Really gorgeous reads like poetry. Vuong has a beautiful way with words. Easily 5 stars. This was on my to be read pile for a while and was not disappointed

Intense, impassioned, tidily themed, poetic, this book lives up to its reputation. It speaks of love and sadness across time and continents, on top of the immigrant’s tale of alienation, confusion and the search for identity. Threading homosexuality into that mix has become more familiar recently, but Vuong doesn’t disappoint in his revelatory account of exploring sexuality for the first time.
For all its spareness, there’s a vivid quality to the narration, almost cinematic in its scenes. A fine, bold piece of work.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this title. I'd previously read Vuong's poetry, and follow his generous lessons on IG, so I was prepared for his dreamlike, metaphoric & poetic style. That said, it still took me a while to drop my preconceived notions of how a novel should be structured, and to lean into the dreamlike quality of his writing. I'm glad I stuck with it, this book was so moving and beautiful.

There's not much to add to the critical acclaim given to this extraordinary novel. I was completely blown away.
I found the narrative structure which weave in and out through our narrator's past and present to be fascinating. Vuong has an uncanny ability to show how our histories (and our families' histories) never fail to affect our present constant. A truly wonderful novel.

WOW. Just a brilliant, breathtaking work that explores race, identity, the love between a mother and a son. This book is a powerhouse of a novel, and I'm more than happy to get copies for our collection and to recommend it to our readers.