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tinyjude's review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
A really beautiful book that focuses on the relationship between a mother and her son, language barriers, feeling isolated and not truly belonging to one place due to forceful migration and colonisation; and how they are able to understand and support each other through fairy tails such as Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. It was beautiful and fascinating to see the different depictions of the same tale depending on the cultural context. The colour palette was used with such creativity, helping the reader identify the past (yellow), the present (red) and the stories within the main story (blue) with complexity and beautiful details. I found myself instantly attached to the characters and the story. It was beautifully crafted and it couldn't come to me in a most precious and sad time to help me too.
The tale she narrates to her child at the end couldn't have been better. I was sobbing and wrecked. So touching.
The tale she narrates to her child at the end couldn't have been better. I was sobbing and wrecked. So touching.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, Outing, Animal death, and Child death
Moderate: Grief, Genocide, Colonisation, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Blood and Gore
sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Violence, Child death, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Outing, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Death of parent
rafacolog's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Blood, Gore, Animal cruelty, War, Homophobia, Grief, and Murder
mattyb's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia
Moderate: Blood, Grief, Violence, Murder, and Gore
Minor: Cannibalism and Death of parent
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)dee_hzz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Animal death, Death, Gore, Grief, and Outing
Moderate: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
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, drowningnannahnannah's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Where I’ve been struggling finding a book I’ve liked lately, I’ve been stumbling upon the most amazing graphic novels. And this is my favorite by far.
Representation:
- the protagonist is a Vietnamese-American gay boy
- his friends are a black girl and a latino boy (I assume?)
This graphic novel is essentially about Tiến, a Vietnamese-American boy, and his mother, an immigrant to the United States. It’s about their relationship as people who almost speak different languages, who sometimes feel like they have two separate cultures, and who want to bridge these gaps but don’t know how. It’s even more difficult for Tiến, who’s gay but doesn’t know the words for it in Vietnamese and so doesn’t know how to begin to come out to his family. But by using fairy tales, The Magic Fish shows us how we’re all connected.
First off I’m going to say the obvious: the art style in this is beyond stunning. I can’t stop looking at it. Every page feels both like something out of an old storybook and like something you could frame. There’s so much movement and detail and character in every single line. It also helps to show what story is being told at the moment. There are sometimes several stories going on at one time: Tiến’s reading a fairytale, his mom is thinking back to how it relates to a memory, and then the next page we're back into Tiến’s current life during school. One could be drawn only in tones of purple, the other orange, and the last in red, for example.
There’s also an incredible amount of attention to detail that makes the story and reading experience all the more satisfying. The author himself talks about this in his notes at the end, but he changes the visuals of the fairytales depending on who’s telling them. Tiến’s storytelling tends to have a more Eurocentric look because of where he was brought up, while his mother’s interpretations usually take place in Vietnam. I’d strongly advise you to read (and look at) these notes and concept illustrations at the back. They’re so insightful and beautiful and really add to what you just read.
The Magic Fish is definitely not a graphic novel to zoom through, and it’s definitely not a super light-hearted read either (the homophobia during Tiến’s faith counseling was Very Painful), but it does have an incredibly touching and hopeful ending too. I really don’t have much to say here other than it’s probably one of my new favorite graphic novels. Visually stunning with a beautiful storyline.
Representation:
- the protagonist is a Vietnamese-American gay boy
- his friends are a black girl and a latino boy (I assume?)
This graphic novel is essentially about Tiến, a Vietnamese-American boy, and his mother, an immigrant to the United States. It’s about their relationship as people who almost speak different languages, who sometimes feel like they have two separate cultures, and who want to bridge these gaps but don’t know how. It’s even more difficult for Tiến, who’s gay but doesn’t know the words for it in Vietnamese and so doesn’t know how to begin to come out to his family. But by using fairy tales, The Magic Fish shows us how we’re all connected.
First off I’m going to say the obvious: the art style in this is beyond stunning. I can’t stop looking at it. Every page feels both like something out of an old storybook and like something you could frame. There’s so much movement and detail and character in every single line. It also helps to show what story is being told at the moment. There are sometimes several stories going on at one time: Tiến’s reading a fairytale, his mom is thinking back to how it relates to a memory, and then the next page we're back into Tiến’s current life during school. One could be drawn only in tones of purple, the other orange, and the last in red, for example.
There’s also an incredible amount of attention to detail that makes the story and reading experience all the more satisfying. The author himself talks about this in his notes at the end, but he changes the visuals of the fairytales depending on who’s telling them. Tiến’s storytelling tends to have a more Eurocentric look because of where he was brought up, while his mother’s interpretations usually take place in Vietnam. I’d strongly advise you to read (and look at) these notes and concept illustrations at the back. They’re so insightful and beautiful and really add to what you just read.
The Magic Fish is definitely not a graphic novel to zoom through, and it’s definitely not a super light-hearted read either (the homophobia during Tiến’s faith counseling was Very Painful), but it does have an incredibly touching and hopeful ending too. I really don’t have much to say here other than it’s probably one of my new favorite graphic novels. Visually stunning with a beautiful storyline.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Cannibalism and Gore
re: homophobia - it includes faith counselingmaisy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore