Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

19 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring lighthearted 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

4.75

Trung Le Nguyen you have a fan in me for life for the art style alone. It felt like I was watching a film. It's so vibrant! For life!!!!!

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tinysierra's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Beautiful storytelling.

I loved the use of color!
Past = yellow
Present = red
Fairytale = blue

If you like The Magic Fish, you might also like Lunar New Year Love Story which features Vietnamese characters and also uses color in an interesting way. 

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tinkeringcheck's review against another edition

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challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

Beautiful and surprisingly layered intergenerational story woven between fairy tales and a real family, but I personally should've minded the content warnings. All of the fairy tales have a more Grimm than Disney edge (and the author's note in the end about their influences was fascinating), but one in particular went pretty dark with animal death, cannibalism, abuse, and murder. Still, the art and story are gorgeously done even if it didn't end up being for me.

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hickorynut's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was an exquisitely illustrated story of a modern family telling stories that combined elements of Vietnamese folklore with the stories of Cinderella and the Little Mermaid. Tien's mother Helen is a Vietnamese immigrant who uses reading out loud to help her converse with her son growing up in America with English as his primary language. The stories of both Cinderella and the Little Mermaid reflect the journeys of each modern family member and the family's immigration story.

The mythological elements were stunning and had a twisted darkness to them. At times I did wish there was a little more depth and emotional processing by all the characters, modern and mythological. But overall the stories were beautifully woven and a lovely read.

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sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition

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

4.5


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rafacolog's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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mbrogs2024's review against another edition

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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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shelvesofivy's review against another edition

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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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rickireadss's review against another edition

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4.0

this was a cute little graphic novel! i will say the narrative was a little difficult to follow at first because i wasn’t sure who was speaking nor where it was going, but overall i enjoyed it. 

⚠️: homophobia, grief, death, death of parent, religious bigotry, blood, cannibalism, animal cruelty

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abookwormspov's review against another edition

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emotional 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? No

3.75


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