Reviews with content warning for War - Wandering Souls

I picked this book up on a trip to London to dive deeper into the UK immigrant experience. The author takes us on an emotional journey of her own family history, expertly weaving different sources and perspectives into a compelling narrative. She inserts herself late into the book in a way that brings the whole story together. Emotional, hopefully, and touching, I loved this book from start to finish. Get your tissues ready for the last chapter!

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maybak's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-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

4.0

I’ve listened to the audiobook version and found it quite enjoyable. I liked how the author, Cecile Pin, mixed fiction with historical facts (Margareth Thatcher’s July 1979 letter to the Nguyen family) and modern news stories (the 2019 Essex lorry deaths of Vietnamese migrants). She has weaved historical context with the experience of modern-day Vietnamese immigrants and their children born in Britain.

I find that the main character, Anh, was beautifully written. Pin managed to give her a lot of depth and layers as we start the story with Anh as a little girl facing the

loss of her parents and siblings

. We see her coming of age and navigating life in a foreign country with a heavy responsibility on her shoulders—looking out for her two younger brothers, Thanh and Minh.

I found the way she wrote about how this ordeal each affected them and their relationship as siblings very powerful. Pin created complex characters that seem very realistic with their own flaws, tourments and unachieved dreams. This was a beautiful ode to the migrant experience, and surviving such a great loss at a tender age.

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rachela_7's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad 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

4.75

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sakisreads's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective 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? No

4.5

I kept seeing this pop up in the bookshop and in the library, so I knew I had to give it a go.

Flitting between narratives is brilliant when it is well-executed, and Cecile Pin absolutely nails it 👏🏼

I love that we got a little bit of Dao and a little bit of Jane too. I felt honoured to get a glimpse into Anh’s nuances through their narratives (Dao being her dead little brother, Jane being her daughter researching and writing Anh’s past.)

I was gripped throughout and thought Pin had cleverly and concisely expressed this story. I am looking forward to exploring her other writing. 4.5 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨

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chrysos79's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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rosy24's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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urbanheron's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Fantastic debut novel which tells the story of a Vietnamese family who flee the country just after the war, and try to rebuild their lives in Thatcher's Britain while navigating grief for their homeland and lost family members. Beautifully written and super engaging with its use of epistolary and verse segments in-between very readable prose chapters, I raced through this book. Only minor criticism is some of the 'extra' sections were a bit twee for my taste, but overall would highly recommend.

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kirareads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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