At its heart, this memoir is a celebration of the author's mother, who passed away after a botched plastic surgery when the author was very young. This is pitched as an investigation into the details behind her unnecessary death, but is so much more--this is a story about an immigrant, refugee family with big dreams, an incredible work ethic, and a strong sense of spirituality and connection. I learned a TON from this memoir, and I appreciate the author's vulnerability and meticulous research into her own family history.
My only issue here was due to organization, I think. I found that at times this felt like two memoirs--one family history, and one personal exploration. Arguably those things are always linked, and the author does tie anecdotes back to each other in meaningful ways to make those connections clear, but for every beautifully-woven marriage of family and personal growth and discovery there's an equally confusing story that feels tangential or shoehorned in. Don't get me wrong, it's all interesting, I just feel like there this probably could have been 100 pages shorter and still packed the punch it did. This took me on a journey and taught me a lot, but I got fatigued by the 'side quests' along the way.
All in all, if you love a story of refugee families and their growth and love and relationships, this is for you. If you love mouthwatering descriptions of Vietnamese foods, this is for you. If you love a strong yet complicated mother-daughter relationship that transverses time and space and life and death, this is for you.
I will note, I feel like this would be a great read in audiobook format. There is so much Vietnamese in here that I wish my 'mind voice' could pronounce while I was reading, but since I couldn't I missed that layer of the writing. I could see myself re-reading this in audio format in the future solely for the impact of hearing what the language adds to the telling of the story.
My only issue here was due to organization, I think. I found that at times this felt like two memoirs--one family history, and one personal exploration. Arguably those things are always linked, and the author does tie anecdotes back to each other in meaningful ways to make those connections clear, but for every beautifully-woven marriage of family and personal growth and discovery there's an equally confusing story that feels tangential or shoehorned in. Don't get me wrong, it's all interesting, I just feel like there this probably could have been 100 pages shorter and still packed the punch it did. This took me on a journey and taught me a lot, but I got fatigued by the 'side quests' along the way.
All in all, if you love a story of refugee families and their growth and love and relationships, this is for you. If you love mouthwatering descriptions of Vietnamese foods, this is for you. If you love a strong yet complicated mother-daughter relationship that transverses time and space and life and death, this is for you.
I will note, I feel like this would be a great read in audiobook format. There is so much Vietnamese in here that I wish my 'mind voice' could pronounce while I was reading, but since I couldn't I missed that layer of the writing. I could see myself re-reading this in audio format in the future solely for the impact of hearing what the language adds to the telling of the story.