A review by claudiashelf
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

I chose this book blindly, and it’s shockingly good. This semi-autobiographical graphic novel about the Vietnamese diaspora takes up fairy tale retellings to explore immigration, communication, queerness, and love. The story in this book warmed my heart and nearly made me cry, while the graphics were exquisitely detailed and striking. The writing and artwork in this book are well-balanced. Unfortunately, though, I found it difficult to get into the story at first since there were parts of it in Vietnamese that were not translated into English. For a while, I was unable to figure out where the story was heading. Overall, this is such a good read.
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