Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

22 reviews

velvetcelestial's review

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War

serendipitous_mess's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and War

nialiversuch's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Genocide, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Racism, Toxic friendship, Death, Death of parent, Ableism, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Infidelity, Rape, Violence, War, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit

thevietvegan's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

This is a very hard and emotional read, especially for Viet Kieu. It depicts all the horrible sides of war and the intersections between American and Vietnamese cultures. It’s really a sad book, but so beautiful and I think really captured the spirit of Vietnamese people so well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Pregnancy, Death, Gun violence, Trafficking, Racism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Infidelity, Abandonment, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Racial slurs

rachel101's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Incredibly moving story based on truth, this book will stay with you for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Gore, Hate crime, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content

fvreads's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Racism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative 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? No

3.5

Fairly predictable, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. It’s an important story to tell. There were and never are any winners in any war - only those who survive and those who profit. Really glad the author wrote this book and hope it helps all those in search of their families and those who need to make their histories whole.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Racism, Trafficking, War, Alcohol, and Suicidal thoughts

amyeicher's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Abandonment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Alcoholism, Rape, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and War