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A review by kellijoy
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lại
2.0
I would not say that I particularly like the novel Butterfly Yellow but I did not hate it either. I liked the relationship between LeeRoy and Hằng, mainly because they were such an odd pair but complemented each other well and met in such an odd way. The story was slow and kept much of Hằng’s past a mystery right until the end (within the last 20 – 30 pages) which made it hard to hang on to finish the story. It was helpful that the story was a quick read which was most likely due to the short chapters. I found the dialog difficult to read when it was written in Hằng’s broken English and found the fixation on proper grammar quite odd and out of place. Some of the Vietnamese was translated and then later on written in English in italics. I would love to see more #ownstories from Asian perspective, more backstory would be interesting as well.
Thanhhà Lại brings much needed Asian representation to Young Adult literature with her novel, Butterfly Yellow. Hằng’s character suffers atrocities in her past that are slowly introduced to the reader by the end of the book. She escaped her country during the Vietnam War, lost her grandmother, father, mother, and came to America looking for her brother that was sent to America as a young boy at the end of the war. This novel could be used in a history class to compare a historical fiction story with actual historical events of what happened to the people who suffered through this war. It could also be used in comparison to other cultures that have suffered through wars. Readers with similar pasts, loss of family, relocating to a foreign country could all find themselves in the character of Hằng.
Thanhhà Lại brings much needed Asian representation to Young Adult literature with her novel, Butterfly Yellow. Hằng’s character suffers atrocities in her past that are slowly introduced to the reader by the end of the book. She escaped her country during the Vietnam War, lost her grandmother, father, mother, and came to America looking for her brother that was sent to America as a young boy at the end of the war. This novel could be used in a history class to compare a historical fiction story with actual historical events of what happened to the people who suffered through this war. It could also be used in comparison to other cultures that have suffered through wars. Readers with similar pasts, loss of family, relocating to a foreign country could all find themselves in the character of Hằng.