Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

23 reviews

bg_oseman_fan's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pregnancy, Death, War, and Medical content

Moderate: Miscarriage, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Classism, Infidelity, and Alcohol

readwithev's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Genocide, Miscarriage, War, and Violence

Minor: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, and Colonisation

careinthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

I'm in the minority for not loving this! It didn't work for me, something about the jumping through time and character meant I never sank into the narrative of their lives fully before we were ripped away. Maybe that's the impression the author wanted to leave the reader with, I'm not sure. I'll seek out other books on this period of history! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Medical content, War, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Grief, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Gun violence, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Racism, Domestic abuse, and Murder

bookbuyingwithkatie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, War, Death, Child abuse, and Infidelity

alteirence's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Colonisation, Violence, Infidelity, Abortion, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

lauravreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Thi Bui immigrated to the states as a young girl. In her memoir, she delves into her family history and how the international political status of Vietnam affected so many citizens including her family. This is the first time I've read an illustrated memoir and it was quite the experience. Reading a comic book-style memoir brought a different element to the book that  I loved. I learned so much about Vietnam, the french colonization of Vietnam, and the political divide between the north and south. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, War, and Colonisation

Minor: Infidelity, Torture, and Rape

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

3.25

the best we could do is an informative yet interesting graphic novel, combining the personal and political, as well as the individual story against the larger backdrop of historical upheaval into a family account that reverberates w/ questions around legacy, family, and - as the title suggests - how ppl try to their best w/ their circumstances. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, War, Infidelity, and Racism

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Child death, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Mental illness and Fire/Fire injury

carmentxx's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

this book had me tearing up like hell. as the daughter of vietnamese immigrants myself, the constant questions of identity and belonging really hit home. the drawings are beautiful and the art style really emulates the level of pain and confusion felt throughout war. this book has made me want to learn more about my own past. an excellent introduction into the refugee complex, the vietnam war and just an overall beautiful and heartbreaking story and family, hope and loss. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Miscarriage, War, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Classism and Death

Minor: Domestic abuse and Infidelity

emoweaboo's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Infidelity, Child death, Colonisation, and Xenophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

3.0

I did enjoy this and learn things, but I just felt like the story telling was a little confusing at first. It also didn’t get into the history till later, which is fine because this is her family history, but it talks about motherhood and I don’t really care about that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Grief, Violence, Colonisation, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, War, Child death, Racism, Sexism, Abandonment, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Genocide