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questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Medical content, Miscarriage, War, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse
lectora21's review
3.75
Moderate: Pregnancy
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
3.25
i personally think the structure can be a lil confusing w/ the frequent back-and-forth and the past-present transitions; there's a lot going on here after all. nevertheless, bui's placing of her familial history against the larger unfolding historical backdrop is great, providing useful context and deeper understanding. my fav thing abt this book, however, is bui's reflections on her family legacy, as well as her familiar feelings of equal gratefulness, resentment and guilt towards her parents. idk if it's simply an immigrant thing but it hits deep..
in terms of the art, i dont find it too eye-catching, not that it's unremarkable but perhaps bc it complements and flows rly well - too well - w/ the story. there's an appropriate level of detail and bui knows when to give her pages space, and the watercolor paints and lineart are nice. sometimes, however, the characters come across as unintentionally comical bc of the overly big head compared to their body; a few of the paneling can be confusing as well.
this is a good graphic novel for those who are interested in not only vietnamese history but also the human impact of its upheaval, the smaller stories of common ppl against the backdrop of historic change.
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, War, Infidelity, and Racism
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Mental illness and Fire/Fire injury
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Death, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion
Refugee struggles, stillborn infantarchcon's review
4.5
Graphic: Colonisation, Medical content, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Grief
CW: child birthsaracatalyst's review against another edition
5.0
The illustrations are incredible and the mix of images and text for storytelling is masterful. I will absolutely read this again.
Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, War, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Miscarriage, and Child death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
kathis_wonderland's review
4.0
This is my first graphic novel. It is quite a different reading experience than reading a book without illustrations, but I enjoyed it. I learnt a lot about Vietnam's history, which was really interesting. The mixture of personal story and history was awesome. I keep thinking about using this memoir in my history classes at some point in the future. It just gives a different point of view on the events than there is in the history books. The memoir also illustrates perfectly how your parents' trauma can affect your own life. I discovered that there is a teacher's guide, discussion questions and a pronunciation guide available on Thi Bui's website. Reading through some of the questions helped me to understand the book more and reflect on the story.
I find it difficult to write a review about a memoir that tells a personal story about someone's life. However, I really liked this book and learnt a lot while reading it. It educates the reader about historic events and at the same time, shows multi-generational struggles. To be honest, this book is quite a masterpiece that can be used in education.
Moderate: Miscarriage, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Murder, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Grief, Racism, Violence, and War
moonytoast's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: War, Miscarriage, and Child death
Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Xenophobia and Racism
alesbookishcorner's review
5.0
Graphic: Violence, War, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Xenophobia and Child death
Minor: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
marie's review
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Fire/Fire injury