PositiveThe Harvard Review... as lyrical and haunting as his poetry ... This book is difficult to categorize; while a novel, its form and movement recall an extended braided essay. However, what’s more important than genre is the fact that this book contains a coming-of-age story about a queer Vietnamese boy, the kind of story that isn’t often given page space in American literature ... Vuong’s novel joins this wave of Asian American creative output and assertiveness, in which Asian American artists can and do represent themselves, staking out a space where many said that there was no room ... This writer puts into his letters all of his hurt, happiness, and self-discovery—and in giving a name to those memories and experiences, he brings them into being.