Reviews with content warning for Self harm - Dust Child

A thoughtful, nuanced, and empathetic account of the Vietnam war through the intertwining storylines of a Vietnamese prostitute, an American veteran, and an Amerasian “dust child”. This stirring tale explores the fallout — the broken families, the mutual resentments, the haunting secrets — and calls forth tremendous amounts of forgiveness from every side. Quê Mai Nguyễn reminds us that we may not be able to heal every wound when the dust settles, but peace can still be found when we move forward.

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internationalreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

This was.. fine? It felt like a book written to teach Americans about the Vietnam war rather than to tell a story set in that time. Disappointing after loving The Mountains Sing so much.

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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

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emotional informative 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? Yes

4.75

Dust Child is a fabulous blend of historical and contemporary fiction set in Viêt Nam. In 1969-1970 we follow Trang and her sister who travel to Sāi Gōn and work as bar girls in order to help their family out of a financial predicament. In 2016 we meet Dan, an American veteran of the war who travels to Viêt Nam with his wife Linda in the hopes the trip will help him overcome his PTSD. Unbeknown to her he is also looking for his lost love and their child. We also meet Phong, a Black Amerasian man, who is trying to obtain a visa to move his family to the United States.

I love the compassion with the which this story was told and the way it highlighted many victims of the war. Not just the American soldiers who saw and did things they were in no way prepared for, and whom western readers will be familiar with, but also the Vietnamese women forced into sex work and/or abused and assaulted by traumatised soldiers, and their biracial children, often unwanted by their mothers and/ or abandoned by their American fathers, with many forced to grow up on the streets, ostracised by Vietnamese society and facing discrimination and prejudice decades later. I appreciated the way the author didn’t excuse the behaviour of Dan or other American soldiers, but did put their actions in context. I also really appreciated the way Phong was not a victim of the circumstances of his birth. He’s a fully rounded character with a loving family, a love for music, a talent for carpentry and a meaningful life. Early on I was a little worried that the plot stands were going to tie up too neatly and conveniently. I needn’t have worried. The ending is certainly satisfying but it wasn’t an unrealistic fairytale ending, not every question was answered, and the author managed to throw in an unexpected yet believable twist. This is a beautifully told story, true to Vietnamese culture and experience. It highlights the experience of biracial Amerasians born as a result of the war, including the discrimination they faced from both sides and the difficulties of parents and their children reuniting, even when both parties were willing. That it is based on aspects of many real life stories the author was told as part of her work towards a PhD adds to both its authenticity and poignancy.

Content Warnings

bookedbymadeline's review

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emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

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? It's complicated

5.0

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)

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