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Daughters of the New Year by E.M. Tran
Xuan and her children never talked about this dance. They did it over and over again, playing their parts faithfully and acting as though the other had not transgressed. While I appreciate the conceit of Daughters of the New Year, its execution did not win me over. The summary may be somewhat at fault, as…
1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2.5 STARS, 20th century, Adult, asian american, asian diaspora, astrology, beauty contest, belonging, bullying, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, Daughters of the New Year, DEATH, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), drama, E.M. Tran, f/f side, family, female authors, generational trauma, HISTORICAL FICTION, history, intergenerational, interwoven narratives, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, MEMORY, migration/immigration, Mississippi, motherhood, mothers & daughters, New Orleans, OCD, polyphonic, published in 2022, queer side characters, read in 2022, reality shows, SISTERS, snapshots, Southern America, trauma, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author, womanhood/femininity -
Ru by Kim Thúy
I was born in the shadow of skies adorned with fireworks, decorated with garlands of light, shot through with rockets and missiles. The purpose of my birth was to replace lives that had been lost. My life’s duty was to prolong that of my mother. Ru is a short read that blurs the line between…
1970s, 1980s, 1st pov, 2000s, 20th century, 3 STARS, Adult, autofiction, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, canada, CHILDHOOD, cold tone, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, DEATH, female authors, HISTORICAL FICTION, introspective, Kim Thúy, language, LITERARY FICTION, lyrical prose, Malaysia, MEMORY, migration/immigration, motherhood, mothers & daughters, My reviews, neurodivergent side characters, Poverty, published in 2009, Quebec, read in 2022, reading, restrained prose, Ru, style over character, TRANSLATED FICTION, trauma, unnamed characters, unnamed narrator, Vietnam, vietnam war, vietnamese canadian author, vignettes, war -
Time Is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
I will begin this review with a disclaimer that will hopefully fend off Vuong devotees: I do not read a lot of poetry. In fact, one could say that in my 25 years on this earth I’ve barely read any poetry. The last collection I read was by Sylvia Plath back in 2014 (very angsty…
2.5 STARS, Adult, America, American, ANGST, arc, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, Contemporary, gay, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, male authors, mothers & sons, My reviews, Ocean Vuong, POETRY, published in 2022, purply prose, queer, read in 2021, reading, SEXUALITY, stylised prose, Time is a Mother, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author -
The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
“My American adolescence was filled with tales of woe like this, all of them proof of what my mother said, that we did not belong here. In a country where possessions counted for everything, we had no belongings except our stories.” The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen is a collection of short stories centring on…
1970s, 3 STARS, Adult, America, American, American dream, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, collection of short stories, Contemporary, conversational style, cultural dissonance, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), family, gay side characters, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, intergenerational, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, m/m side, male authors, migration/immigration, My reviews, PUBLISHED IN 2017, read in 2021, reading, short stories, social issues, The Refugees, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Vietnam, vietnam war, Vietnamese American Author -
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
“Sometimes you are erased before you are given the choice of stating who you are.” Ocean Vuong’s strikingly lyrical debut novel is a work of transient beauty. Within On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous there are many arresting passages that are, quite frankly, beautiful. At times this beauty derives from Vuong’s subject matter, at times it…
1st pov, 2000s, 3.25 stars, abuse, Adult, ALIENATION, America, American, autofiction, beauty, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, boyhood, coming of age, Connecticut, Contemporary, cultural dissonance, existentialism, family, first love, gay, growing up, intergenerational, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, lyrical prose, m/m, male authors, migration/immigration, mothers & sons, My reviews, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, POETRY, published in 2019, queer, read in 2021, reading, sex, style over character, trauma, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author -
Build Your House Around My Body by Violet Kupersmith
As per usual I was swayed by a pretty cover. I mean, just look at it! Anyway, as much as I wanted to like Build Your House Around My Body, it left me feeling rather underwhelmed. The narrative seems very much intent—hellbent even—on nauseating its readers, at times adopting a playful tone to do so.…
1940s, 1980s, 2.5 STARS, 2000s, 2010s, 3rd pov, arc, Build Your House Around My Body, confusing for the sake of being confusing, creepy setting, curses, dark humor, DEATH, f/f side, female authors, FOLKLORE, ghosts/spirits, grotesque, HISTORICAL FICTION, HORROR, interconnected stories, lgbtq+ side, loneliness, love triangle, missing persons, missing women, MYSTERY, netgalley, playful style, published in 2021, queer side characters, read in 2021, revenge, sexual assault/abuse/rape, Vietnam, vietnam war, Vietnamese American Author, Violet Kupersmith -
Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen
“How unrecognizable America had made them, she was thinking, all of them.” Subtle yet deeply evocative Things We Lost to the Water is a novel about belonging and displacement. In a similar fashion to Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists and Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth, Eric Nguyen’s novel does not adopt the traditional structure that characterises family sagas…
1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 20th century, 3.25 stars, 3rd pov, America, American, BOOK REVIEW, BOOK REVIEWS, Booklr, brothers, cultural dissonance, Eric Nguyen, family, FAMILY SAGA, FRANCE, gay, HIGH SCHOOL, HISTORICAL FICTION, language, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, LITERARY FICTION, loneliness, Longing, male authors, middle school, migration/immigration, mothers & sons, My reviews, New Orleans, published in 2021, read in 2021, reading, restrained prose, sea, SEXUALITY, Vietnam -
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Once upon a time…The Magic Fish is quite possibly one of the most beautiful, poignant, and awe-inspiring graphic novels I have ever read. The story takes places in 90s America and we follow Tiến, a young boy, who loves reading fairy tales with his parents. Tiến’s parents are refugees from Vietnam and cannot speak English…
1990s, 20th century, 5 STARS, America, American, beautiful artwork, curses, f/f side, FAIRY TALES, FOLKLORE, gay, Graphic Novels, lgbtq+, LGBTQ+ Author, MAGIC, male authors, mothers & sons, published in 2020, queer, read in 2021, RETELLINGS, SEXUALITY, story within a story, Storytelling, The Magic Fish, Trung Le Nguyen, unrequited love, Vietnam, Vietnamese American Author, YOUNG ADULT -
The Travelers by Regina Porter
The cast of characters and locations at the start of Regina Porter’s The Travelers is a tiny bit daunting as they promise to cover a far wider scope than your usual family saga. The Travelers explores the lives of characters who are either related, sometimes distantly, or connected in less obvious ways. Porter’s switches between…
1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 20th century, 4 STARS, abuse, ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, Adult, America, American, AMERICAN AUTHOR, Berlin, Brittany, CHILDHOOD, class, Contemporary, different styles (1st/2nd/3rd povs), f/f side, family, FAMILY SAGA, female authors, FRANCE, friendships, georgia, Germany, HISTORICAL FICTION, identity, interconnected stories, intergenerational, lesbian side characters, lgbtq+ side, LITERARY FICTION, MARRIAGE, MEMORY, new hampshire, NEW YORK, published in 2019, queer, RACE, rape, read in 2020, Regina Porter, sexual assault/abuse/rape, SOCIAL COMMENTARY, social issues, tennessee, terrific prose, The Travelers, travel, unrequited love, Vietnam, vietnam war, violence against women, war, war related ptsd, WWII -
The Lover by Marguerite Duras — book review
The Lover strikes me as little more than an exercise in literary masturbation. This novella is overwrought, self-indulgent, and ultimately insubstantial. Fooled by the promise of its first pages, I soon found myself irked by the narrator’s linguistic burps. With the exception of two or three characters, everyone else is nameless. Alienation is de rigueur.…
1 STAR, 1920s, 20th century, age gap, ALIENATION, bad love, BOOK REVIEWS, books i hate, CLASSICS, female authors, FRANCE, FRENCH, French author, Marguerite Duras, modern classics, navel gazing, Pedophelia, published in 1984, purply prose, read in 2020, ROMANCE, sex, SEXUALITY, style over character, The Lover, TRANSLATED FICTION, Vietnam