Beautifully written saga of three Vietnamese women- grandmother, mother and daughter. The history of their relationships, secrets and lives are revealed. I enjoyed this book.

Beautiful debut. I had the pleasure of hearing Thao Thai speak about her book at our local library. It's lyrical, thoughtful, and engrossing. I'm excited to see more from Thai in the future!

Great debut novel about 3 generations of a Vietnamese/American family of women with complicated family dynamics. Rotating through each woman's point of view, you tie together a complex family that is strung with love throughout. To me, the book seemed to switch around 70% from character-focus to house-focus, whereas I would have liked to see more go on for the present day characters. The house-focus provided a strong sense of place.

I enjoyed this book and I could not put it down. I really enjoyed the characters and the writing was really well done. It made you want to keep reading.

I was interested by the premise of this novel, but did not think the execution of it held up. The writing quality was weak, in my opinion, and it did not draw me in to the story.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A touching story of three generations of Vietnamese-American women set in Florida. The story is told from each woman's perspective, even from the grave after the grandmother dies. The women have much in common though their lives are so different and it is interesting to learn this as you move through the book. The story is beautifully written with a strong sense of place. I recommend this novel.

This is a sweeping generational saga mainly centered around Ann and her mom and their relationship with Minh (Ann’s grandmother). There are flashbacks to Minh’s life in Vietnam before immigrating to the US.

The Viet book crew is very divided on this one, but I loved it. As always, I don't know why I held off for so long, but I'm here now. While I'm not always one for purple prose, I find it weaves through the story beautifully. I highlighted many passages in my bookstagram.

In the same vein that The Fortunes of Jaded Women highlights three generations of Vietnamese American women, so too does this novel. These women aren't the most likable, but for me, they certainly are relatable. Minh is the matriarch of the family, and while she doesn't have the best relationship with her daughter, Huơng, she finds closeness with her granddaughter, Ann. Huơng and Ann do not speak, and we learn why later on in the story.

If you read Central Places, a book I loved, but is also divisive to many, Ann reminds me a lot of Audrey. There's the new upgraded boyfriend. There's also the hometown boy. This isn't Sweet Home Alabama.

The imagery is vast, and I imagine confusing at times. When Minh passes, we still get POV chapters from her. If I hadn't read Wandering Souls, which makes use of the same motif, I may have been more confused.

There are some reveals in the last 20% that may make or break the novel for you. I found them a long time coming, so I enjoyed them, but I was also warned about them.

I don't enjoy every Vietnamese diaspora story, but I greatly enjoyed this one. My dad talks about leaving Vietnam every so often, but I've only heard his full story once. I heard my mom's once, from someone else. I used to want to coax it out of her, but I realize now that I'm not entitled to her story. One of the book crew said this story was too much trauma porn for her, and I get that. I can't take too many trauma stories, either. But if you can handle it, and understand it, there is something to be learned and digested here.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Thanks to Mariner Books and BookClubGirl for an early reads widget for Banyan Moon by Thao Thai.

This is a beautiful multi-generational story of mothers and daughters set spanning the 1960s in Vietnam to the present in the Florida swamps. I can see why it was a Read with Jenna pick! I listened to most of the book, and the audio was fantastic.

I really liked how this was a family drama with a partial historical setting. The complexities of the characters and the way she wrote the relationships between mothers and daughters are impressive, especially for a debut novel!

BANYAN MOON by Thao Thai

Summary, per @ storygraph: “A sweeping, evocative debut novel following three generations of Vietnamese American women reeling from the death of their matriarch, revealing the family's inherited burdens, buried secrets, and unlikely love stories. Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, Banyan Moon is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance.”

My thoughts:
I was instantly hooked by the premise of this book. I love the dynamic and nuance of an intergenerational story, and I thought this element was the highlight of the book. Thai did an excellent job of defining each woman individually while balancing the interwoven and complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships.

I struggled with the pacing of this book. The middle 60% of the book felt like it lagged, but the introduction was engaging and the ending of the book wrapped up quickly.

Even with its faults I think this book has a wide appeal - intergenerational mother-daughter storylines, multiple POVs with flashbacks, and a dash of mystery and romance.

I think this author shows a lot of potential and will certainly look forward to picking up her work in the future!

Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This story is told from 3 different perspectives. Ann when she is a young woman, her mother Hu’o’ng when Ann is a young girl, and the grandmother Minh when she is elderly and dying. Ann and her mother have a strained relationship but Ann and her grandmother, Minh, were very close. Ann and Hu’o’ng come back to the home they grew up in when Minh is dying and stay in the house together, in Florida, after she dies. The story continues and is set around the relationship building between Ann and her mother and other events in both of their lives.
I sometimes have a difficult time with stories that are based around the mundanity of life and explanations or dissections of relationships, but the multi perspectives and the events that took place through out the book kept me highly engaged. The story telling made me want to know more about the characters as I was reading and had me rooting for them all to get to a place that was happy and worked for everyone. I think that this was a story that had a happily ever after without it being a fairy tale version of that. It was a realistic happily ever after, where it wasn’t necessarily perfect but it worked for everyone involved. I would definitely recommend this book. It felt different than most books I’ve read but I really enjoyed it.

This was an interesting debut. I enjoyed the southern gothic vibes and the Florida setting. I liked the female characters, but I grew tired of the constant "we don't need a man to make it" theme that was weaved throughout. Especially when the characters kept making the same mistakes over and over. Hopefully they will work things out for the next generation. It was a strong start overall, and I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for review.

Thanks to the Mariner Books and Book Club Girl for an early read widget via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
Oh my - I can absolutely understand why Read with Jenna chose Banyan Moon for her July book club pick! This multigenerational family saga alternates chapters between Ann, her mother, and her grandmother who grew up in a small town in Vietnam before immigrating to Florida. It’s a story about relationships - both romantic and familial, especially the complicated connections between women and their mothers. I was swept away with this story - listening to the first half (which was helpful for the pronunciations) and reading the rest via ebook. I learned about Vietnamese culture, and I did not know that banyan trees, which I’ve admired in Hawaii and Key West, are invasive. In general, I just loved the book and could not put it down. I recommend this to other fans of family drama and women’s fiction - and I can’t wait for more from the author after this stunning debut!

This generational story of three Vietnamese women takes place mostly in Florida - where the 3 women live at their home called the Banyan House. Ann (the youngest) decides to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan for college to get away from her family and more specifically, her mother. When something tragic happens, Ann heads back home to be with her family - however she has her own secrets. This story had me drawn in from the beginning. I appreciated the real dynamics between the three women. This explores themes of family, love, loss, abuse, how to be happy, how to do things for others and how to take care of yourself. I loved this story and would highly recommend to anyone who loves family dramas - especially those with a unique perspective and voice.

Grateful for the gifted copy of this from Netgalley and Mariner Books, but sad I just don't think this one is for me.

DNF 34% - couldn't get into the multi-POV writing style, but I think it's particularly just the multi-generational family stories that tend to not hold my attention very well.

I did think the prose was beautiful, and that it has very poignant and relevant / important themes. I also love the representation. Perhaps this is one I would come back to if it stays on my mind for a while.

I loved this family drama about three generations of Vietnamese-American women. Thai's writing is lyrical and she creates such distinct characters - not just in Minh, her daughter Huong and her granddaughter Ann but also in the Banyan House, the crumbling old estate where many of their family secrets are buried. The relationships between the women felt so real and it was emotional to read about how motherhood changed each of them and the sacrifices they made for their children. Just a beautiful debut!

Thanks to Mariner Books for the copy to review.

A beautiful story of three generations of women of Vietnamese descent (2 born in Vietnam, 1 born in the US). This story is told in 3 voices with chapters split between the grandmother, mother, and (adult) daughter. The love between these women is strong but complicated. As the story begins, the daughter is called home for the funeral of her beloved grandmother. She and her mother have to come to terms with the death of the matriarch of the family and their own complicated relationship. The chapters flowed seamlessly between the different voices. It wasn't hard to follow. I loved all three stories and the book ended leaving me wanting more from each of the women. This is a debut novel and I hope we hear more from Thao Thai.

My thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance copy. My opinion is my own.

I was immersed in this family saga, which focuses on a Vietnamese-American grandmother, mother, and daughter living in a crumbling mansion in Florida.

Daughter Ann Tran comes back to the Banyan house, after her mother lets her know that Minh, her grandmother, has passed away. Ann's already in an emotional tailspin, after discovering she's pregnant and her boyfriend had an affair. Once she's back, old-simmering tensions rise between Ann and her mother, Hoang. Their experiences are also occasionally commented on by the ghost of Minh, who's still hanging around the Banyan House.

Aside from one "big" event, this narrative is mostly the day-to-day life of these woman and flashbacks to the past, where arguments arose or plot points (one major one) were put in motion that affected things in present day. I love family stories like this--so specific and filled with few, but richly drawn characters. All three of these women are complex and their pasts and present interactions with each other (and a compelling family secret) are the sparks that keep the story and action moving. I also appreciated how micro-aggressions they face as Vietnamese-Americans are organically woven into an already dramatic narrative.

If you love stories about women, their complexities, and how love, family, and heritage propel their lives, this book is a great choice.

BANYAN MOON by Thao Thai is a novel about Ann, a Vietnamese American illustrator dating a successful white boyfriend, Noah, when suddenly three things happen: Her grandmother, Minh, passes away back home in Florida; Ann discovers that she’s pregnant; and Ann finds out that Noah has been cheating on her. Ann goes home to Florida to deal with all three of these things, and the novel is told in alternating perspectives by Ann, Minh, and Huơng (Ann’s mother).

What I loved:
⋆ A Vietnamese American family in a Southern Gothic vibes book? Yes, please! (Though I wish it had leaned even harder into those vibes)
⋆ The triangulation of the grandmother-mother-daughter dynamics was refreshing and riveting - this was very well done
⋆ The central question of how one grapples with the tainted legacy of a loved one was complex and fascinating
⋆ Thai gives such texture and color to the setting

What didn’t work as well:
⋆ The pacing and tone were somewhat uneven
⋆ A couple of the storylines didn’t feel believable to me
⋆ A pivotal scene has a gaping plot hole, and the impact and gravity of that scene was glossed over
⋆ The book ended up feeling a bit predictable

Of the many second-generation-Asian-American-immigrant-daughter-with-white-boyfriend-coming-home-to-regroup books that I’ve read, this has an interesting angle, so I think it has more to do with me as a reader being saturated to my ears in this niche genre that I didn’t find it as breathtaking as most other reviewers. I’m still glad I read it for the grandmother-mother-daughter knot of yarn, which I think was this book’s major strength, and I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy exploring thorny multigenerational familial relationships.

If you’re a fan of the writing in Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s DUST CHILD combined with the vibes of Violet Kupersmith’s BUILD YOUR HOUSE AROUND MY BODY and a sprinkling of Nicholas Sparks’ THE NOTEBOOK but in a Vietnamese American immigrant fam contemporary fiction setting, check this one out! Thank you @marinerbooks for the gifted copy and @netgalley for the eARC. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This was a book about mothers and daughters with a bit of mystery thrown in. I loved the descriptions of the house and how it represented the lives of the three women. The characters were distinct and their stories are told in alternating chapters. Well written and made me miss my mom while appreciating my daughter that much more. A mother's love is universal.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley