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Feb 17, 2019ashleymsinger rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The thing about this book is... it's really good and really smart. While a single narrative, it presents a non-biased multi-perspective look at Vietnam, in war and refugee life in America and continued life in America for any Vietnamese American or otherwise. Yet the other thing about this book is... it took me a while to get into it. Maybe it's smarter than my normal reading speed. I started it 10 days before my book club on it.. and after a week of constantly picking it up and bringing it to my reading hideouts, I was but 40 pages in. My mind just didn't tag in right away, I think a lot of that has to do with the format and style in confession form vs any clarified dialogue, spacing, paragraphs, etc. It works for the book but it took me until about page 190 to get into it in a 'don't set it down' way... and page 190 arrived 2 books and a month after book club. (oops, only 2 of the 8 women had read it by book club's date). But after that point I finished the second 190 pages in 2 snowy days; it sheds a lot of light and doesn't shy away from ensuring the lead narrator, character and country is idolized, rather equalized. Americans often create or are taught one way and narrative, and there are so many lines and quotes from this book I'd have highlighted had I read it on my kindle. This book is a solid read and one Americans should pick up... it has me looking into much more beyond the pages, being a white American born after the Vietnam war.