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vedpears's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Alcohol
Moderate: Classism
Minor: War
smoothlikebutter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent
Moderate: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, War, and Classism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
emk5's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Death
leahgustafson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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This is probably my favorite kind of book—a multi-generational family story filled with complex characters and complex family dynamics/relationships. This story is told from the perspectives of three generations of women (a mother, daughter, and grandmother), each of which is grappling with her own identity, purpose, and secrets. Multiple perspectives is the perfect format for this story, and it adds so much to the complexity. I really like how I could connect/empathize with all three women at various times throughout the story. The alternating narrators allows the reader to understand a character’s motivations and decisions while also understanding how these choices could be misunderstood/misinterpreted by the other women in their family.
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This story is a great exploration of the effects of intergenerational trauma, motherhood/maternal instincts, and the will to survive. I really look forward to reading other books by this author!
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Check out what I'm reading next on Instagram @LeahsLitReview!
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
beetsbydwight's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Miscarriage
nerdatlas5's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
The shifting narratives did get in the way a little by halting the momentum of the previous pov, but not enough to make me truly dislike it.
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Infidelity and Racism
marioosa517's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Abandonment
I’kappafrog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The writing style is really beautiful. I highlighted so many different passages. Here are a few favourite quotes:
"I see Banyan House for what it is: a home for women, a shaggy, worn, and vicious protector of the bruised, the tender."
"How love, for all its treachery, finds me in the last, unexpected moments of light."
"And I didn't tell him that none of it had been wasted at all, because I knew he would not see it that way."
Each of the three main characters was so complicated. Ann was the least sympathetic, as she had a coldness towards her mother that was hard to read at times, but her character growth was really great. My favourite of the three was Huong.
Minh's passages were always so interesting, looking back on her long life. With each of these women, you understood why they did the things they did. I wish I had a more eloquent way of describing how rich the relationships in this book are. You can really feel the weight of the atmosphere of the places described in the book too. The heat and humidity of the Florida summer hangs down over everyone like bugs dancing on the water of a swamp. The Banyan House had such personality, and I loved the way that the folk tale about the moon was woven through.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes family sagas. This one feels like it will be talked about for a long time to come, read in classes and book clubs with discussions of all the symbolism, layers of truth, and revelations that come as the story goes on. It was hard to read at times and is very sad, but the three women were so interesting to read about.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racism, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Stalking, Colonisation, and Pandemic/Epidemic
machenn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
futuretreeman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read this book as I am in the folds of moving on from my own broken relationships. We were horrible to each other, in many ways me more than them, just as these characters were horrible to each other. But it was wonderful to see that they could still love, care, and support each other anyway.
My critque?
Thai used a lot of metaphors in her writing and many were beautiful! But there were also many that did not make a whole lot of sense to me. And those little moments took me out of the book a little bit. They multiplied in a way that sometimes made it hard to see past their cliche and into the powerful thoughts they were supposed to be.
This next bit is not a critique to the author. Some of the chapters from Minh's POV also took me away from the story a bit. And I don't think it was because they were poorly written or nonvaluable. I think it was maybe my own afterlife beliefs. Everything in the story is so raw and real, but hearing from the ghost of somebody in that context was strange. I think that because I don't believe in an afterlife, it was hard for those chapters to feel as real to me as the others.
Though I am sure someone who does believe in the afterlife would not have the same qualms with the chapters as I did.
I did find those chapters illuminating to Minh's character though. And when she took us back to her past in Vietnam, how everything started, I was able to fall back into the story; those were wonderful moments.
Every chapter brought us a new twist. Some, granted, quite a lot bigger than others. Thai keeps you coming back from the moment meet our 3 badass women choking on red tide toxins.
Thank you Thao Thai.
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, and Medical content
Minor: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism