Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

85 reviews

frantic_vampire's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was a lovely, heartwarming read. The mix of fairytales and immigrant family life and coming out in a time when it wasn’t always excepted, were so brilliantly swirled together. The visuals were stunning and the story flowed so beautifully from one fairytale to another. It was so cool to see all of these stories that are so familiar to me through a different lens and different cultural interpretations. I loved this so much and it’s getting five stars from me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

piperclover's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• 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

4.25

The art is beautiful and gives the whole story a whimsical fairytale feel. I appreciate that the stories being told inside the story are in a different color- pink/red for the boy and his mother and purple/blue for the stories told within. This helped me follow the different stories better and differentiate between them. I admit I don't quote understand how all the stories told within relate to the boy and his mothers story but they were compelling and beautifully drawn. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Outing

Minor: Death of parent

jac_panic_attac's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Minor: Cannibalism

thenovelmaura's review against another edition

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book has my whole heart! The story of a Vietnamese boy struggling to come out to this family while being beautifully intertwined with relevant fairy tales is 100% my cup of tea. And the gorgeous illustrations take this book to a whole new level, with its detailed line art and use of color. Yellow =  Tiến's parents' life in Vietnam, pink = Tiến in the present day, blue = a fairy tale being told by someone in the present day. Yes, the ending made me cry (which almost distracted me from the thoughtful author's note). If you're only going to read one graphic novel this year, pick this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Grief

Moderate: Blood and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cannibalism

claudiashelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I chose this book blindly, and it’s shockingly good. This semi-autobiographical graphic novel about the Vietnamese diaspora takes up fairy tale retellings to explore immigration, communication, queerness, and love. The story in this book warmed my heart and nearly made me cry, while the graphics were exquisitely detailed and striking. The writing and artwork in this book are well-balanced. Unfortunately, though, I found it difficult to get into the story at first since there were parts of it in Vietnamese that were not translated into English. For a while, I was unable to figure out where the story was heading. Overall, this is such a good read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Grief, and Cannibalism

mbrogs2024's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

bexi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, and Abandonment

shelvesofivy's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

Don't mind me, just literally crying over everything about this book 🥺
The art had me from page 1, and if possible, it just got even more beautiful. I loved the use of color to help move between the fairytale, the modern, and the flashbacks. And of course, the overarching story has me crying, but it's in a cathartic way ♡
I can't recommend this enough, regardless of what you usually read ♡ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Hate crime, and Cannibalism

mycarefulcardinal's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent