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imstephtacular's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.25
Tough read, but well executed. Beautiful and heartbreaking and nuanced and complex and compelling with great writing
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Death, War, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Murder, Blood, Racism, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Vomit
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, and Misogyny
sol_journal's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
*Thank you Netgalley and RHCBEducators for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!*
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 4 June 2023
4.8 (rounded up to 5) out of 5 stars.
This review took me some days to get around to solely for the fact that I couldn’t begin to gather my words for this piece.
Jamie Jo Hoang brings brutal honestly in ‘My Father, the Panda Killer’ and it hits as a fellow child of immigrant parents. There was no shying away from the journey to America that many children come to learn of their parents over time, striking heavy with the tale of a refugee child just trying to survive and his daughter doing the same within her own home.
Jane has lived her life ignoring her family history and heritage. She’s grown up learning to almost forget or look down on her culture until a family gathering has her realizing something- despite what they’d each gone through, her cousins feel a sort of love for their parents and she can’t help but find a constant forgiveness in her father too.
Jane begins to open up to the idea of looking into herself and showing her brother the life she has always shied away from and resented. To keep her brother from fully disappearing into himself as she has done, Jane weaves a story of her family’s past to Paul, told with the bits she’s overhead with time and the pieces she can only assume from what she already knows.
“My Father, the Panda Killer’ intwines two stories of past and present to tell a hard hitting story about Jane finding her place again and helping her brother one last time before she leaves for the next chapter of her own life.
It was so hard to think of words for this book review because it made me so *emotional* throughout the middle until the very last page. I, like Jane and like Jamie in her pre and after story letters, always shied away and couldn’t understand the ideals of my parents. While this book discusses some hard to read topics and issues (there’s a content warning that shouldn’t be ignored at the front of the book), I still think it was moving and even eye-opening as a child of immigrants. There’s things that our parents do differently than is normal in America, and it’s so hard to find this solace without other family and friends, so hard to find this boundary for yourself within whatever generational traumas are being carried. This book really made me feel so much for Jane, the imperfect main character with an imperfect family just trying to figure out how to heal.
Posted to: NetGalley, Goodreads, and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 4 June 2023
4.8 (rounded up to 5) out of 5 stars.
This review took me some days to get around to solely for the fact that I couldn’t begin to gather my words for this piece.
Jamie Jo Hoang brings brutal honestly in ‘My Father, the Panda Killer’ and it hits as a fellow child of immigrant parents. There was no shying away from the journey to America that many children come to learn of their parents over time, striking heavy with the tale of a refugee child just trying to survive and his daughter doing the same within her own home.
Jane has lived her life ignoring her family history and heritage. She’s grown up learning to almost forget or look down on her culture until a family gathering has her realizing something- despite what they’d each gone through, her cousins feel a sort of love for their parents and she can’t help but find a constant forgiveness in her father too.
Jane begins to open up to the idea of looking into herself and showing her brother the life she has always shied away from and resented. To keep her brother from fully disappearing into himself as she has done, Jane weaves a story of her family’s past to Paul, told with the bits she’s overhead with time and the pieces she can only assume from what she already knows.
“My Father, the Panda Killer’ intwines two stories of past and present to tell a hard hitting story about Jane finding her place again and helping her brother one last time before she leaves for the next chapter of her own life.
It was so hard to think of words for this book review because it made me so *emotional* throughout the middle until the very last page. I, like Jane and like Jamie in her pre and after story letters, always shied away and couldn’t understand the ideals of my parents. While this book discusses some hard to read topics and issues (there’s a content warning that shouldn’t be ignored at the front of the book), I still think it was moving and even eye-opening as a child of immigrants. There’s things that our parents do differently than is normal in America, and it’s so hard to find this solace without other family and friends, so hard to find this boundary for yourself within whatever generational traumas are being carried. This book really made me feel so much for Jane, the imperfect main character with an imperfect family just trying to figure out how to heal.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Suicide, Racism, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
dancerava's review
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
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
4.5
*I received an ARC from YallWest. I don't regularly write reviews but I really wanted to speak to this book because it put words to feelings that I relate to.
My Father, the Panda Killer explores generational customs, trauma and attitudes specifically for parents who were Vietnamese refugees and their first generation Vietnamese-American children. This book explores how our culture and environment can shape us and our behavior, and how we respond to the pull between assimilation and honoring ones heritage when settling in another country.
The Author's Note is very important to read before getting into the story, the characters are not perfect and are shaped by their own biases. I enjoyed the authenticity of this, because no one is perfect and we all have our own things to battle and work on.
Main Character Jane walks us through her life as a first-gen Vietnamese teenager preparing for college. She also tells us the story of her father, his life as a child in war torn Vietnam and his journey to America. Through the storytelling, Jane understands more about her father, to reconcile conflicting emotions of resentment, anger and love.
This hurt to read but in the best of ways, like finally releasing frustration and resolving it, letting it go and being able to move forward. I am Chinese-American and my grandparents fled China during WWII, so I strongly related to Jane, as her and her dad's story are similar to my mom and grandfather's. Although I am not first-gen, some of that culture, behavior and attitude still trickles down to me.
The author accomplishes what she sets out to do, which is to bring to light the stories of parents and children who were raised in completely different worlds and conditions, to bridge the gap so that they can see the love underneath, even if it isn't so clearly and easily expressed. I think the author does a great job giving a nuanced voice to complex issues such as refugees, war, generational trauma, and Asian-American practices and experiences.
I would recommend this book if you're looking for something insightful, emotional and hopeful. For a book that teases out the gray area between good and bad, by looking at the personal stories and context behind each of us.
Content Warnings: child abuse, war violence (bombings), gun violence, animal cruelty/violence
My Father, the Panda Killer explores generational customs, trauma and attitudes specifically for parents who were Vietnamese refugees and their first generation Vietnamese-American children. This book explores how our culture and environment can shape us and our behavior, and how we respond to the pull between assimilation and honoring ones heritage when settling in another country.
The Author's Note is very important to read before getting into the story, the characters are not perfect and are shaped by their own biases. I enjoyed the authenticity of this, because no one is perfect and we all have our own things to battle and work on.
Main Character Jane walks us through her life as a first-gen Vietnamese teenager preparing for college. She also tells us the story of her father, his life as a child in war torn Vietnam and his journey to America. Through the storytelling, Jane understands more about her father, to reconcile conflicting emotions of resentment, anger and love.
This hurt to read but in the best of ways, like finally releasing frustration and resolving it, letting it go and being able to move forward. I am Chinese-American and my grandparents fled China during WWII, so I strongly related to Jane, as her and her dad's story are similar to my mom and grandfather's. Although I am not first-gen, some of that culture, behavior and attitude still trickles down to me.
The author accomplishes what she sets out to do, which is to bring to light the stories of parents and children who were raised in completely different worlds and conditions, to bridge the gap so that they can see the love underneath, even if it isn't so clearly and easily expressed. I think the author does a great job giving a nuanced voice to complex issues such as refugees, war, generational trauma, and Asian-American practices and experiences.
I would recommend this book if you're looking for something insightful, emotional and hopeful. For a book that teases out the gray area between good and bad, by looking at the personal stories and context behind each of us.
Content Warnings: child abuse, war violence (bombings), gun violence, animal cruelty/violence
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Death of parent, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, and Violence
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