Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

21 reviews

daniellekat's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Child death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Xenophobia, Gun violence, Colonisation, and Miscarriage

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

A gorgeous artwork reflecting on lives torn apart by war. Thi Bui examines how war and political upheaval impacted her parents throughout their whole lives, shows her family’s harrowing escape from communist forces in Vietnam, and recounts the struggles they faced as refugees in America. Content warnings for war, death, child and infant death, difficult pregnancy, PTSD, racism, and other difficult content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Death, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abortion

Refugee struggles, stillborn infant

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

moonytoast's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

 This has been on my TBR for years at this point and I’m so glad I was finally able to read it. I have a soft spot for graphic novel memoirs and this is probably one of my favorites that I’ve read outside of the college class on Visual and Graphic Narrative I took freshman year. There’s just something about using that medium to dissect one’s own family dynamics and how their parents’ life experiences can create generational trauma that impact their relationship…. Plus the writing style was really beautiful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Miscarriage, and Child death

Moderate: Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Xenophobia and Racism

alesbookishcorner's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

The Best We Could Do is one of the most impressing graphic novels I have read so far. It focuses not only on Thi Bui's own experiences and feelings, but also her ancestors (from her parents to even their grandparents). It also tells the story of the Indochina war, how it affected various generations in different ways. While it is an exploration of her own culture, The Best We Could Do also is a study of her own parents and how their behavior influenced Bui herself. And how this might influence her own son. It is very emotional and definitely has it's sad and challenging moments. It is a read that will stay with me for a while. The art style took me a moment to get into, but then I started to love how it features only black, white and read. It fit very well with the topics and topics mentioned.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Xenophobia and Child death

Minor: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

solenodon's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Violence

Minor: Abortion and Abandonment

bussmanbooks3000's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

alsoapples's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Hate crime, Gun violence, Death, Colonisation, and Child death

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

This is the first time I've read a graphic memoir. It's an interesting format - the watercolour images give everything a kind of dreamy memory-like quality which is especially interesting in the parts that the author experienced as a small child. It's a story about Vietnam, but also about parents and children and what we pass down, both on purpose and without meaning to. It can be a heavy read, but I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Medical content, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Torture

Minor: Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Miscarriage

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. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Child death, Blood, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Xenophobia