A review by ryanlee
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

What a beautiful, moving graphic novel. I love that the story is as much about his mother trying to meet him where he is, as it is about him trying to reach out and share something with his mother. The use of color to differentiate the three narrative strands is great, especially when they the narratives draft to bleed into one another. And most of all, I appreciated the message from the aunt, for both the mom and the son, that stories change with us—they aren’t static.