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Introductions
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By Diane , Armchair Tour Guide · 3131 posts · 5224 views
last updated Sep 12, 2025 09:46AM
What Members Thought
The cruelest walls are made of glass, Ma. I had the urge to break through the pane, and leap out the window.
This just wasn’t for me. I understand why people are giving it good reviews, but I didn’t have that same relationship to the words.
There is a lot of poetry here. This is not a novel in verse, but an extended prose poem. There is a vague story hidden inside but I had a hard time staying engaged. I often wished he had written this as a book of poems, leaving out all of the extraneous bit ...more
Pure poetry. 🖤
Some parts are well weaved, some are loosely scattered like half-remembered half-forgotten episodes.
It is a confession-like story, some in a letter form and some are just jumpy raw story about a boy who recollect the memory of his mother and grandmother and how their life as Vietnam refugees stranded in America, while at the same time gather his courage to unfold about his sexuality and his identity as a gay.
This is one of the best books I've read in 2022 ...more
It is a confession-like story, some in a letter form and some are just jumpy raw story about a boy who recollect the memory of his mother and grandmother and how their life as Vietnam refugees stranded in America, while at the same time gather his courage to unfold about his sexuality and his identity as a gay.
This is one of the best books I've read in 2022 ...more
Had such high hopes for this book based off trusted recommendations and the author blurbs on the cover. The first part beautiful and haunting and lyrical and a glimpse into a world different. The matriarchal mental health, escaping war-torn Vietnam, teenage gay love story among opiate addiction farmland, coming of age as a first generation immigrant.
But I couldn’t cope with the style of the novel: the unrelenting word-salad that weaves through the non-linear story. It felt as if the author had ...more
But I couldn’t cope with the style of the novel: the unrelenting word-salad that weaves through the non-linear story. It felt as if the author had ...more
I wanted to like this but just couldn't get into it. The author is poet, and this book is really well written. There were a number of sentences and paragraphs that really took my breath away they were so beautiful, but I found the story and character development lacking and I never felt invested in the book.
...more
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