It made me cry and I’m not mad about it. Was it seeing this little family make reading a regular bonding activity? Was it Tien struggling to tell his mom about his sexuality? Was it feeling the pain his mom experienced being separated from her family after she left Vietnam? Was it the perfect culmination of all three?

This story follows the stories of past, present, and fairytale which are represented by three different colors palettes and are parallels of the themes running across all the stories. While the fairytale retelling a we’re beautifully done, the interactions between mother and son were my favorite parts. The love was palpable through the pages even though you could see they were both struggling with their personal issues on their own. All in all, great book to read with your teens (especially if you’re from a family of immigrants coming into a Western culture), great to read on your own, great to just read. Just make sure you have some tissues prepared 🥺