Reviews tagging 'Child death'

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

56 reviews

wanderlust_romance's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

What an amazing and moving memoir. Everything from the artwork to the deeply personal storytelling was engaging, thoughtful, and emotional. The art is a layering of ink and woodcut style drawings with undercurrents of brown and orange watercolors. It is a stark but not monochromatic depiction of scenes that aligns very well with the story being told. At its heart, The Best We Could Do is a story of parental and family relationships. The narrative’s opening scene depicting the authors traumatic birthing experience sets the tone for the rest of the book: this is not going to be a comfortable read. And indeed it is challenging. The birth scene brings the narrative full circle at the end, with deeply personal and resonating reflections by Bui on being a parent. The midsection of the memoir goes into depth on Bui’s parent’s experiences growing up in French colonial Vietnam and the ensuing geopolitical conflicts that ensued. Relaying the challenges experienced by their parents adds insight into their approach to parenting in the midst of the conflict and afterwards in their life as immigrants in the US. Through the gathering of this insight, it made me pause to consider how much one really knows their parents. Do I know who my parents are as people, in a vein outside of their relationship to me as a caretaker? Is it possible to separate what I know of them as parents to understand who they are in an independent context? While not explicitly noted in the text, these are also questions that Bui considers with depth in gathering their parents deeply personal and fraught histories. With this renewed insight into the Bui family’s history, Thi Bui reflects on their own journey as a parent. And at the end of such a deeply moving story, reminds readers of the refrain that many parents recognize in the challenges to raise humans. I did the best I could do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Medical content, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Violence

Minor: Child death, Physical abuse, and Infidelity

drraytay's review against another edition

informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

nitar8's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Colonisation, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Classism, Abandonment, Death, and Miscarriage

allthebooks36's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and War

paigehf's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy and Miscarriage

Moderate: Death, Child death, Child abuse, and War

Minor: Racism

njh_books's review

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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Content Warnings

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

caoxtina's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Rape, Child death, and Miscarriage

kirkspockreads's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

skeltzer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child death

moon_dude's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

The illustration is so beautiful! Wonderfully composed, and a thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a parent, especially within the context of trauma and war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, and Child death