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bexi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, and Animal death
indeedithappens's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
lex_is_bookish's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: War
Minor: Domestic abuse
maple_dove's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I have to say--this is one of the most relaxing books I've read in a while (it's YA, no less!). Yet, somehow, it manages to beautifully discuss things like immigration, war (briefly), cultural barriers, homophobia, etc.
The art is beautiful and eye-catching. I loved the character designs too! The ending is fantastic and wraps up the whole book so well.
No matter what, I know I can't do this book justice, so I'm just going to encourage you to read it.
Favorite Quote:
The art is beautiful and eye-catching. I loved the character designs too! The ending is fantastic and wraps up the whole book so well.
No matter what, I know I can't do this book justice, so I'm just going to encourage you to read it.
Favorite Quote:
"<My Vietnamese is weakening, every day. I'm changing.
My past and present selves speak two different languages.
It feels like I died on that boat. And I'm still stuck in the middle of the ocean.
Far away from my mother . . .
. . . and far away from my son.
I'm afraid Tiến doesn't think he can tell me things.
I'm sure he can feel it. I know I do.
And I wish it wasn't that way.Did my mother feel that way? Did she feel like this all those years I was away?>"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Child abuse
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Gore, Homophobia, and War
Minor: Physical abuse, Violence, Hate crime, Domestic abuse, Death, and Grief
Child marriage (Minor)tilo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Beautiful story - both visuals and narrative. I loved the way the fairy tales were woven into the story and I appreciated the afterword of the author explaining the choices made to the tales.
I found it fascinating how the story dealt with the issue of coming out. It was underlining the story and certainly was a driving force, but it showed a refreshing complexity around it. Although the author says that "language" was intended to be the focus, I felt there were many other intriguing and arguably more present key aspects such as grief that I was compelled to see play out in this heart-warming story.
The story of the mother was not "overshadowed" by the coming-out story of the son but had enough spotlight to show how guilt, diaspora, and feelings of displacement all make up an intriguing story of migration. I valued that a lot in this story as it gave a clear perspective on the parent's end without needing the (in my opiniom) overplayed and somewhat problematic trope of the parent who "just needs time" to figure out how to deal with the news of having a gay child. The mother's story, therefore, was captivating and to me, is the best part of the narrative.
The ending was perfect, showing a simple yet powerful way of showing acceptance to your kid despite having a lack of words or means to verbalize it.
I found it fascinating how the story dealt with the issue of coming out. It was underlining the story and certainly was a driving force, but it showed a refreshing complexity around it. Although the author says that "language" was intended to be the focus, I felt there were many other intriguing and arguably more present key aspects such as grief that I was compelled to see play out in this heart-warming story.
The story of the mother was not "overshadowed" by the coming-out story of the son but had enough spotlight to show how guilt, diaspora, and feelings of displacement all make up an intriguing story of migration. I valued that a lot in this story as it gave a clear perspective on the parent's end without needing the (in my opiniom) overplayed and somewhat problematic trope of the parent who "just needs time" to figure out how to deal with the news of having a gay child. The mother's story, therefore, was captivating and to me, is the best part of the narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Grief, Murder, and Outing
Moderate: Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Domestic abuse
Due to the nature of fairy tales, this book has a bit of gore and some images could potentially be a bit too graphic for younger readers.pam_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Cannibalism
Minor: Murder, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Outing, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, and Violence
emily_mh's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? No
4.75
This graphic novel was so incredibly clever. The way the fairytales Tiến and Helen tell each other are tied into the narrative not only to reflect particular events but, as the author points out, more overarching themes of immigration. The way the fairytales are used to communicate ideas between the characters - this really highlighted the power of stories. And the fairytales were fantastic in and of themselves! The author also explains so many layers of meaning that I missed my first time reading, so I think this is one of those books where you’ve got to reread to pick up on all the nuances. For example, he discusses how imagery of the fairytale being told changes based on who is narrating, which blew my mind when I flicked back through the book. I could just tell that so much thought and detail went into expressing the story.
At its core this book is about a mother-son relationship which it displays impeccably. The love and the care Tiến and Helen had for one another! Their desire to understand and be understood! I especially loved that Helen was included as a character in her own right, as it is rare for a mother-figure to have this. This inclusion brought the theme of a two-sided relationship to life as both sides of the story were shown.
The art was gorgeous. There was super effective use of colour in that only three were used (in different tones) so as to demarcate parts of the book: red for the present, blue for fairytales, and yellow for the past. The detail of the clothing and hair of the characters was wonderful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Death of parent, Child abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Physical abuse, Medical content, War, Torture, Gore, and Hate crime
Moderate: the refugee experience, sick loved one, loss of a loved one, forced separation from family, death of pet Minor: child bride, drowningisotope_s's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The way that Nguyen converts emotion on the page is unmatched. There is a sense that these are real people living their lives, not a character arc to pick apart—which is why I feel it’s not fair to judge it based on “character development”.
Most of the content warnings are applied due to the fairy tales Tiên and his mother read together; they do not happen to the actual characters
Most of the content warnings are applied due to the fairy tales Tiên and his mother read together; they do not happen to the actual characters
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, and Violence
thewordsdevourer's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
the magic fish is a heartfelt, gorgeously drawn graphic novel that explores the immigrant experience and uses fairytales to bridge the cultural and language barriers of coming out.
the art is wonderfully detailed (the hair esp, and the dresses) and i like how nguyen uses 3 color palettes to differentiate between the settings. what amazes me the most, however, is the ingenious composition and structure that play off the art and word bubbles, flowing very smoothly.
in terms of story, the internal journeys of tiên and his mom form the crux of it, the former w/ his gay identity and the latter w/ her immigrant experience. there's not a lot going on esp interspersed w/ the fairytales (each of which is variations of a country, which is interesting), but the pace is relaxing and it's great that there's no unnecessary tension aside from the aforementioned characters' struggles. i do wish, however, that the ending - as touching as it is - was longer, as rn it's too abrupt.
all in all, this is a great graphic novel w/ both great art and story, and i certainly hope to read more of nguyen's work.
the art is wonderfully detailed (the hair esp, and the dresses) and i like how nguyen uses 3 color palettes to differentiate between the settings. what amazes me the most, however, is the ingenious composition and structure that play off the art and word bubbles, flowing very smoothly.
in terms of story, the internal journeys of tiên and his mom form the crux of it, the former w/ his gay identity and the latter w/ her immigrant experience. there's not a lot going on esp interspersed w/ the fairytales (each of which is variations of a country, which is interesting), but the pace is relaxing and it's great that there's no unnecessary tension aside from the aforementioned characters' struggles. i do wish, however, that the ending - as touching as it is - was longer, as rn it's too abrupt.
all in all, this is a great graphic novel w/ both great art and story, and i certainly hope to read more of nguyen's work.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Outing, Homophobia, and Death of parent
idlereader's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Homophobia