Em by Kim Thúy review: A story of loss and trauma
Em by Kim Thúy focuses on stories of loss and grief. At first the stories seem disjointed but they all come together in the end.
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of Em by Kim Thúy from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
I’ll admit that when I first started reading Em by Kim Thúy, I felt a little lost. The stories felt a little disjointed. That changed the more I worked through the sections and realized just how they combined together.
Even if they remained disjointed, they were still important. They all focused on grief and loss at one of the most horrendous times in history. Everything is set during the Vietnam War in Vietnam. This isn’t from the American viewpoint, either. It’s focused on the people of Vietnam during the time of Agent Orange.
Straight to the point with a poetic format in Em by Kim Thúy
Kim Thúy has a beautiful way with words. Her novel gets straight to the point, which I do believe is a common format for her based on other’s comments. I’ll admit that this is the first time I’ve read her work, but it won’t be the last.
The novel is short. It took just an hour to make my way through the chapters, but short and to the point sometimes works really well. There is still a lot of detail in the story with the poetic storytelling, and it is all focused on the horrors of war and violence. The female characters don’t make it through without something happening to them, adding realism to the story, especially for the time period and setting.
And yet, there’s a beauty to the words. There is a lot of description and there’s a lyrical flow to the story.
The storytelling is also vivid. There are going to be some scenes that you won’t get out of your head, depending on how your imagination works.
There are problems with the formatting, though. I hope this is fixed for the actual version of the book and that it’s just a formatting issue for the review copy I received. I got the eBook and there are times that the chapter numbers sit midsentence instead of at the start of the chapter where they should.
Next. The Boy in the Well by Dan Clark review. dark
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Em by Kim Thúy is now available to purchase on Amazon with two-day free shipping with Amazon Prime.