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drraytay's review
4.0
Moderate: Violence, Pregnancy, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Death, Child death, Rape, Abandonment, War, Colonisation, and Miscarriage
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
njh_books's review against another edition
5.0
Heartbreaking but also hopeful. The last scene with the son is truly thought provoking and beautiful.
My knowledge of Vietnam improved with this story as often events were discussed that I then looked into on my own.
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Colonisation, Child death, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Medical content, Death, Xenophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage
kirkspockreads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Gun violence, War, Violence, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Racial slurs, Murder, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Abandonment, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Grief, Racism, and Pregnancy
alixsbooktherapy's review
4.5
Bo cheated on his wife while the kids were in the house they saw the women naked and had lots of questions
Thi used to get weird calls from creepy men saying really inappropate things to her as a kid she used to read her dads paraphernalia memorizing all the pictures
The kids childhoods weren't your average childhoods they watched the exorcis at 5 years old (definitely not a movie for kids)
I hate that we go into the "to understand how my father became the way he was I had to learn what happend to him as a little boy" that's no excuse for what he did. Or how he wasn't a good dad
We learn alot about the past and how growing up back then is 10x different then it is now
Bo was raised in the jungle at the time in 1940 during the world war 2
Bos dad cheated on his mom with the neighbor at the end of the street and when she asked about it she was screamed at
Bo watched one night as his father beat his mother badly and threw her out of the house in 1945 at the height of the famine
Her mom hit the kids and the servants
Back in these times kids were forced to work if you didn't work then you were seen as lazy
Bos grandfather had cheated on his grandma, the fight escalted into her falling and cutting open her head on the door which Bo had to take her to the hostipal the next Day Bos grandma left Bos grandfather his grandfather when they arrives in sài gón tried to ask bos grandma "let's make a new home together " after what he did to her thankfully she said "no I don't need you" so fricken proud of her but sooner then later the diêms forces ended up fighting with others and it led to Bos grandmothers doorstep making her lose her securites and more scared of violence she agreed to go back to her cheating husband
"And there in 1962 I met your mother"
Thi's mom "besides the very first year, I met Bo and that was it he just monopolized me, it was like I was married from the very first year of college'
It was wholesome that Bo and thi's mom after they lost their first kid remembered the movie they went to and the place they both wanted to go, it became a place they went for a time to forget but also a brief honeymoon period
This book was so beautiful we got to learn about Thi's parents and her journey as a mom
When thi had her baby they ended up with jaundice so her and her partner were only allowed to see their kid for 20 minutes enough time to feed him then go back sleep for 90 minutes and do it again
The nurse when thi's baby was allowed to go home helped Thi breastfeed her baby as it didn't work the first try and it successfully worked
"To accidentally call myself mẹ was to slip myself into her shoes just for a moment"
"To let her be not what I want her to be but someone independent, self- determining, and free,means letting go of that picture of her in my head."
"What becomes of us after we die? Do we live on in what we leave our children?"
This book is a must read and I mean it this was a book that broke my heart then healed it again this was so beautiful thank you to Thi Bui for writing this beautiful book!
Graphic: Infertility, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Abortion, Bullying, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
distractible's review
3.75
Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, War, Grief, Colonisation, and Pregnancy
Minor: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Child abuse
gabriellesimpson's review
5.0
Graphic: War
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
Minor: Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Colonisation, and Death of parent
alteirence's review
4.25
Graphic: Miscarriage, Colonisation, Violence, Infidelity, Abortion, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Death
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
saracatalyst'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
brookey8888's review
3.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, War, Child death, Racism, Sexism, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Genocide