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jasmine_470's review against another edition
3.25
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence
Minor: Car accident and Colonisation
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
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’bea_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Physical abuse and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
ziggyreadz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i may be biased because i love this kind of story about trauma and complicated people, but i really enjoyed how they each stood as their own characters but were stronger together.
i didn’t find the perspective switching to be jarring at all, though i listened to the audio book, and each of the three women had different narrators. i especially liked Huong’s reader, as she always sounded like she was on the edge of desperation, which reflects Huong’s character. the different perspectives and arcs within the perspectives provided an interesting mix of stories from Vietnam and stories from Florida, where the present day of the book takes place.
the way the book explored different kinds of relationships with men and their complicated problems was really masterful. i felt that everything was handled really well despite the relationships being (outwardly) pretty diverse.
of course it was really interesting to see the three women’s relationships with each other. there were some gaps with Huong and Ann — i understood on a surface level why they had a tense relationship in the past, but i felt like other things took up the space needed to explore that more, especially since it was so central to the narrative.
the book is slow but i enjoyed that, it gave the characters room to breathe. the last 1/4 though is very fast and dramatic, and while it was very immersive, i felt like it was a little out of place given the rest of the pacing and plot of the book. several dramatic things happen, and i feel it would have been better with fewer things, so that it felt more consistent.
the end was a little too neat for me. i wish it had not wrapped up as well, though i was generally happy with the resolution. i just felt that the ending was too simple for a complicated book like Banyan Moon.
the only other thing that bothered me a bit was that sometimes the writing felt a little strange (very infrequently). there were a lot of metaphors, both in dialogue and internal monologue, that felt a little too absurd to be taken seriously. overall, i did enjoy the writing though.
if the premise of this book appeals to you, definitely check it out. it’s a really rewarding experience. the only reason why my rating is not higher is because i felt the book mostly accomplished its ambitions, but fell a bit short towards the end.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Miscarriage
hotnmysterious'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
5.0
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence
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
srjennings'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
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and War
lngoldstein's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Violence
kquixotic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence
Minor: Racism and Death of parent