A review by aquamarinecadet
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

it hurt to read this.
do you feel like a rather gruesome, inspiringly hopeful but incredibly sad war torn intergenerational trauma family saga? then this book is for you 😀

"What my uncle said made me think. I had resented America, too. 

But by reading their books, I saw the other side of them-their humanity. Somehow I was sure that if people were willing to read each other, and see the light of other cultures, there would be no war on earth."

4.5 stars because there are things that distract from the story that i feel could have been better written:  funky pacing at times, and the last letter declaration-

nobody writes letters like that 😭 it was a not-at-all-subtle literary device, as were some of the characters!! who sometimes seemed to appear more as statements than full fledged characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Physical abuse, and Violence