Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

33 reviews

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

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

koreanlinda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

4.25

I felt lots of pain by reading this book. The book is ridden with violence that Thi's family experienced in Vietnam. Thi's mother is the one who gets lots of focus for her pain from repeated miscarriages as well as pregnancies and deliveries during the war. Although the story and graphics are compelling, I could not shed so many "whys" while reading it. Why did Thi's mother keep getting pregnant in environments where it's dangerous for the mother and baby? Why did Thi's father not take care of his children in the absence of Thi's mother? It is hard to blame anyone in the story because they are all victims of extremely traumatic experiences; however, I couldn't help but feel resentful for adults with responsibilities.

I learned a lot about what Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans went through in the last few generations. I recommend coupling this book with Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna, which talks about a painful part of Cambodian history around a similar time as this book. 

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in Feb 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Miscarriage, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Genocide, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse

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

ittywitty's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Deportation, Confinement, War, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Grief, Miscarriage, and Colonisation

odetojersey's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Miscarriage, War, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Violence, and Grief

distractible's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Child death, War, Grief, Colonisation, and Pregnancy

Minor: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Child abuse

okdupuy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

3.5

i think it would have been more interesting if she focused on herself instead of her parents so much 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Grief, Colonisation, Death, Police brutality, War, Gore, and Infidelity

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