Reviews with content warning for Murder - Banyan Moon

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Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

16 reviews

ziggyreadz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

i really enjoyed Banyan Moon. i thought the characters were really interesting and compelling in the way they tangled together. that is the main focus of the book, so if you’re into character centered narratives, specifically family/inter-generational narratives, i highly recommend.

i may be biased because i love this kind of story about trauma and complicated people, but i really enjoyed how they each stood as their own characters but were stronger together.

i didn’t find the perspective switching to be jarring at all, though i listened to the audio book, and each of the three women had different narrators. i especially liked Huong’s reader, as she always sounded like she was on the edge of desperation, which reflects Huong’s character. the different perspectives and arcs within the perspectives provided an interesting mix of stories from Vietnam and stories from Florida, where the present day of the book takes place.

the way the book explored different kinds of relationships with men and their complicated problems was really masterful. i felt that everything was handled really well despite the relationships being (outwardly) pretty diverse.

of course it was really interesting to see the three women’s relationships with each other. there were some gaps with Huong and Ann — i understood on a surface level why they had a tense relationship in the past, but i felt like other things took up the space needed to explore that more, especially since it was so central to the narrative.

the book is slow but i enjoyed that, it gave the characters room to breathe. the last 1/4 though is very fast and dramatic, and while it was very immersive, i felt like it was a little out of place given the rest of the pacing and plot of the book. several dramatic things happen, and i feel it would have been better with fewer things, so that it felt more consistent.

the end was a little too neat for me. i wish it had not wrapped up as well, though i was generally happy with the resolution. i just felt that the ending was too simple for a complicated book like Banyan Moon.

the only other thing that bothered me a bit was that sometimes the writing felt a little strange (very infrequently). there were a lot of metaphors, both in dialogue and internal monologue, that felt a little too absurd to be taken seriously. overall, i did enjoy the writing though.

if the premise of this book appeals to you, definitely check it out. it’s a really rewarding experience. the only reason why my rating is not higher is because i felt the book mostly accomplished its ambitions, but fell a bit short towards the end.

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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Looks like I’m getting my fill of Vietnamese literature this year. This one was very good. A departure from the model minority story and an irreverence for purity culture. Minh’s perspective was my favorite, and I really loved that she was still narrating after she wouldn’t normally.

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jenna_lynn's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.5

This book switches between the perspectives of mother, daughter, and grandmother, revealing a rich family history full of secrets, regret, and love. I loved the premise and some of the twists throughout the story, but the ending wrapped things up a little too neatly without the characters fully dealing with their trauma and relationship issues.

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futuretreeman's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.0

This book, man. Wrenched at my heart in every way possible. I am a sucker for complicated parental relationships! And does this book have that! The characters are maybe some of the most complex characters I've ever read. They are so full of flaws and can be quite awful to each other. I loved getting to read from each of their POVs. If the story was only written from the perspective of one, I would be inclined to think of the others as the villains of the story. But you just can't, each one makes mistakes and some of them horrible but . . .

I read this book as I am in the folds of moving on from my own broken relationships. We were horrible to each other, in many ways me more than them, just as these characters were horrible to each other. But it was wonderful to see that they could still love, care, and support each other anyway.

My critque?

Thai used a lot of metaphors in her writing and many were beautiful! But there were also many that did not make a whole lot of sense to me. And those little moments took me out of the book a little bit. They multiplied in a way that sometimes made it hard to see past their cliche and into the powerful thoughts they were supposed to be.

This next bit is not a critique to the author. Some of the chapters from Minh's POV also took me away from the story a bit. And I don't think it was because they were poorly written or nonvaluable. I think it was maybe my own afterlife beliefs. Everything in the story is so raw and real, but hearing from the ghost of somebody in that context was strange. I think that because I don't believe in an afterlife, it was hard for those chapters to feel as real to me as the others.

Though I am sure someone who does believe in the afterlife would not have the same qualms with the chapters as I did.

I did find those chapters illuminating to Minh's character though. And when she took us back to her past in Vietnam, how everything started, I was able to fall back into the story; those were wonderful moments.

Every chapter brought us a new twist. Some, granted, quite a lot bigger than others. Thai keeps you coming back from the moment meet our 3 badass women choking on red tide toxins.

Thank you Thao Thai.

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siobhanward's review

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emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

I love a multi-generational family drama and Thai created a beautiful narrative in this book. I really enjoyed the interactions between Ann and Huo'ng, and Minh's reflections. The book was definitely heartbreaking but I loved it anyway. None of the sadness was superfluous, but it felt honest. I definitely wish that Thai had leaned more into Banyan House as a setting, as it felt like more of a background piece than the Gothic setting it could have been, but it was still a solid read nonetheless.

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