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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.
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
ehmannky's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
A beautiful memoir, both in terms of the art and the story. Bui brings the effects of colonialism on the individual to the front and center, and how those who are simply trying to live their lives are the ones who suffer the most from imperial dreams. In the chapter "The Chessboard," she even mentions that in the grand scheme of the global chess for her country, her family didn't even factor in at all, even though their trauma was the result of the game. This trauma just manifests in every interaction of her family's lives, from the complicated way that her family relates (or struggles to relate) to one another, to her birth experience. Bui doesn't take a stance on the war itself, instead framing it as an all-around traumatic and tragic event, one sparked by centuries of foreign rule and colonialism. It's a lovely and intimate story and I couldn't put it down.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Xenophobia
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