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lizmart88's review
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I've read several books from the city Vietnamese perspective on the war. This one is set during the war and focuses on two sisters who become hostesses at a bar entertaining GIs in Saigon. It also follows in the present day Dan, a former helicopter pilot, and his wife, traveling to Vietnam.
Beautifully written. The author does an excellent job portraying the characters complex emotions and how they end up making such difficult decisions in the face of war and uncertainty. It also does a lovely job sharing Vietnamese language, culture, and identity and the many impacts of the war on Vietnamese people.
Highly recommend.
Beautifully written. The author does an excellent job portraying the characters complex emotions and how they end up making such difficult decisions in the face of war and uncertainty. It also does a lovely job sharing Vietnamese language, culture, and identity and the many impacts of the war on Vietnamese people.
Highly recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, War, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
bookthia's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Very good. Interweaving stories of people who lived and survived the Vietnam war. I had small quibbles with some of the character development but the story itself was excellent. I listened on audio deliberately to hear the Vietnamese words spoken properly and I am so glad I did. The narration was wonderful. Two Vietnamese sisters move from the country to Saigon to help their parents pay off debts and get swept up in the sex trade that took hold when American soldiers came. One sister falls in love with a soldier and becomes pregnant with his child. Many years later, after the war, the soldier and his wife return to Vietnam to find his child. But the story digs deep into the various traumas and hardships experienced by the Vietnamese, and to a smaller extent, to Americans.
As someone who has been privileged to have recently travelled in Vietnam, it was fascinating to be familiar with some of the locations used in the novel.
Recommend.
As someone who has been privileged to have recently travelled in Vietnam, it was fascinating to be familiar with some of the locations used in the novel.
Recommend.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, War, Car accident, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape
madarzoe's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Informative, multi-faceted and thought-provoking. Explores themes of race, feminism, love, forgiveness, family and the ways people fight to maintain their humanity during unthinkable times. At some points the writing sounded a bit like a college paper on the Vietnam War, but I appreciated the history lesson and the range of perspectives. The story flips between two main points in time and multiple character POVs, which made it feel like a fairly quick read and kept me interested, and the story built nicely towards a bit of a climax towards the end. I enjoyed how the author was able to leave me feeling more hopeful than depressed by the end, despite some very heavy topics and material.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and War
thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Infidelity, Pregnancy, War, Racism, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Rape and Self harm
vincci's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I couldn't put down this book! Nguyễn Phan is such a gifted storyteller and hops through different time periods and perspectives throughout the book with ease. As a reader I could feel the emotional highs and lows of the characters and it was fun anticipating when their stories would intersect.
My only criticism is that I felt that the book could have ended without the last two chapters.While she did use those chapters to add a few final twists, from reading her first novel, The Mountains Sing, I get that she is someone who likes to tie up loose ends and it felt like she was almost forcing it a bit here, particularly near the end.
My only criticism is that I felt that the book could have ended without the last two chapters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and War
maidinnah's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A thoughtful, nuanced, and empathetic account of the Vietnam war through the intertwining storylines of a Vietnamese prostitute, an American veteran, and an Amerasian “dust child”. This stirring tale explores the fallout — the broken families, the mutual resentments, the haunting secrets — and calls forth tremendous amounts of forgiveness from every side. Quê Mai Nguyễn reminds us that we may not be able to heal every wound when the dust settles, but peace can still be found when we move forward.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Murder, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Self harm
estam1's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Mental illness, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and War
goodbyerachel's review
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, War, and Xenophobia
cyborgforty's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
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
5.0
The last chapters stunned me. I did not expect the book to end the way it did at all. I thought the book was leading up to a brutally honest closure—I thought that would have been well done, and well reflective of real experiences and real trauma. But the last chapter was as close to a fairy-tale ending as I could ever imagine coming out of a war.
The pacing, the journey through time, the gradual revelation of everything known (and acceptance of what remains unknown) is incredible. So much of the story revolves around the lies that characters tell each other, the truths they hide from each other, which despite each character's growth is clear until the very end. I was shocked at how differently I could perceive the same character, through different perspectives or at different points in time. Quynh and Dan especially.
Although I didn't find the prose to be the strongest part of the novel, I was taken by several lines immersed by how the text flowed between languages. The dialogue is mostly in English, but I found myself translating in my head what I think the character would have said in Vietnamese, or imagining how the character would have pronounced English words with their accent (Nguyen has a clever way of conveying this). I didn't learn many Vietnamese proverbs from my family and having them come up so often within the text was very enlightening for me, expressing sentiments that felt very familiar even if I'd never heard the words themselves.
Several times while reading this book, I thought, "oh, that's why [insert some Vietnamese linguistic/customary thing that I grew up with but never knew the reason why]." The depth Nguyen offers as a Vietnamese writer was particularly eye-opening for me, being American-born. I haven't read a lot of books set in Vietnam, or written by Vietnamese authors, much less a book that centers Vietnamese/American history in such a way.
The pacing, the journey through time, the gradual revelation of everything known (and acceptance of what remains unknown) is incredible. So much of the story revolves around the lies that characters tell each other, the truths they hide from each other, which despite each character's growth is clear until the very end. I was shocked at how differently I could perceive the same character, through different perspectives or at different points in time. Quynh and Dan especially.
Although I didn't find the prose to be the strongest part of the novel, I was taken by several lines immersed by how the text flowed between languages. The dialogue is mostly in English, but I found myself translating in my head what I think the character would have said in Vietnamese, or imagining how the character would have pronounced English words with their accent (Nguyen has a clever way of conveying this). I didn't learn many Vietnamese proverbs from my family and having them come up so often within the text was very enlightening for me, expressing sentiments that felt very familiar even if I'd never heard the words themselves.
Several times while reading this book, I thought, "oh, that's why [insert some Vietnamese linguistic/customary thing that I grew up with but never knew the reason why]." The depth Nguyen offers as a Vietnamese writer was particularly eye-opening for me, being American-born. I haven't read a lot of books set in Vietnam, or written by Vietnamese authors, much less a book that centers Vietnamese/American history in such a way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
hilarylouise's review against another edition
emotional
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, War, and Death
Moderate: Abortion and Bullying