As you can tell by the synopsis, this is a powerful and complex story of Vietnamese women. The first part of the story is focused on Tran, Trieu, and Nhi, the daughters of Xuan, a Vietnamese immigrant living in the US with her family. The author captures the dynamic between children and their immigrant parents. She also addresses the immigrant experience in a fully fleshed out way with all vulnerabilities laid bare.

The story then dives deeper into Xuan’s history, which helps to understand her better. I’ll never forget the story behind her beauty pageant trophy.

Last, the story addresses the ancestors of the family living under French colonial rule. Daughters of the New Year is very much a story within a story within a story. It’s a thoughtful exploration of intergenerational trauma (I love seeing this featured in books more and more because it is so important). E.M. Tran has weaved a complex, dynamic story of strong women, and I cannot wait to read what’s next from her.

"A captivating debut novel that moves backwards in time to trace five generations of Vietnamese mothers and daughters, drawing on Vietnamese zodiac astrology to chart the fateful events of their lives."

This novel was absolutely beautiful! the descriptions and the relationships between the mothers and daughters were brilliantly told and will be remembered for a long time to come!

I love reading multigenerational stories, and was drawn in right away with THE DAUGHTERS OF THE NEW YEAR, a captivating debut novel that moves backwards in time to trace five generations of Vietnamese mothers and daughters, drawing on Vietnamese zodiac astrology to chart the fateful events of their lives.

Narrated by Lulu Lam, I listened to the book as an audio format, and I really enjoyed this story!

There were so many themes explored, including generational trauma, the power of perseverance and a will to survive, and I thought the inclusion of the zodiac astrology was a fascinating element to the storyline.

*many thanks to Harper Audio and netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Daughters of the New Year is a multigenerational family saga that left me wanting more depth than breadth. I'm typically a fan of this genre but in this case, I really enjoyed spending time with the three daughters at the beginning and would've preferred the entire book be about them. Nhi's story in particular was fascinating, I just wanted more.

I loved this book a lot more than I expected to. I love the layers of stories going back generations, how the book rewinds to fast forward a little, and repeats the process with each story. Also, I think there's something here about the immigrant story and generations of third-culture kids versus just the first generation immigrant experience. One of my favorites of the year.

Daughters of the New Year had a lot of potential. I was very interested in the initial characters and wanted to know what happened to them. I liked learning about Vietnamese culture and astrology. The book moves backward in time with different ancestors being introduced in the story, but it felt confusing and it got hard to follow.

I thought the narrator was great and I found the different voices and accents helped me to figure out what character was speaking.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free audiobook.

I seemed to have waited too long with this one. I remember somewhat enjoying it while reading but can’t for the life of me remember exactly what I enjoyed about it and many details in the story. A multi-generational story that focuses on the relationships between mothers and daughters. This was about a Vietnamese family living in the US and according to their mother, everything that has been done to them or anything they do revolves around astrology and their zodiac signs. It was very interesting learning about the Vietnamese zodiac signs as they differ from other cultures. The writing was beautiful, but besides all of this …. I can’t remember much. Next time I’ll have to write the review as I am reading or as soon as I am finished.

4.5 stars. Promising literary fiction debut perfect for fans of Nancy Jooyoun Kim’s THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE, Yaa Gyasi’s HOMEGOING, and Min Jin Lee’s PACHINKO. This saga across 5 generations of Vietnamese mothers, daughters & sisters starts in New Orleans and works backwards through Bachelor-style reality shows, Hurricane Katrina, immigration, war, and colonialism.

Tran’s lucid and evocative prose explores generational trauma, beauty, survival, and what we turn to in the face of abuse, danger & unimaginable risk. The Vietnamese Zodiac is one such outlet and weaves together the lives through the generations. Is suffering inevitable or could it be avoided, overcome if we just paid closer attention to the signs?

I read this book in advance for my fall reading guide and while it’s not quite right for the guide, I think a lot of readers will be interested in this one. This is a multigenerational family saga that moves backwards in time throughout the generations to explore the lives of a vastly different group of women. The book begins in New Orleans in the present day and we meet Xuan Trung, the matriarch of a Vietnamese immigrant family and the mother of three willful grown daughters. The book both alternates points of view and uses a nonlinear timeline to explore the daughters’ childhoods, Xuan’s life in Saigon, and extends further back into history to give us a sense of what makes this family who they are. There’s a great deal of humor and heart in this book, and while the structure is nonlinear, the storytelling is straightforward and compelling. Tran also includes a timeline of events to help follow along, which I great appreciated. I really enjoyed this book and think fans of Pachinko, Inheritors, and The House of Spirits will want to add this to their fall TBRs.

The narrative leans heavily upon the Chinese zodiac, and how when you are born can dictate not only the progress of your life, but your choices as well. The first section follows the Xuan Trung and her daughters as they try to make their mark upon the world. The second section gives us small glimpses into the the Trung women who came before Xuan and her daughters, and we see how the choices of our ancestors influence the choices we make as well.

This story started out very strong. I enjoyed the stories of the Trung sisters, and found the style of going backwards in time - telling the story of their female ancestors - intriguing. I enjoyed the story focused on Vietnam's history and the people replaced by the war. However, the further back the author took us, the more ghosts she introduced, and I seemed to loose focus at that point. For me it took the book from a solid 5 stars to 3. I will look out for more books by E.M. Tran though.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc and the chance to review this book.

An incredibly personal and moving debut about a multigenerational Vietnamese American family. I really enjoyed this story about mothers and daughters, sisterhood and immigrant life. Told from multiple POVs and across different timelines, this book is perfect for fans of stories like Peach blossom spring by Melissa Fu or authors like Kim Thuy. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review. I also really enjoyed the audiobook narration for this one too.