Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Dust Child

Fairly predictable, but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. It’s an important story to tell. There were and never are any winners in any war - only those who survive and those who profit. Really glad the author wrote this book and hope it helps all those in search of their families and those who need to make their histories whole.

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moniipeters's review against another edition

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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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proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

1969 åker systrarna Trang och Qunh till Saigon för att arbeta och hjälpa sina föräldrar med skulderna. De får jobb på en bar där de ska flirta med amerikanska soldater och få dem att köpa drinkar.

Dan, amerikansk helikopterpilot under Vietnam-kriget, bestämmer sig i nutid för att åka tillbaka till Vietnam och konfrontera sitt förflutna. Samtidigt söker Phong efter sina föräldrar efter att ha blivit lämnad på barnhem som baby.

Askans barn kallas de barn som har en vietnamesisk mamma och en amerikansk pappa. De flesta växte upp under svåra förhållanden och bespottades av alla. Tyvärr en tragisk verklighet där man kan se att Vietnam-kriget (eller det amerikanska kriget, som vietnameserna kallar det) fortfarande har konsekvenser. Ännu en gång har jag fått lära mig mer om effekterna av detta krig och det skär i hjärtat att tänka på alla liv som förstörts. Tack och lov finns här även värme och hopp, så allt är inte tragiskt och nattsvart.

Jag kan förstå att "Där askan blommar" är nominerad till Årets bok, men jag blir ändå inte lika överväldigad som jag blev av författarens förra bok, "När bergen sjunger". Kanske beror det bara på att jag inte hade några speciella förväntningar inför läsningen av den boken, medan jag nu visste vad jag kunde förvänta mig. Kanske beror det på att jag hade ovanligt svårt att hålla isär de vietnamesiska namnen och blandade ihop karaktärerna mer än en gång. Jag vet inte riktigt, men det här är ändå en väldigt bra bok och jag tycker att författarens båda böcker bör läsas av alla som tycker om att lära sig saker medan de läser, samtidigt som de uppskattar ett fint språk och en bra berättad historia.

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astridhawk's review against another edition

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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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d0505's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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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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raineachreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-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

4.5

‘Dust Child’ is a novel that examines the trauma of the Vietnam War both in the immediate but also in the long lasting ripple effects of those directly involved as well as their families and wider communities. Divided into three main story lines of a young girl who finds herself working in a bar during the war where she falls in love with an American soldier, a boy growing up as an orphan who is outcast due to having an American father and Vietnamese mother and a veteran returning to the country decades after fighting there. While the subject matter is heavy and doesn’t shy away from the realities of trauma and the different ways this is experienced and lived out, the book remains highly readable and engaging.

Without giving away spoilers I loved how the author led the reader to believe they had worked out the conclusion only to weave the strands together to reveal something different. While trauma is without a doubt the main theme (the author has an academic background in this subject connected to the Vietnam War so does this extremely sensitivity and authentically)there are many sub- themes going on too. I don’t think you can end this book without thinking about morality, the importance of family and the messy realities of truth. While lies may be told or facts left out to try not to cause someone harm, in the long term this can have more far reaching painful consequences. What this book also did really well was to combine languages together, bringing another dimension again to the story.

This is a book that will stay with me and continue to make me think in the days to come.

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okiecozyreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

When I started this book, it began bringing me memories of her last book, The Mountains Sing. Although this book is a completely different story, with different characters, Nguyén Phan Qué Mai uses proverbs in this one (like the last) and continues her beautiful lyrical writing along with deep and painful family memories. I really felt this story in its entirety. I haven’t read many books about Vietnamese people (just hers and middle grade Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhhà La, also beautifully written). I appreciate her stories which go into painful times, but I feel like she gives American people a lot of grace in her writing.

This book mainly features two sisters Trang and Quỳnh, who move to the city of Sài Gòn to be bar girls. They are told it is just drinking tea with American soldiers, but they find out that it isn’t that simple. They are trying to raise money to relieve their parents from debt and help their father with medical care. We mainly get the perspective from the oldest daughter Trang.

Meanwhile, we learn parts of two other stories, that of a Vietnamese man named Phong, who is part black American and called an Amerasian, dust of the earth, for being the product of a relationship born mostly out of prostitution; as well as that of Dan, a Vietnam veteran, who with his wife Linda, is returning to Vietnam for healing.

This isn’t an easy book to read, and for me, it falls into the category of something I don’t want to sit with for a long time, so I read it in a few days, but I cared so much for these characters, especially the sisters.

“Her parents had embedded their dreams and hopes in the names they’d given their daughters: Quỳnh was a rare flower that bloomed only at night—the night-blooming cereus; its white petals radiated a beautiful, pure scent. Trang meant “graceful, gentle, virtuous.” An Impossible Choice

“Dan recognized something unique about Sài Gòn that had survived the war: the charm of its people, their incredible energy and resourcefulness. In his nightmares, the city was war-torn, ravaged with violence like the day he’d left it.
…
Dan told himself he should print Linda’s photos from this trip and display them around the house. Perhaps the smiling child could replace his dreams of buffaloes and boys with their bodies ripped apart.” War and Peace

“What the poet Nguyễn Duy wrote is so true. At the end of each war, whoever wins, the people lose.” War and Peace

“The war doesn’t just kill people, it robs our livelihood and destroys nature.” How to be a Mother

“And do you know why I placed you under the protective branches of a Bodhi tree? It is said that a Bodhi tree has the power to chase away sorrow and bad luck” Sweetness and Bitterness

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