Reviews with content warning for War - Dust Child

Thank you to Netgalley and Oneworld for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was pulled in right away! I didn’t want to put it down but also wanted to slow down so could savor the story. Beautiful writing once again from the author (I read and loved her debut last year). I’m a sucker for multiple timelines and POVs so this did not disappoint!

I also really liked the complex characters and their relationships. I learned a lot about pieces of history during/following the Vietnam War, which I always enjoy learning something new!

If you read this, grab tissues for last 25% 😭 I sobbed and was a wreck for the rest of the night and following day. This was a very hopeful and emotional read.

Fantastic novel that I loved even more than her debut! Will 100% be my favorite for the month and Que Mai is officially an auto buy author 💗

If my last read, Cecily, didn’t already have me in a mini slump I’m definitely in one now 😳 WHAT BOOK CAN FOLLOW THIS?! (This will also be my next “book to push into everyone’s hands”/go to recommendation)

TW/CW: racism, war, infertility (brief mention), PTSD, sexual content, death, grief, sexual assault, infidelity, racial slurs, alcoholism, violence, emotional abuse, vomit (brief), abandonment, pregnancy, Alzheimer’s (brief), child death, self harm (brief)

Content Warnings

readthemol's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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

✨Dust Child✨

Wow, oh wow, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an incredible storyteller. The Mountains Sing quickly became a favorite of mine when I read it last year, and Dust Child will absolutely be a favorite of mine this year!

Dust Child seamlessly intertwines the stories of Trang and Quỳnh (sisters who become bar girls in Sài Gòn during the Vietnam war), Dan (an American veteran who returns to Vietnam with his wife nearly 40 years after the war), and Phong (an Amerasian, who is trying to find his parents after being left at an orphanage as a baby).

I devoured this story - I couldn’t read fast enough, yet didn’t want it to end! The characters felt so real - their stories will stick with me for a long time. I didn’t know about the tens of thousands of Amerasians (one American parent, one Vietnamese parent) that were born out of the war and how horribly they were treated, being referred to as “children of the dust” and completely ostracized. Similar to The Mountains Sing, Dust Child opened my eyes to so much of the pain, fear, and trauma the Vietnamese (women especially) experienced during and after the Vietnam War. It was powerful the way Quế Mai portrayed the trauma of the war from both sides - she really encapsulated what the poet Nguyen Duy wrote: “At the end of each war, whoever wins, the people lose.” This year marks fifty years since the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam, yet there’s so much still to learn.

While used in a different context in the story, this quote felt very relevant to America right now: “Those in power feared free minds, and nothing unlocked thinking like literature.”

Dust Child is out tomorrow (3/14) and I highly, highly recommend picking up a copy! Thank you @nguyen & @algonquin for the eARC of Dust Child ❤️ I can’t wait to grab a physical copy for my collection!

Content Warnings

low_keybookish's review

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I have been SO excited for Dust Child to be released, and so thankful to have ready an early copy. Dust Child is a multiple POV story of different characters who are affected by the Vietnam War. The story focuses a lot on the experiences of Amerasian children who are mixed race and born of Vietnamese women and US military men. As the author describes in her author's note, these mixed race people experience a lot of discrimination and challenges and so she wanted to highlight what they went through.

I love multiple POV, especially when it's so clearly written. Sometimes I get confused by other books when there are too many characters--in Dust Child, each POV is distinct and could be their own book. The way the characters come together is also satisfying for the plot, but also in raising questions on reconciliation, the legacies of militarization and war, and racial economic disparities in impossible situations.

The story also goes back and forth in time (during the Vietnam War, and up to 2019), which helps to highlight the author's goal of trying to show that the effects of the Vietnam War continue to today. Anyone who was involved with the war walked away scared, and the book shows lingering mental and physical health issues for the characters. The author has some poignant moments that call out the white savior complex, especially through Mr. Thien, and it's so satisfying that the Vietnamese characters have agency and are whole persons. (I'm done with stories that show war in such a one-sided viewpoint that only glorifies the U.S.).

The book covers a lot of topics and cw as expected: rape, violence, murder, death, PTSD, war, chemical warfare, racism, etc. Though not a light hearted read, highly recommend this book--it's an important read esp in the contemporary context of ongoing warfare.

Content Warnings

literarylaila's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

Thank you Algonquin Books for a giveaway arc of Dust Child, out 3/14/23!

Dust Child shines a light on the aftermath of The Resistance War Against America, or The Vietnam War. No one knows how many Amerasians or “children of the dust” were born in Vietnam but the number is estimated in the tens of thousands. Dust Child is told in three alternating POVs: Phong, who is half Vietnamese and half Black, Dan, a American veteran who served in Vietnam, and Trang, a young Vietnamese woman who goes to great lengths to care for her family.

I loved and appreciated Nguyễn including all three points of view to her novel, as well as telling the story through past and present timelines. Phong’s ostracism by society broke my heart but his tenacity, drive, and eventual acceptance of himself had me cheering him on. Dan’s POV was very interesting and I thought Nguyễn wrote him so well. She didn’t hide the terrible actions he committed during the war but you’re also made to understand he acted the way he did BECAUSE of the horrors of war. Trang’s innocence and dreams are broken due to the war but she finds a new dream towards the end. The supporting characters also play roles in this novel and add their own personalities and perspectives.

Nguyễn’s writing always transports me with her fleshed out characters and descriptive settings. She writes each character with purpose. Her love for her country is evident as well and is highlighted in how she describes the food, the clothes, the culture, and the people. Her voice is an important and necessary one to highlight the history and present of Vietnam. 5 shining stars for Dust Child, obviously!

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