Review of Trung Le Nguyen's 'The Magic Fish' by Diza Baryshnikov

 

'The Magic Fish' by Trung Le Nguyen is the one of the best graphic novels I have ever read. Everything about the book is absolutely 👌. I have reread it over and over again because I just can't get over how good it is, both the writing and the art is beautiful. I strongly encourage everyone to read it, whether or not you like graphic novels.

 'The Magic Fish' follows a thirteen year old Vietnamese boy, Tiến, whose mom speaks mostly Vietnamese while he speaks mostly English. He and his mom read fairy tales every night to practice English. Nguyen's beautiful art brings the fantastical fairy tales to life. At school, Tiến is revealed to have a crush on his male best friend. He knows that he is gay but since there is no word for it in Vietnamese, he is struggling to come out to his mom. Meanwhile, his grandmother whom they had immigrated away from, dies. Tiến's mother takes a plane to get there as soon as possible and has a conversation with her aunt. Her aunt explains the Vietnamese version of the fairy tale 'Cinderella', a much more gruesome story than what Disney showed us. Back in America, Tiến goes to a dance where he asks his crush if he is gay. Although he says no, they dance and appreciate their friendship. A teacher notices them and has him go to a counselor during school, and calls his mom. Later that night, when he is feeling bad and struggles to confront his mom, his mom finishes one of their fairy tales and alters the ending to have the little mermaid end up with the girl, showing that she accepts him.

 Something about the bittersweet unrequited love, life with immigrant parents, beautiful fairy tales, and acceptance creates a breathtaking book. It is quite mystical to read. You get sucked in to the story after reading the first page. I think that Nguyen put a perfect balance of sadness, sweetness, and humor, adding lots of depth. I will warn you that there is a bit of blood and cannibalism in the Vietnamese version of 'Cinderella', so if you would rather not read about topics like that then I suggest you try to avoid that part. I guess if I had to rate this, I would give it 10 out of 5 magic fish because I was not expecting myself to fall in love with what started out as a random kindle find. This book went above and beyond for me, and widened my point of view on things. :]