Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Quando le montagne cantano by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

3 reviews

marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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Lyrical and enchanting, The Mountains Sing tells the history of a whole country through the tale of two generations of women. A must read! Quê' Mai details a large part of the atrocities committed during the Vietnam war with painstaking care, covering everything from PTSD to the devastating impact of chemical warfare. At the same time, this story is filled with love, hope and compassion. The language is just beautiful and you can really tell that the author also writes poetry. The only issue I had with the book was that the pacing was a little off at times. The resolution came too quick, which undermined the build up that the two different time lines were supposed to set up. I think the book could have benefited from a few extra chapters, especially in Diêu Lan's perspective. My rating would be 4.5 stars if possible but will round up because I still really enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Colonisation, War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Miscarriage, Rape, Forced institutionalization

Minor: Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail

cerilouisereads's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cursing, Rape, Abortion, Alcohol, Colonisation

Minor: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization

menomica's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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This book is so eye-opening. I learned a lot about the Vietnam War and Vietnam in general. The book is constant tension and tragedy; You see on the ground how people were affected by the events of the war. It’s definitely not for everyone, it’s very dense and at times it drags, and the writing can be a bit stilted, but if you can sit down and allow yourself to feel the emotions of the Tram family, it’s very much worth it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Colonisation

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Slavery, Abortion