Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

72 reviews

megmo's review

emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Cannibalism

Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: War and Hate crime

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Abandonment, and Death

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Death of parent

Disconnection from culture, refugee camp.

risten's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Hate crime, Death, Homophobia, Grief, Murder, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Blood

emily_mh's review against another edition

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

4.75

This graphic novel was so incredibly clever. The way the fairytales Tiến and Helen tell each other are tied into the narrative not only to reflect particular events but, as the author points out, more overarching themes of immigration. The way the fairytales are used to communicate ideas between the characters - this really highlighted the power of stories. And the fairytales were fantastic in and of themselves! The author also explains so many layers of meaning that I missed my first time reading, so I think this is one of those books where you’ve got to reread to pick up on all the nuances. For example, he discusses how imagery of the fairytale being told changes based on who is narrating, which blew my mind when I flicked back through the book. I could just tell that so much thought and detail went into expressing the story.

At its core this book is about a mother-son relationship which it displays impeccably. The love and the care Tiến and Helen had for one another! Their desire to understand and be understood! I especially loved that Helen was included as a character in her own right, as it is rare for a mother-figure to have this. This inclusion brought the theme of a two-sided relationship to life as both sides of the story were shown.

The art was gorgeous. There was super effective use of colour in that only three were used (in different tones) so as to demarcate parts of the book: red for the present, blue for fairytales, and yellow for the past. The detail of the clothing and hair of the characters was wonderful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Physical abuse, Medical content, War, Torture, Gore, and Hate crime

Moderate: the refugee experience, sick loved one, loss of a loved one, forced separation from family, death of pet Minor: child bride, drowning

livcbrown's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and War

Moderate: Murder and Death of parent

flyemtothemoon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful lighthearted sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Hate crime and Homophobia

phantastic's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

The artwork is absolutely stunning and innovative; I appreciated the creative decision to make some artwork depicting important scenes be unrestricted by the panel boxes. Sometimes the art and/or speech bubbles don’t follow a linear path, which I thought added a nice touch to the way the story was told.

The writing can feel clunky at times, but that’s not to the detriment of the overall story or message. I recommend it to anyone looking to read a deeply personal, heartfelt story; This is a beautiful graphic novel about the struggle of immigration—being stuck between your old life versus your new life—and coming to terms with your identity. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Outing, Cannibalism, Blood, and Murder

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief

Moderate: Homophobia, War, Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, and Blood

magickshop's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent

The child abuse occurs between the characters in the fairy tale, not within the families of the primary narrative.

erins_bookshelf_'s review against another edition

fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

The art style in this is gorgeous and I loved the way the fairy tales were integrated into the story 
also the use of the colors showing the different times/ locations vs fantasy stuff was so cool  
I really liked this 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Outing, and Death

Moderate: Blood and Homophobia