Em stands out for its exquisite prose and the profound emotional impact it delivers within a compact narrative. Thúy's portrayal of her characters is both compassionate and unflinching, providing a deeply human perspective on the Vietnam War and its aftermath. The novel's strengths lie in its ability to evoke powerful imagery and emotions with brevity and precision.

However, some readers may find the fragmented narrative structure challenging, as it requires careful attention to piece together the interconnected stories. Despite this, Em is a remarkable work that offers a compelling and heartfelt exploration of love, loss, and resilience.

Just like the authors previous works ( Ru being one of my all time favourites) , Em is a story told with short, impactful chapters and prose so beautifully poetic it hits you right in the heart. With just a few words, the author manages to convey a whirlwind of emotions and tells the story of the Vietnam War- known as the American War by the Vietnamese

Although for me, a very difficult book to read, I found it beautifully written. For me, the human condition is quite disturbing and sometimes so very sad. I recommend this book to every human being.

I wasn’t expecting to love the story as much as I did. Em is a little gem of a book packed will so much emotion. After only a few pages, my heart stopped for a minute as I took in the beauty of the words I was reading. Then I felt a rush of excitement, the kind you only get when you have discovered a gem of a book. The story took me out of my head and into the characters and events as a ray of emotions filled me.

How the characters are written is one of the beauty here. The story is not so much about the characters, but more about creating emotions around love as one event leads to another. Using a few carefully chosen words, Kim Thúy creates a powerful image of the people, emotions, and places while exploring the complexity of the refugee experience. She takes real-life stories of kindness and love and then adds a fictional outcome that leads to another one—touching lightly on dark historical events from war-torn Vietnam to adulthood in Canada.

There is so much to think about and consider in this powerful and emotional story that left a lasting impression on and one I still think about. I highly recommend it.

Impossible to describe, harrowing to read. Thúy explores the interconnectedness and resilience of the human spirit amidst tragedy and the horrors of war, trauma, and more with sparse, deceptively simple, and evocatively poetic prose.

EM is the kind of book that lingers on the mind long after you've finished the last pages.

I adore Kim Thuy’s work and after reading Man and Vi I wondered how Thuy would approach Em. Indeed I found Em to be a passionate statement on the brutalities of the Vietnam war. The writing is tender, engrossing, and leaves me wanting to read more by Thuy.

A novella, composed of moments sketched in short bursts of one-and two-page chapters, revealing a slice of what happened in Vietnam, before and during the American involvement, and the intertwined lives of some of the orphans and refugees airlifted out in 1975. The effect is something like a slide carousel, with several separate shots creating a unified impression, or perhaps a pointillist painting in which discrete dots coheres into an image when viewed from a distance. It’s hard to claim there’s a developed plot here, but we catch glimpses of My Lai, the lives of half-American children abandoned and growing up on the street, and young women forced by need into prostitution. Some of these characters are reunited many years after the airlift, not all realizing who the others are. Moving, told in poetic prose (kudos to the translator too).

I was disappointed with this book. I have read a few other books by this author in the past and quiet enjoyed them. I just could not get into this story. It felt very choppy and hard to follow, almost like there was no real flow to the story. I did not finish this book at 53%.

Thank you for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Em is a powerful story about the Vietnam or American War as the book calls it. Kim Thuy has a way discussing a big and difficult topic in under 200 pages. The characters were connected to the theme so they added to the impact instead of distracting. There were several but I followed it smoothly. It also had an amazing authors note about the data of the war. This is well worth the read!

I received an arc in exchange for a honest review.

I find Kim Thuy's writing can be a bit of challenge to break into, but once you do, you're transported. This one stumbled a bit at the end, where I found it wrapped up both abpruptly and a little too neatly. But still a great read.

This is a beautifully-written, (and beautifully translated) short novel set in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The book is divided into a number of brief vignettes of a particular time in each character's life, so it can seem a bit disjointed, but that didn't affect my enjoyment of it. I also learned a bit more about the Vietnam War and how deeply it affected the people of that country. Definitely recommend. ❤️

Something completely different. A quick, deep read that left me changed. I loved how the vignettes all connected and intertwined in the end, and as brutal as it was to read this at times it was also breathtaking and beautiful.

This was a heart wrenching story. I was not familiar with much of the content of this story, and at times it was rather difficult to read for me personally.

"Em" means she who love. "Em" means sister. Stories of babies that were born of womens that have been raped by soldiers during the Vietnam war. Every chapters is the storie of differents people but all are related. Those stories really got me. Wasn't really an easy read. It was the first book by author Kim Thuy that I was reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

A beautiful, soul-stirring, heart-wrenching novel. Kin Thuy uses few words but impacts your heart in a huge way. I definitely recommend it!

Em is a gorgeous, spare, poetic series of interconnected stories, translated well by Sheila Fischman. It is a great accomplishment of Quebecois literature, establishing Thúy as a poetic force to be reckoned with.

Thank you for the advanced copy

The content was quite interesting but I can’t say that this book was for me.

Em by Kim Thúy (English translation) is beautifully written. At first, I wasn't certain how I felt about the disjointed nature of the book but as I read more, I began to appreciate the artistic nature of the writing. Some stories connected and intertwined, while others were left with loose ends. Much like the storyline of our everyday lives. As someone with little knowledge of the conflicts in Vietnam, this book gave me glimpses into a dark past and left me curious and wanting to learn more.

Thank you Random House Canada for a copy of this book.

Em by Kim Thuy follows the perspective of various characters during the Vietnam war. It is short but quite impactful with elements that were heartbreaking. I found it a bit disjointed and hard to read since it felt a bit choppy with its wording. Not sure if it’s because of the translation that made it hard for me to really appreciate it.

Kim Thuy’s novel EM follows an array of characters linked together by fine threads.
Set during the war in Viet Nam we learn of the hardships and the atrocities that took place during the war and the repercussions suffered after the war ended.
Kim Thuy’s prose is lyrical and sparse. The translation from the French is superb.
EM is a powerful story. I plan to read it again.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for allowing me access to an advanced digital edition of this book.