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mycatcricket17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
thriftylibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Thi Bui's illustrated memoir is an unfaltering look at generational trauma, the Vietnam war, and refugee experience.
Reading it as a mother who has lost a child made me empathise deeply with Thi Bui's mother and cry a bit more than maybe an average reader might. The relationship she had with her parents is strained, but shows how difficult it is to never make a mistake while raising children. While ultimately hopeful, the novel is a sad but much needed look at how we are all just doing the best we can do.
Reading it as a mother who has lost a child made me empathise deeply with Thi Bui's mother and cry a bit more than maybe an average reader might. The relationship she had with her parents is strained, but shows how difficult it is to never make a mistake while raising children. While ultimately hopeful, the novel is a sad but much needed look at how we are all just doing the best we can do.
mrahilario's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
breakfastgrey's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not the biggest fan of memoirs. I don't typically care for listening to others try to "solve" their lives. There's something that feels self indulgent about it that pushes me away. Still, this book is well told enough, beginning as disjointed memories before cohering into a more sequential narrative as oral stories and remembrances tend to do. The final segment was particularly powerful, but overall this book just wasn't one that particularly clicked with me despite its obvious quality.
nitar8's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Classism, Abandonment, Death, and Miscarriage
yarafadel's review against another edition
5.0
I finished reading this book in 2 hours. A graphic autobiography about the unknown lives of Vietnamese victims during the war, namely: the author's parents. The author wrote this book after she gives birth to her first-born son, illustrating how her knowledge about her parents' pasts have recently affected her as a new mother, and how her knowledge and judgement on her parents' pasts has changed after she felt immense motherhood towards her child. The emotions are strong and beautifully illustrated.