Reviews

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

curleyfries's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

"They're only stories. They'll change when they need to." 

Touching story with wonderful illustration. The comparisons to fairytales (further expanded upon in the author's note) truly elevates the emotions. 

eleanorcats's review against another edition

5.0

Cried at how special this book is

happy_reader_15's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

4.5

caitb_05's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring fast-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

5.0

bex_knighthunterbooks'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

3.75

This was sweet, with a nice message and resolution. I liked the way this weaved together fairy tales of different cultures into a contemporary narrative, although I honestly appreciated this more once I read the author's note at the end, which explained some of the imagery and storytelling devices that I had missed. The artwork was lovely, and nicely showed the different settings and cultures. As expected from a graphic (and YA) of this length, there isn't much depth to the exploration of 'coming out', queerness, or immigration, which I'd say were the main themes, but these were handled in an interesting way. Would recommend, but might not be very memorable for me - didn't evoke an emotional response beyond some shiny eyes towards the end even though I was expecting it to.

tsmail's review against another edition

hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

evamadera1's review against another edition

(I do not rate memoirs.)
The artwork in this book is absolutely stunning. I love all the specific choices that Nguyen made with the artwork, the included fairytales and how he wove together some of his mother's history with his own story. This book tugs hard on the heartstrings.

twirl's review against another edition

5.0

This was so beautiful drawn, truly some incredibly detailed art. I loved the unique telling of fairytales, and how it paralleled with the characters. This is the shortest graphic novel I’ve read the conveys such heavy emotion, with deep complexities. It is quite beautiful all around. Also, don’t skip the notes about the writing at the end! It really emphasizes the deep detail and care the author and artist took to create this graphic novel. 

katieeigenfeld's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.25

nikki_haug's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75