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pam_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Cannibalism
Minor: Murder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Outing, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, and Violence
jenny_d's review against another edition
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Death of parent and Outing
lri_reads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia
Minor: Outing
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Hate crime, Death, Homophobia, Grief, Murder, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Blood
alyssamakesart's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Beautifully illustrated - and the color choice worked well with built up of the story once it started to layer and you saw where it was going. The First 40 pages or so were okay, but after that, the story picked up a lot and I was almost crying at the end. 5/5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Outing, and Death of parent
dominic_t's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
4.5
The art was amazing, and the story was so beautiful. The fairy tales were woven into the story very well.
The ending was absolutely perfect and made me cry happy tears.I loved how the mom used their shared language of fairy tales to communicate her love and support to her son, even if she didn't have all the LGBTQIA terminology.
The ending was absolutely perfect and made me cry happy tears.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Outing
Minor: Hate crime
haileylouise's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Beautifully executed, from the writing and retelling of classic fairy-tails to the artwork, I could not have loved a story more. This especially hits home as a southeast asian queer who struggled with coming out to their parents, plus with the added elements of religion playing into it. I would 1000% recommend everyone to read this, especially queer pocs!
Content Warnings
Minor: Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Outing, Death, Terminal illness, and Blood
orchidd's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Homophobia
Minor: Hate crime, Cannibalism, Blood, War, Religious bigotry, and Outing
liferhi_inspired's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
đź“ť Gay & Vietnamese Rep
If this graphic novel isn’t on your radar, you need to add it!
The Magic Fish is a story about a gay boy trying to find the words to tell his Vietnamese Refugee parents that he’s gay. So the whole book is centered around trying to find a common language with his family. Not only do we have Tien’s perspective, we have a flash back of his parents escape from Vietnam, and a collection of fairytales. Each of these “perspectives” is color coded, which makes it easy to understand the overall flow of the story.
My favorite part of this was the fairytales from around the world that are told. It contained both a German version of Cinderella & a Vietnamese version, along with a Hans Christina Andersen version of The Little Mermaid.
This was such a well written & illustrated graphic novel, it’s a crime not to add it on to your TBR.
If this graphic novel isn’t on your radar, you need to add it!
The Magic Fish is a story about a gay boy trying to find the words to tell his Vietnamese Refugee parents that he’s gay. So the whole book is centered around trying to find a common language with his family. Not only do we have Tien’s perspective, we have a flash back of his parents escape from Vietnam, and a collection of fairytales. Each of these “perspectives” is color coded, which makes it easy to understand the overall flow of the story.
My favorite part of this was the fairytales from around the world that are told. It contained both a German version of Cinderella & a Vietnamese version, along with a Hans Christina Andersen version of The Little Mermaid.
This was such a well written & illustrated graphic novel, it’s a crime not to add it on to your TBR.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Outing
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, Grief, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Outing, Cannibalism, Blood, and Murder