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adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a wonderful family saga and I cried and learned a lot! The things I knew about Vietnamese history I mostly had from museums, this book brought history to life in all its tragedy, cruelty, all its sorrow and grief, all its persistence and kindness and love. At times this story is almost unbeatably sad and I felt so much for the family and everything they had to go through but it also managed to be hopeful throughout. The women here are so strong for their persistence and their unwillingness to give in or to lose their kindness.
Highly recommended the audio book, there's so many Vietnamese proverbs in this and hearing them spoken by a Vietnamese speaker and not just reading them wrongly in my head.
Highly recommended the audio book, there's so many Vietnamese proverbs in this and hearing them spoken by a Vietnamese speaker and not just reading them wrongly in my head.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, War
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Excrement, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Classism
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, War
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
This story grabbed me from beginning to end, even though the heaviness of the topic made me take breaks in-between. It tells stories of the goodness between people when we arrive in our darkest hour. About the power of perseverance for our families. It makes us long for the connections around us and value what we have. But it also creates awareness about topics that used to feel so far away. I've felt for these characters, and have grown to remember the smallest details the more I read about them. They felt real and their struggle felt incredibly harsh and unfair.
The change of faith is possible. As long as we follow the road of goodness, strength will find its way. A gorgeous story of family, broken hearts and loss, and how the family bounced back through hardship of a broken country.
The change of faith is possible. As long as we follow the road of goodness, strength will find its way. A gorgeous story of family, broken hearts and loss, and how the family bounced back through hardship of a broken country.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Death of parent
Audio book version. It took me a while to realise there were several narrations in this book.
I didn't know much about Vietnamese history prior to reading this book. I still don't know a lot, but I'm sad so many people suffered. And I wholeheartedly agree, there should never be another war.
I didn't know much about Vietnamese history prior to reading this book. I still don't know a lot, but I'm sad so many people suffered. And I wholeheartedly agree, there should never be another war.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Rape, Murder, War
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-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
Loved it. So sad, so emotional, but it was also beautifully written and still hopeful/ uplifting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Colonisation, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Murder
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a spectacular book. Its lyrical and breathtaking and sweeping in scope. It taught me I know nothing about the Viet Nam war. It's got all of the depth and sprawl of books like 'Pachinko' and 'Peach Blossom Spring' and the epic staying power of novels like 'Homegoing' and 'Infinite Country' and everything Khaled Hosseini has ever written. It was riveting and searing.
It could also be frustrating; despite how much I loved the book, I often felt like the characters were almost too naïve deliberately so the author could use them as a mouthpiece for philosophical arguments; i.e. Huong being 15 and not understanding what rape is so that the book can make the argument that no one should be shamed for violence inflicted upon them. There were other instances of this that tested believability, but for me it didn't drag down the impact of the novel. I'd recommend this to anyone and it will have a permanent place on my bookshelf and rotation of revered books.
I will say that I almost, almost knocked this down one star because I thought it was so unbelievably stupid that Tam's grandfather was Wicked Ghost. That was too much for me, too 'connected', and even though it resolved well, I hated it.
It could also be frustrating; despite how much I loved the book, I often felt like the characters were almost too naïve deliberately so the author could use them as a mouthpiece for philosophical arguments; i.e. Huong being 15 and not understanding what rape is so that the book can make the argument that no one should be shamed for violence inflicted upon them. There were other instances of this that tested believability, but for me it didn't drag down the impact of the novel. I'd recommend this to anyone and it will have a permanent place on my bookshelf and rotation of revered books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wow. I’ve known about this novel for ages not least of all because I have many friends on Bookstagram who’ve raved about it for years. The truth is they just might have undersold it. This is a truly brilliant, compellingly-told multigenerational family saga that is filled with so much life and tragedy but yet so much hope for healing and reconciliation even in the face of hardship.
First of all, I entered this book not knowing much about Vietnamese history beyond America’s interventionist role in it, the dispute in America around their own involvement, and the resultant mess left behind. To my knowledge, contemporary Vietnam is a gorgeous place that tourists visit and that is on my bucket list to go to. Yet outside of this perspective, I’d never really experienced Vietnam from its own perspective as the subject of its own story rather than through a Western lens. Knowing my own family’s experience of war and occupation in my own country, I know the story is never simple and not everyone will agree with this author’s approach to telling this story or perspectives on historical events as reflected through Huong and her grandmother, Diêu Lan. That said, from my perspective as an international reader, I think the author tells an eminently and universally human story where if we acknowledge the commonality of of our humanity, we will understand that there are no real winners in war.
Diêu Lan is clearly the star of this book even if Huang’s voice remains strong throughout. Sometimes with books about characters that are resilient in the face of incredible trauma and hardship, the inspiration they provide as strong characters can simultaneously feel a little dismissive of the magnitude and impact of the suffering of others- sort of like “if Diêu Lan can move on and keep going, why can’t you? If she can forgive, something must be wrong with you that you can’t.” I think this book approaches this sensibly. Diêu Lan has Pollyanna ways, but she also feels deeply her grief and processes it through her faith. And through that faith, she’s also able to accept people (her children, for example) at different stages of grief and anger and PTSD without judgement and without insisting on her own approach or perspective. I loved how pragmatic she was but also how loving and how emotional. For me, her story was a coming of age story that revealed a lot about how much her family and the way she was raised set her up to face some of the challenges she did in her life. Huang’s story was a parallel coming of age story but more reflective of our journey as readers being novices in Vietnamese history or in Diêu Lan’s life and maturing as we read to a state of of not quite full adulthood, greater understanding of the multiplicity of perspectives and experiences that can be true and the commonality of suffering of everyday people in a war.
The language in this book was absolutely gorgeous, the use of proverbs and stories and viewing the world through a rich lens of culture and traditions, lent authenticity to the history we were reading. This was absolutely tragic but it never felt like grief porn, your heart was broken but in Diêu Lan’s resilience, it was healed again. Even in difficult moments, I was drawn to this and could hardly put it down. This is absolutely my favourite read so far this year and a new all time fave that will stick with me for a long time. I can’t recommend this enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, War, Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility