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4.4 AVERAGE
4.4 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I read this book in one sitting (breathless, emotionally turned inside-out) and you should too.
Bui's family is different from mine in many ways, but I still experienced a sense of recognition on every page, as if her family life had been stitched together from patchwork pieces of mine, or vice versa. It's Thi Bui's truth, but I think it's a lot of other people's truth, too -- I won't use the word "universal," which I mistrust, but it has a sense of scope, of historical breadth. It's an intimate family story strung out on the pitiless frame of history, the way the membranous part of a dreamcatcher is strung out on its solid outer frame, and we are all implicated -- caught.
The visual art is heartrendingly tender, watercolor-y, yet doesn't draw attention to itself, fusing with the pithy language to make reading the book feel like a cinematic experience. It's amazing to find an author so equally gifted with words and pictures. We've all heard our parents tell these kinds of stories, but it takes talent to make the scenes spring to life like she does, with one thoughtfully chosen visual detail or scrap of dialogue. I've read a fair number of recent books about Vietnam, and yet this one still manages to stand out, to feel like a vital, absolutely necessary voice.
Bui's family is different from mine in many ways, but I still experienced a sense of recognition on every page, as if her family life had been stitched together from patchwork pieces of mine, or vice versa. It's Thi Bui's truth, but I think it's a lot of other people's truth, too -- I won't use the word "universal," which I mistrust, but it has a sense of scope, of historical breadth. It's an intimate family story strung out on the pitiless frame of history, the way the membranous part of a dreamcatcher is strung out on its solid outer frame, and we are all implicated -- caught.
The visual art is heartrendingly tender, watercolor-y, yet doesn't draw attention to itself, fusing with the pithy language to make reading the book feel like a cinematic experience. It's amazing to find an author so equally gifted with words and pictures. We've all heard our parents tell these kinds of stories, but it takes talent to make the scenes spring to life like she does, with one thoughtfully chosen visual detail or scrap of dialogue. I've read a fair number of recent books about Vietnam, and yet this one still manages to stand out, to feel like a vital, absolutely necessary voice.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Excellent format and illustration! It works beautifully to communicate the emotional currents underlying Bui’s story. Although some negative reviews have complained of insufficient depth and background development, I disagree. Bui’s memoir is the result of her research into the complicated and tumultuous mosaic of her past. It is not intended to be an in-depth commentary and analysis of historic events and personalities.
Read for the library's 2024 graphic novel voting bracket; this is a memoir of a 2nd gen American kid, writing her parent's stories in Vietnam. The frame story is that Thi Bui is pregnant and thinking back to her parents - trying to find the ways to be empathetic and understanding while also grasping at her own experiences with them. A really interesting telling of their stories, a complex reckoning.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Harrowing family history of escape from Vietnam, Thi Bui's book feels a little choppy. The history is riveting - I would have liked more of it.
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Stories like this always feel so beautiful and powerful to me - I am appreciative of all the ways Thi Bui shared her family, her history, and herself with her readers. You learn not only a lot about this family but a time in world history that was rife with change and turmoil. The art style is equally wonderful, and the way the story wraps up feels full circle. It is non-fiction, and the story here is compelling, emotional, and hopeful in the end.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced