I hate saying a book about war, about refugees, about trauma, was a quick read. It’s like saying: Show me the worst parts of your life and I’ll be through it in an hour or less. Sometimes I think I need a life for each sad book I read, to do it justice.
The Best We Could Do is sad. Not overwhelmingly so, but it’s definitely not unicorns smiling rainbows. In a sense, it’s about disappointments, little, large, and in between. It’s the story of Bui’s parents, of Bui and her family fleeing Vietnam, of resettling in California, of Bui becoming a mother. But a book of disappointments can end up as nothing other than a disappointment. It’s only a teeny one: by the time we’re getting into the groove, into the feeling of these people’s lives, the book ends. Just stops cold. And some of the themes that I wanted explored more (in particular how Bui becoming a mother affects her view of her parents) aren’t. The Best We Could Do skims the surface when I want to go deep.
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui went on sale March 7, 2017.
I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.