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mapmaker87's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Murder, and Racism
bookishevy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Most of the story is told through the confession of a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain working as a communist double agent who comes to the U.S. after Saigon has fallen. The unnamed narrator settles in LA and rebuilds a life among other Vietnamese refugees while secretly gathering intelligence and reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam.
The narrator makes the perfect spy because he's steeped in dualities. Born and raised in Vietnam but educated in the US. From the north but fighting alongside the south. He serves the Viet Cong but also sympathizes with anti-communists. He struggles with his identity, hence why he doesn't have a name. He says he's "able to see any issue from both sides." Herein lies his conflict.
In his confession to the Commandant, the narrator shares his feelings on his father's identity and how it affected his and his mother's lives, his views on the French and American occupations of Vietnam, how Asians are viewed in America and their stereotypical portrayals on film, how him being part French and his unaccented English made him more palatable to white Americans. He even talks about his love interests. But is he telling everything?
With themes like friendship, loyalty, and betrayal, this part satire spy thriller explores the legacy of the Vietnam war. I didn't think I would laugh out loud while reading this novel, but I did so quite a few times. Funny observations aside, this story deals with heavy, real-life issues like separation from loved ones and other horrors that come with war. I was stunned at the end of chapter 19.
This would have been a 5/5 for me if it weren't for how the dialogue was written. I've read books that don't have quotation marks, but Nguyen also places entire conversations in one paragraph. It's a dense read.
TW: War, violence, murder, graphic rape, torture, grooming, antiasian, and antiblack sentiment
I hope the series does it justice.
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Gun violence, War, and Torture
Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs
janineledet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, and Racial slurs
badmom's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Xenophobia, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Torture, War, Colonisation, Classism, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Pregnancy
cassreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The ending was brutal to read (read TW). It definitely shows the brutality of war, the limits of sympathy, but I still feel unsure about it, and about the book's representation of women as a whole. Still working through that mentally.
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Suicide, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and War
lavenderlion's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
maviemerveilleuse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Racial slurs, Torture, Rape, Racism, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
anarmandameg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, Murder, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Trafficking, Gore, Genocide, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War
Moderate: Blood, Classism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Domestic abuse
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, War, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Rape, Violence, Gore, and Murder
gabapentin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Rape, Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs