A review by kaileehaong
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

5.0

Wow. As the child of a Cambodian refugee, this graphic brought me a lot of insight into the traumas of refugees and Southeastern Asians. Bui tells not only her story of her childhood to present—motherhood, but also the stories of her separated parents, both who had different yet haunting experiences of adolescence, adulthood, and parenthood all in the midst of war and political upheaval. I particularly enjoyed the structure of the novel. It felt like a natural way of storytelling and it was so gripping that I read it all in just two sessions. It feels informative, like a historical fiction, but in the same beat it is packed with personal stories, emotion, and heart that you often don’t get when reading about the history of an event. Bui’s balance of telling the story of her family while also exploring the dynamics between her parents and herself as a child to how she is as a parent today felt authentic and raw. The overarching theme here being survival and the will to stay alive.