Reviews tagging 'War'

Quando le montagne cantano by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

139 reviews

thepassivebookworm's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War

Moderate: Child death, Death, Rape, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

crys_tel's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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This book has everything, historical background that extends over 5 decades, strongly developed characters, fairly enthralling plot and very deep and complex reflections. Nguyen Phan Qué Mai is very eloquent and graceful in her writing which puts a nice bow on the hole thing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Grief, Colonisation, War

helaylay's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Medical content

andreinavhernandez98's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, War

Moderate: Child death, Rape, Abortion

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Xenophobia

isobelk_18's review against another edition

4.5

emotional sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, War

babyox143's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War

lindsaywalsvick's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Rape, Murder

bananspagat's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Colonisation, War

justinegrace's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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I just finished The Mountains Sing for my bookclub, and I listened on audio but also read the paperback along with it. I’m so glad I listened because hearing the family names, songs, and Vietnamese phrases gave this book an extra layer that I wouldn’t have gotten just reading it on my own and wondering how to pronounce what is written on the page. This story is hard, very hard to read in places but there is so much love and strength throughout the book—and it’s told beautifully. This is the second novel I’ve read written by a poet and the turns of phrases and writing are so lyrical and visual that it makes the reading experience so rich. I also loved the descriptions of food—though hunger is a large part of the suffering the characters go through. 
This is historical fiction at its best I think—it’s made me realize how little I know about the Viet Nam war, and now I’ll be doing a deep dive into that. Highly recommend this for those who love multigenerational sagas and strong women characters—though keep in mind this is a book about the ravages of war on a family, so it’s going to be tough, but it’s worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Torture, Violence, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail

artemy_se's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional hopeful informative sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Miscarriage, Violence, Murder, War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation

Minor: Rape, Death of parent