A review by nerdatlas5
Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

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? Yes

3.5

It was an interesting read. The whole books is about how secrets and trauma linger between generations and follow Ann and her mom healing their relationship after Grandma's death,  with little inserts from Grandma's ghost as she tells us the secrets that they will never fully know. They are all messy people, but the book has us and them make peace with that. I'd also call the book light on plot. The book moves forward as time moves forward for the characters and the greatest influence on the characters is simply that passage of time. This isn't to say nothing happened, but reading this kinda just felt like floating along through almost a year of Ann's life. Thao Thai does a great job threading the themes of the book throughout the characters' arcs and the plot of the book

The shifting narratives did get in the way a little by halting the momentum of the previous pov, but not enough to make me truly dislike it.
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