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A review by theresidentbookworm
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
5.0
On Election Night, I was just basically mainlining graphic novels to ease my anxiety. Thankfully, one of those graphic novels was The Magic Fish!
I received The Magic Fish in my October Rainbow Crate book box, and I knew it wasn’t going to sit long unread.
The Magic Fish interweaves fairy tales with the story of Tién, a 13 year old Vietnamese-American boy who is struggling to come out to his immigrant parents, and his mom Helen, who feels torn between her old and new home. The graphic novel is set in 1998, though this isn’t evident unless you pay attention to tiny details.
Everything about The Magic Fish is tremendous. The artwork is gorgeous, the color changing from red to purple to yellow depending on if we’re in the real world, fairytale world, or Helen’s flashbacks. It feels both easy and detailed. The writing itself is similarly excellent. The fairytales could feel disjointed in the hands of another writer, but in Le Nguyen’s hands it is seamless. The cuts between the real world and fairytales make sense because they help shape each other. The characters in the real world are impacted by the fairy tales, and the fairy tales are then shaped by those characters.
I knew this was a coming out story, but I didn’t think it would be such a sweet one. I particularly love how Tién’s friends reacted to him being gay with such love and understanding. And Helen? The end definitely made me have emotions.
Honestly, you have to read The Magic Fish! It’s one of the best graphic novels of the year!
I received The Magic Fish in my October Rainbow Crate book box, and I knew it wasn’t going to sit long unread.
The Magic Fish interweaves fairy tales with the story of Tién, a 13 year old Vietnamese-American boy who is struggling to come out to his immigrant parents, and his mom Helen, who feels torn between her old and new home. The graphic novel is set in 1998, though this isn’t evident unless you pay attention to tiny details.
Everything about The Magic Fish is tremendous. The artwork is gorgeous, the color changing from red to purple to yellow depending on if we’re in the real world, fairytale world, or Helen’s flashbacks. It feels both easy and detailed. The writing itself is similarly excellent. The fairytales could feel disjointed in the hands of another writer, but in Le Nguyen’s hands it is seamless. The cuts between the real world and fairytales make sense because they help shape each other. The characters in the real world are impacted by the fairy tales, and the fairy tales are then shaped by those characters.
I knew this was a coming out story, but I didn’t think it would be such a sweet one. I particularly love how Tién’s friends reacted to him being gay with such love and understanding. And Helen? The end definitely made me have emotions.
Honestly, you have to read The Magic Fish! It’s one of the best graphic novels of the year!