Scan barcode
ciaravirk's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Trafficking, Death of parent, and War
alexisgarcia'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: Child death, Death, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, and Classism
rsouders's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Forced institutionalization, War, and Deportation
secre'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
Told in three narrative threads, it feels a bit disjointed to begin with but quickly finds a pace and a rhythm that is impossible to put down. It's a short read, and yet encompasses something so much bigger that it felt far larger. You have Anh and her two siblings, displaced from their home in Vietnam due to the war. As they find their way to the resettlement camp, they are confronted with the fact that their parents and younger siblings are not just behind them. Orphaned and alone, they have to find their own way in the world and Anh has to take up the mantle her parent's left. She and her brothers grow up, find their own way and their own mantles to carry. But it's never going to be an easy journey.
Interspersing this narrative of three children finding a place in what to them is a foreign land, you have the perspective of one of the deceased brothers, Dao, and an omnipresent narrator. Dao's voice is jarring in a way, it forces you to confront the very real fact that this very young child died and is forever separate and distant from half of the family he loved. The narrator's voice is equally jarring, often bringing you to the present and forcing you to confront the people behind the policies. But it works and it works well. The jarring moments become part of the story, how things aren't as simple and tidy as we might like but involve real people, real families and very real heart-ache.
As said above, this is a novel that will stick with me. And make me think in very real terms about the people left behind in the wake of catastrophe.
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Racism and War
eldane'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? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Child death, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, and War
zara89's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Deportation
lols_cat'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Child death and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Racism, and War
lydia_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Trafficking, and Death of parent
Moderate: Violence and War
slinkmalink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.5
I bought this because I'd studied the Vietnam war and Thatcher's Britain at college/uni, and I found it really interesting because it was the in-between of those things I did know something about that connected to them, but I knew nothing really about this itself.
I loved the alternating chapters between the main storyline and Dao's perspective and the research, which all worked together to make it feel both informative and very personal, and the constant returning to the theme of 'wandering souls'.
I thought it was interesting and beautifully written and emotional and overall just a really great book.
Moderate: Child death and Death
Minor: Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and War
katerina_l'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: Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War