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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An AMAZING read. This book gives a perspective that as an American is definitely not something we learn or probably even think about enough. Very well written, the generational trauma as well as the family's resiliency is portrayed so well. I listened to the audiobook and couldn't hit pause. It is a very heavy read however, if you pick up this book you will follow the family through horrors of war and famine and violence, but it is obvious the author poured her soul into this book to give the most unfiltered voice to what the Vietnamese people have been through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical trauma, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Abortion
Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Colonisation
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is hard to put into words how vital works like this one are. The world has seen such horror that is constantly being buried even as it continues today. Authors like Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai keep the truth alive with courage and resilience for us and future generations to learn from. The faults of history should guide our actions in the present.
"For the millions of people, Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese, who lost their lives in the war. May our planet never see another armed conflict."
"For the millions of people, Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese, who lost their lives in the war. May our planet never see another armed conflict."
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:
Complicated
challenging
dark
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:
Yes
I don’t know what to say
Or what to write
It is like a strange internal fight
I need to write, to feel
And this book, is
Itself an emotion
Struggle,
The primary feeling, That
I’m going through,
Struggle,
Is exactly the theme of this book
Now I wonder if I can say that?
Struggle of Tran family
Probably just another family,
In thousands of families in
Vietnam, that faced the war
Trans, that represent whole
Country to us , that went
Through the struggle, and
Fought the monster called war
Tran family had a
Matriarch, Diêu lan, who was
The victim of all the
Demons of war, was the
Tallest mountain that sang hope
Along all the struggles,
Then has hùòng, whose life in
Childhood to adolescence went
In questioning the aftermath
And the right there, of war
But only in her mind
There’s no another villain here,
The war, is the beast,
Is the antagonist , if
We put it so, monster
Leaves nothing for trans
Snatching absolutely everything
Now this might sound as a
War story to you, take my word
It’s a family saga,
Involving so much history
Of Vietnam , that you and I
And everyone who reads
This book, can’t help but
Go find the history on whole
There’s nothing new , I
Can offer to say about this book
That hasn’t been already said
So I’m writing my thoughts out
Certainly with many doubts
This piece won’t be any grand,
But I ought to try my hand.
Or what to write
It is like a strange internal fight
I need to write, to feel
And this book, is
Itself an emotion
Struggle,
The primary feeling, That
I’m going through,
Struggle,
Is exactly the theme of this book
Now I wonder if I can say that?
Struggle of Tran family
Probably just another family,
In thousands of families in
Vietnam, that faced the war
Trans, that represent whole
Country to us , that went
Through the struggle, and
Fought the monster called war
Tran family had a
Matriarch, Diêu lan, who was
The victim of all the
Demons of war, was the
Tallest mountain that sang hope
Along all the struggles,
Then has hùòng, whose life in
Childhood to adolescence went
In questioning the aftermath
And the right there, of war
But only in her mind
There’s no another villain here,
The war, is the beast,
Is the antagonist , if
We put it so, monster
Leaves nothing for trans
Snatching absolutely everything
Now this might sound as a
War story to you, take my word
It’s a family saga,
Involving so much history
Of Vietnam , that you and I
And everyone who reads
This book, can’t help but
Go find the history on whole
There’s nothing new , I
Can offer to say about this book
That hasn’t been already said
So I’m writing my thoughts out
Certainly with many doubts
This piece won’t be any grand,
But I ought to try my hand.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-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
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No