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ellornaslibrary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The art is stunning, and the way the stories of the mother and son are told through a mixture of their real world experience combined with the messages of fairytales is brilliant. I especially loved the information given by the author, Trung Le Nguyen, after the acknowledgements on his inspiration for both this important story he was telling as well as the comparison of graphic novels to a hybrid language.
I will give a warning though that as this is also a story about an LGQBTIA+ kid struggling with his identity in the 90s that there is a brief reference to the horrible, tragic murder of Matthew Shephard which was a big topic in the media at that time in regards to hate crimes and definitely relevant to the fears of coming out. There is also in regards to the immigration part of the story as far as mentions of loss of a parent & re-education(there might be some others I missed). I wanted anyone going into this graphic novel to be as informed as possible in case they aren’t able to handle it or need preparation to be able to do so.
Even so, I still think this is a beautiful story worth reading and highly recommend it.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Outing, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Colonisation
I wasn’t sure if there were content warning tags appropriate for the mention of re-education and having to flee your country the way that is depicted. If so, please let me know so I might add them to my review.lidia7's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, War, Hate crime, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, and Outing
dee_hzz's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Cannibalism, Animal death, Death, Gore, Grief, and Outing
Moderate: Homophobia and Religious bigotry
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Homophobia, Outing, War, and Religious bigotry
abookwormspov's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Blood, Cancer, Homophobia, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cannibalism, Outing, Physical abuse, Bullying, Medical content, Body horror, Gaslighting, Grief, Chronic illness, Murder, Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, and Terminal illness
tilo's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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.silodear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Outing
pam_'s review against another edition
- 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
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
jenny_d's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Homophobia
Moderate: Death of parent and Outing
lri_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia
Minor: Outing