Dust Child by Nguyen Phan Que Mai

 

ABOUT

In 1969, sisters Trang and Quỳnh, desperate to help their parents pay off debts, leave their rural village and become “bar girls” in Sài Gòn, drinking, flirting (and more) with American GIs in return for money. As the war moves closer to the city, the once-innocent Trang gets swept up in an irresistible romance with a young and charming American helicopter pilot, Dan. Decades later, Dan returns to Việt Nam with his wife, Linda, hoping to find a way to heal from his PTSD and, unbeknownst to her, reckon with secrets from his past.

At the same time, Phong—the son of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman—embarks on a search to find both his parents and a way out of Việt Nam. Abandoned in front of an orphanage, Phong grew up being called “the dust of life,” “Black American imperialist,” and “child of the enemy,” and he dreams of a better life for himself and his family in the U.S.

Past and present converge as these characters come together to confront decisions made during a time of war—decisions that force them to look deep within and find common ground across race, generation, culture, and language. Suspenseful, poetic, and perfect for readers of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing, Dust Child tells an unforgettable and immersive story of how those who inherited tragedy can redefine their destinies through love, hard-earned wisdom, compassion, courage, and joy.

My Thoughts

Amazing!!!

This author definitely knows how to write a story that would evoke every single emotion out of you. Her writing is also very educational and informative at least in my view because after reading The Mountains Sing and now Dust Child I now have a greater appreciation for the casualties of the Vietnam war.

In Dust Child we meet several characters the most notable Phong who we learn early on, simply by his appearance that he is what they call an Ameriasian. His dream was to go to the US for a better life and to uncover who his birth parents were. This book focuses Phong's struggles and he had many.

We also meet Dan an ex soldier who has a secret that has been haunting him his entire life. Dan has PTSD, but he also had a secret involving a young Vietnamese women named Trang aka Kim that he withheld from his wife Linda.

This book was well written. This story had an element of everything, sorrow, pain and even joy. Every emotion you can feel you will in this book. I highly recommend this.

Brooklyn by Tracy Brown

 

About:

Tracy Brown crafts a tale about a master manipulator and serial survivor, who will scorch earth to get what she wants. The question isn’t who murdered her; the question is who wouldn’t?

Brooklyn Melody James has finally gotten the punishment she deserves after leaving a web of lies, heartache, and betrayal behind her. As her life slips away, Brooklyn remembers the events that shaped her into the cold, calculating creature she became.

Brooklyn learned the art of hustling from her parents who used the church to get money. Idolizing her father and despising her mother, Brooklyn’s determined to be the type of woman who makes her own rules. When her back’s up against the wall, she sacrifices her family, takes the burnt offering that remains, and runs away. In NYC, young Brooklyn charms her way into the inner circle of hustlers and stick-up kids, learning tricks along the way. She catches the eye of a major player in the drug game, Hassan, and they have a breathless love affair. Brooklyn becomes integrated into his operation, earning the trust of Hassan and his associates. But when she gets the keys to the kingdom, driven by unfettered ambition and a ruthless desire to survive, Brooklyn snatches the pot of gold, leaving bitter retribution promises behind her.

From DC to Maryland, Brooklyn burns bridges and breaks hearts. What she doesn't realize is that someone is prepared to end her reign of terror. As she faces her killer and her fate, Brooklyn’s stunned that justice comes from the least likely place.

My Thoughts

I have been a Gillian Flynn fan since reading both Gone Girl and Dark Places. Sharp Objects did not disappoint at all.

Camille Preaker was a journalist with a PAST. A past that she sought to get far away from by living and working in Chicago. A story about the mysterious and gruesome death of two little girls in her home town of Wind Gap made her end up back HOME. A place where she had no desire to go back to.

Camille's return home was not a welcome sight for her mother Adora with whom she shared a very strained relationship. Upon returning and meeting her half sister Amma, Camille soon realized that everything in Wind Gap is not as they seem. Something was amiss...When the truth is revealed however, only the strong will survive. Meanwhile Camille had many demons that she grappled with.

This story was dark, emotional with some level of trauma. Camille, Amma and Adora's characters were do complex but the author really brought them to life.

This was a well written book. Definitely a MUST read.

Book Review: Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

 ABOUT:

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. 

For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims — a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

My Thoughts 

I have been a Gillian Flynn fan since reading both Gone Girl and Dark Places. Sharp Objects did not disappoint at all.

Camille Preaker was a journalist with a PAST. A past that she was intent on getting away from by living and working in Chicago. A story about the mysterious and gruesome death of two little girls in her home town of Wind Gap made her end up back HOME. A place where she had no desire to return to.

Camille's return home was not a welcome sight for her mother Adora with whom she shared a very strained relationship. Upon returning and meeting her half sister Amma, Camille soon realized that everything in Wind Gap is not as they seem. Something was amiss...When the truth is revealed however, only the strong will survive. Meanwhile Camille had many demons that she grappled with.

This story was dark, emotional with some level of trauma. Camille, Amma and Adora's characters were do complex but the author really brought them to life.

This was a well written book. Definitely a MUST read.

Book Review: The Locked Door by Freida Mc Fadden

 

About:

Some doors are locked for a reason…

While eleven-year-old Nora Davis was up in her bedroom doing homework, she had no idea her father was killing women in the basement.

Until the day the police arrived at their front door.

Decades later, Nora’s father is spending his life behind bars, and Nora is a successful surgeon with a quiet, solitary existence. Nobody knows her father was a notorious serial killer. And she intends to keep it that way.

Then Nora discovers one of her young female patients has been murdered. In the same unique and horrific manner that her father used to kill his victims.

Somebody knows who Nora is. Somebody wants her to take the fall for this unthinkable crime. But she’s not a killer like her father. The police can’t pin anything on her.

As long as they don’t look in her basement.

My Thoughts

This was another page turner by Mc Fadden. This, like the two I read before is full of suspense and jaw dropping twists.

"Locked Doors are never good." Nora knows that all too well. What she discovered in the basement of her home at age 11, changed her life forever and her relationship with her father Aaron Nearling (who as it turned out, was leading a double life.)

Twenty six years later, Nora, a doctor, is intent on keeping the past in the past. Her past soon catches up with her with a strange chain of events. It lead her to question is someone knew who she was? Or what her father did all those years ago.

In piecing everything together, readers are taken down a rough path to uncover the truth. Let me tell you though, the revelations will leave you shook. I was again very impressed with everything in this story.

I recommend this.