Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

5 reviews

nialiversuch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Genocide, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Racism, Toxic friendship, Death, Death of parent, Ableism, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Infidelity, Rape, Violence, War, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Vomit

rachel101's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Incredibly moving story based on truth, this book will stay with you for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Body horror, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Dementia, Drug abuse, Grief, Gore, Hate crime, Drug use, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Medical content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content

moniipeters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Abandonment, Abortion, Body horror, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Torture, Trafficking, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Racial slurs, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, and Murder

astridhawk's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

A very haunting book, which was less about Vietnamese culture than I expected, and more about the victims of war beyond those killed, and the atrocities that persist well beyond wartime.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Grief, War, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, and Racism

Minor: Abortion and Sexism

readthemol's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

✨Dust Child✨

Wow, oh wow, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai is an incredible storyteller. The Mountains Sing quickly became a favorite of mine when I read it last year, and Dust Child will absolutely be a favorite of mine this year!

Dust Child seamlessly intertwines the stories of Trang and Quỳnh (sisters who become bar girls in Sài Gòn during the Vietnam war), Dan (an American veteran who returns to Vietnam with his wife nearly 40 years after the war), and Phong (an Amerasian, who is trying to find his parents after being left at an orphanage as a baby).

I devoured this story - I couldn’t read fast enough, yet didn’t want it to end! The characters felt so real - their stories will stick with me for a long time. I didn’t know about the tens of thousands of Amerasians (one American parent, one Vietnamese parent) that were born out of the war and how horribly they were treated, being referred to as “children of the dust” and completely ostracized. Similar to The Mountains Sing, Dust Child opened my eyes to so much of the pain, fear, and trauma the Vietnamese (women especially) experienced during and after the Vietnam War. It was powerful the way Quế Mai portrayed the trauma of the war from both sides - she really encapsulated what the poet Nguyen Duy wrote: “At the end of each war, whoever wins, the people lose.” This year marks fifty years since the U.S. pulled out of Vietnam, yet there’s so much still to learn. 

While used in a different context in the story, this quote felt very relevant to America right now: “Those in power feared free minds, and nothing unlocked thinking like literature.”

Dust Child is out tomorrow (3/14) and I highly, highly recommend picking up a copy! Thank you @nguyen & @algonquin for the eARC of Dust Child ❤️ I can’t wait to grab a physical copy for my collection!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Vomit, and War