Reviews with content warning for Child death - Dust Child

Thank you to Netgalley and Oneworld for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was pulled in right away! I didn’t want to put it down but also wanted to slow down so could savor the story. Beautiful writing once again from the author (I read and loved her debut last year). I’m a sucker for multiple timelines and POVs so this did not disappoint!

I also really liked the complex characters and their relationships. I learned a lot about pieces of history during/following the Vietnam War, which I always enjoy learning something new!

If you read this, grab tissues for last 25% 😭 I sobbed and was a wreck for the rest of the night and following day. This was a very hopeful and emotional read.

Fantastic novel that I loved even more than her debut! Will 100% be my favorite for the month and Que Mai is officially an auto buy author 💗

If my last read, Cecily, didn’t already have me in a mini slump I’m definitely in one now 😳 WHAT BOOK CAN FOLLOW THIS?! (This will also be my next “book to push into everyone’s hands”/go to recommendation)

TW/CW: racism, war, infertility (brief mention), PTSD, sexual content, death, grief, sexual assault, infidelity, racial slurs, alcoholism, violence, emotional abuse, vomit (brief), abandonment, pregnancy, Alzheimer’s (brief), child death, self harm (brief)

Content Warnings

low_keybookish's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I have been SO excited for Dust Child to be released, and so thankful to have ready an early copy. Dust Child is a multiple POV story of different characters who are affected by the Vietnam War. The story focuses a lot on the experiences of Amerasian children who are mixed race and born of Vietnamese women and US military men. As the author describes in her author's note, these mixed race people experience a lot of discrimination and challenges and so she wanted to highlight what they went through.

I love multiple POV, especially when it's so clearly written. Sometimes I get confused by other books when there are too many characters--in Dust Child, each POV is distinct and could be their own book. The way the characters come together is also satisfying for the plot, but also in raising questions on reconciliation, the legacies of militarization and war, and racial economic disparities in impossible situations.

The story also goes back and forth in time (during the Vietnam War, and up to 2019), which helps to highlight the author's goal of trying to show that the effects of the Vietnam War continue to today. Anyone who was involved with the war walked away scared, and the book shows lingering mental and physical health issues for the characters. The author has some poignant moments that call out the white savior complex, especially through Mr. Thien, and it's so satisfying that the Vietnamese characters have agency and are whole persons. (I'm done with stories that show war in such a one-sided viewpoint that only glorifies the U.S.).

The book covers a lot of topics and cw as expected: rape, violence, murder, death, PTSD, war, chemical warfare, racism, etc. Though not a light hearted read, highly recommend this book--it's an important read esp in the contemporary context of ongoing warfare.

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