Butterfly Yellow

This was the first Vietnamese-oriented book I've read, and I am left with some mixed feelings. I liked that it's unapologetically Vietnamese: it never once glosses over or censors anything about the Vietnamese refugee experience, nor what it means to be a young teen girl in Communist Vietnam. The story explores how it affects/separates families, what happens to the diaspora, the scars/memories they have. My parents were both Vietnamese refugees during the same era and I felt like I could better understand their experiences as immigrants during an uncertain and dangerous time, how treacherous that journey must have been.

I loved the use of Vietnamese phoentics and how Lai cleverly incorporates an “interpreter” counterpart in Leeroy. Not only does Leeroy's interpretation helps the readers, but also shows someone who cares, listens to, and understands Hằng despite their language barrier and cultural differences. They had a sweet friendship.

However, the story gets a bit grating. While I empathize with Hằng, her stubbornness makes her quite unlikeable. Though, her stubbornness is born from the need of survival and desperation to be reunited with her last piece of family - the mindset to not be a “pushover” and to be resilient is something that a person like Hằng (an immigrant, a foreigner, a survivor) needs to be.

The writing took a poetic metaphorical approach, which I didn't quite enjoy. It was a bit too much. Additionally, the story and summary did not match up - it is poised as a “must run away from my uncle and survive” story but that does not really happen at all.