Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

7 reviews

meganpbell's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Through luminous and enchanting fairy tale retellings, the young American-born Tiến connects with his mother, who emigrated from Vietnam, as he struggles to come out to her. What a thoroughly enchanting, quietly moving, and engagingly beautiful tale, touching on so many aspects of the queer and immigrant experiences in such powerful and transformative ways!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

gimmiiie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. 

Would recommend this for any one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Terminal illness, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Outing, and War

abookwormspov's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

erebus53's review against another edition

emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

As someone who is a reader of queer and migrant fiction, and reinterpreted fairytales, this was a really cool way of exploring some issues.

This is beautifully illustrated with super clean lines and a subtle colour palette. It's really easy on the eyes. The author's notes after the story fleshed out a lot of the ideas that he had developing the characters and the influences that were integrated to give each character, time and country a unique sense of place.  The ballet scenes gave me Revolutionary Girl: Utena vibes. 

This is a story of hope, that explores what it is like to find belonging when you are between worlds. It's a way to find words when your language doesn't quite match up with your deepest feelings, and though it's told through shared fairytale stories, these serve as a starting point for understanding real life. 

I'm going to try and convince my daughter to read this one because I think it might be right up her alley... and isn't sharing stories what it's all about?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Terminal illness, Blood, and Death of parent

haileylouise's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Beautifully executed, from the writing and retelling of classic fairy-tails to the artwork, I could not have loved a story more. This especially hits home as a southeast asian queer who struggled with coming out to their parents, plus with the added elements of religion playing into it. I would 1000% recommend everyone to read this, especially queer pocs!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Outing

thevampiremars's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

An enchanting story that weaves together narratives of the past, the present, and fairy tales. The Magic Fish broke my heart and lovingly stitched it back together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Grief, and Outing

Moderate: Animal death, Terminal illness, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, and War

laurajones's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Terminal illness, Murder, and War

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Colonisation