Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Dust Child

I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot about the experiences of different demographic groups involved in the Vietnam war, especially mixed race Amerasians. I liked that the characters were complex. I liked that there is resolution at the end of the book, but its realistic and doesn't tie everything up in a neat little bow.

I will point out as a trigger warning that a substantial portion of the book is about sex workers. Women in the book experience sexual violence. Readers should be prepared for that, but I think every depiction is realistic to what real people actually endured during the war.

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abbie_'s review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.0

The Mountains Sing is a tough act to follow, and unfortunately I don't think Dust Child is as strong as Quế Mai's debut. I did also listen to The Mountains Sing on audio, which absolutely enhanced the experience for me because the narrator did an incredible job.

Dust Child focuses on the devastating effect of the Vietnam war on a few different characters. We have Trang and her sister who become bar girls during the war to earn money to help out their parents' debt. Trange becomes involved with Dan, a white American GI, and one of the other POVs in the book. Then there's Phong, a half Black, half Vietnamese man who is trying to locate his father and possibly move to America.

My main gripes with this book were mainly all to do with Dan. He is such a dick, and while I fully think we're meant to think he's a dick for most of the book, I didn't vibe with the redemption arc he got at the end. I didn't feel like picking up the book when I was in a Dan part. I also thought the writing was a little too on the nose at times. A bookish friend used the word 'didactic' which I think is perfect - this book was written to inform, and that took me out of the story. This makes sense, since the author used material from a real-life research project she did as inspiration.

I found Phong's storyline to be the most compelling. I didn't know 'dust child' was a term used to refer to Amerasians born to Vietnamese women with Black American fathers, nor was I aware of the racism they faced in Vietnam because of their mixed heritage.

I did also like Trang and her sister's storylines, although Trang was unbelievably naive at times. I liked how Quỳnh came back into the story later.

I've watched a few interviews with Quế Mai and she is a wonderful, genuine person. Nadia did an interview with her recently over on The StoryGraph's Instagram where she shares some of the importance of diacritics to the text (though in my edition, some of the diacritics would be randomly missing off characters' names??) and I always appreciate that sort of insight.

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augie_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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maidinnah's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A thoughtful, nuanced, and empathetic account of the Vietnam war through the intertwining storylines of a Vietnamese prostitute, an American veteran, and an Amerasian “dust child”. This stirring tale explores the fallout — the broken families, the mutual resentments, the haunting secrets — and calls forth tremendous amounts of forgiveness from every side. Quê Mai Nguyễn reminds us that we may not be able to heal every wound when the dust settles, but peace can still be found when we move forward.

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internationalreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was.. fine? It felt like a book written to teach Americans about the Vietnam war rather than to tell a story set in that time. Disappointing after loving The Mountains Sing so much.

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mondovertigo's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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