Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

32 reviews

nitar8's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0


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njh_books's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Artwork is great.

The events flip back and forth between different time periods and adds to the story as Bui learns more about her parents’ and her own past while also trying to determine what it means for her present. 

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.

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koreanlinda's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

4.25

I felt lots of pain by reading this book. The book is ridden with violence that Thi's family experienced in Vietnam. Thi's mother is the one who gets lots of focus for her pain from repeated miscarriages as well as pregnancies and deliveries during the war. Although the story and graphics are compelling, I could not shed so many "whys" while reading it. Why did Thi's mother keep getting pregnant in environments where it's dangerous for the mother and baby? Why did Thi's father not take care of his children in the absence of Thi's mother? It is hard to blame anyone in the story because they are all victims of extremely traumatic experiences; however, I couldn't help but feel resentful for adults with responsibilities.

I learned a lot about what Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans went through in the last few generations. I recommend coupling this book with Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna, which talks about a painful part of Cambodian history around a similar time as this book. 

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in Feb 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda


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kirkspockreads's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0


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ittywitty's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0


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odetojersey's review

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dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0


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distractible's review

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75


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okdupuy's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

3.5

i think it would have been more interesting if she focused on herself instead of her parents so much 

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bg_oseman_fan's review

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emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Through words and images, Thi Bui tells a story that is intensely personal and broadly impactful. This story is about the history of one country, and one family, but Bui’s artful and engaging storytelling brings everyone into the story. An exemplary example of the graphic novel memoir that any fan of the medium must read.

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readwithev's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

Bui is poetic and lyrical. The voice bubbles are not too full and crowded; you get all the information and emotion for the scene. I love the water color painting, ink, pen, paper texture, etc art style. The white, crème, black, and red with only blue at the beginning and end elevated some scenes with blood, explosions, clothing etc.
Bui talks about how challenging it was to get to know her parents, but she uncovers their origins and begins separating her expectations of them. It felt very healing and vulnerable. Bui delves into her childhood and the things she’s still healing from and beginning to see in differently now that she’s a parent.

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