Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Góry śpiewają by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

48 reviews

challenging sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Powerful story about three generations in North Vietnam: it goes back-and-forth between a young girl’s experience of the end of the Vietnam war, and her grandmother’s survival of the 1940s great hunger and harsh land reform, with the middle generation being portrayed either as children or soldiers.

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challenging emotional hopeful 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: No

This is a moving book about intergenerational trauma as a result of events that happened in Vietnam between the French occupation, the Japanese occupation during WWII, the rise of communism, the Vietnam War and its aftermath. Nguyen Phan does not spare any details in sharing these stories and does a masterful job crafting the voices of the characters telling them. In interviews, Nguyen Phan has spoken about wanting to tell the stories that haven't been told in existing works. As someone who wasn't very familiar with Vietnamese history prior to reading this book, it has taught me about the resilience of the Vietnamese people, knowing that many today continue to carry these stories and trauma. 

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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: Yes

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad 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: Yes

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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challenging emotional hopeful informative
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This is one of those books that will stick around in my memory (like Half of a Yellow Sun when I first read it years ago). One family, separated & reunited & separated again over decades of violence, political tensions and war. But they're still connected and are trying to find their way back to eachother, and have this shared history and story. 
I was immersed in the Trần family's story and transported into their world, which tbh is all I really want in a book. I learnt a lot about the history of Việt Nam. 
 

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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adventurous emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

My heart is so full - I am literally in a glass case of emotion right now.

The Mountains Sing tells us the the story of Vietnam's history through the eyes of Huong and her family. There is a dual timeline that sets up the plot, with the perspective changing between Huong and her grandmother.

This book portrays the heartbreaking reality of war, and the author doesn't shy away from tackling the tough subjects like starvation, death, assault and abandonment. The writing style is very poetic, and I found the lyrical lines quite moving during key emotional points in the story. One of my favorite things about this story is how the author is able to highlight the beauty of life amidst all the tragedy, adding an element of hope to the pivotal point of the story.

I can really go on about how much I enjoyed this book. I knew from early on that I would be giving it five stars. If you enjoyed Min Jin Lee's "Pachinko" you'll find similar parallels in this book, but The Mountains Sing has a life all it's own. For a gripping historical fiction read, I would recommend this one!

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