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mobooks_mojoy's review
5.0
Graphic: Gore and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts
georgiesutton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I normally like multiple time lines and characters but this was too much back and forth with too long in between timelines to follow and make the connections. Not having dates, just using time before and after, and the sheer number of characters made this quite confusing. I felt there wasn't enough plot or chronology to carry it and I felt that meant some of the connections didn't pack the punch they should have because I forgot who was who etc.
Most of the characters had no redeeming features although the female experience was centred which was interesting there were so many women I would have liked more of.
Some of the writing was beautiful but also sometimes dragged with several long drawn out descriptions of unpleasant men getting drunk and making women uncomfortable for no real purpose.
I'm also really frustrated that
Overall this was eerie and atmospheric but not enough plot for me with hugely dislikable characters.
Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Self harm, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Death, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Sexism, and Sexual content
mmefish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
How could I explain the way time seemed to slip from my fingers, the way I became incrementally more detached, more unable to reach out a hand to take anything I wanted?
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, and Drug use
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Pedophilia, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Eating disorder, War, Incest, and Rape
radfordmanor's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, and Toxic friendship
kyahs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Some great insight into Vietnamese food, culture and history.
Graphic: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness
Moderate: Rape
Minor: War, Death, and Violence
ynotlime's review
4.25
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Incest, and Body horror
dianahincureads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The unifying threads of the novel are supernatural. Ghosts are real. They walk among us. Vietnamese folklore comes to life and trauma manifests itself in concrete, terrifying ways. However, as the author mentions in an interview, the real spook in the novel is colonialism. Bouncing back and forth from 1945 to 2011, Build Your House Around My Body covers many turning points in Vietnam’s history and the impact the war had on the people.
The plot revolves around 2 women. Both of them disappear in mysterious circumstances, years apart. Winnie, an American Vietnamese, arrives in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City since 1976) in 2010 to distance herself from her family and start over. However, she is not mentally stable and starts doing everything in her power to erase herself. Winnie is gliding through life like a ghost. She strives to become invisible. At work, on the street, and even in small groups of people. Violet Kupersmith does a fantastic job exploring mental health, identity, and belonging through Winnie’s slow descent into madness.
Binh, on the other hand, is full of life, determined to have her way regardless of the consequences. She grows up in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, unable (and unwilling) to leave her hometown as all the other young adults move to big cities to try their luck.
Winnie and Binh are opposites in character. They belong to different worlds and yet their destinies are linked.
Build Your House Around My Body is a haunting journey throughout time across Vietnam.
I recommend this, especially if you enjoy slow burns and fantasy/supernatural elements.
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Drug use, Addiction, and Death
Minor: Rape, Incest, Vomit, and Eating disorder
writingcaia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Using family trees and native Vietnamese myths and folklore, the author tells the story of several characters to encompass such a large part of Vietnam’s most recent history (going back more than 50 years), and it all starts with the disappearance of a Vietnamese American young woman with severe mental issues by the time it occurs, some of them are real some are hauntings.
Going back from there we will find the nature of the man she lives with, his brother, and most importantly the girl who was their everything when they were young. A wild girl who hunts snakes, and she’s the connection to a ghost hunter and exorcist, a man the forest chose to save from the war, to a mother without a daughter, to French occupation, to rape and serfdom.
It’s not the easiest read due to its complicated timeline, that keeps shifting, going back and forward with no great logic, but you get used to it after a while and when the dots all start connecting, when you understand that what matters are the different stories and the history, not the timeline or that one story it becomes addictive.
Not knowing Vietnam or its people I believe this is the closest I will ever get, as the book brilliantly woven a tale that encompasses so much of the culture, history, and people, also the present and how it is affected by its folklore and past.
Definitely a read I recommend, especially if you’re looking for a great read for API month.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual harassment, War, Incest, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, and Rape