An all-too-human novel that explores themes of collaboration and resistance, exile and community ... While Thien’s book is a novel of ideas, it’s much more visceral ... Thien’s book is full of unexpected moments of beauty and pleasure I don’t want to ruin for those about to enter its pages. Delight is in discovery.
Inventive and ambitious ... Many readers will find the novel’s observations about the nature of authoritarian governments especially timely ... Though one can’t help but admire the breadth of Thien’s imagination, it’s the child’s story by the sea that this reader wanted more of.
Rapturous ... A book of ideas ... A rich and beautiful novel. It’s serious but playful; a study of limbo and stasis that nonetheless speaks of great movement and change.
hough the results are inconsistent and sometimes frustrating, Thien’s case for the search for home as a central tenet of our humanity makes this complex novel worthy of attention.
