and Religious bigotry
Minor: Animal death, Violence, Blood, and Cannibalism