The Seekers of Deer Creek

by Thao Thai

From the national bestselling author of Banyan Moon, a captivating, evocative story of two estranged sisters on a quest to find a painting by a forgotten Vietnamese artist that holds the truth of their family’s fractured past.

Aside from the fact they are sisters, Vivi and Calla Nguyễn have little in common.

Vivi, the eldest, lives an orderly and predictable life. She works as an art conservator at a museum in Chicago, carefully preserving pieces of the past, all the while refusing to examine her own dark history.

Calla leads a much bolder, if occasionally reckless, existence. She’s an accomplished artist with a flair for the dramatic, charming and intriguing everyone she meets. She’s also a recovering addict, constantly causing Vivi to worry.

Months after the two fall out in the wake of their father’s death, Calla appears on the steps of the museum with a sketch and a letter she found in their father’s belongings. The sketch is an exact copy of Blue Mirror, a striking painting by a Vietnamese painter named K.P. Lý. In the letter, Lý writes about a mysterious lost work of art. Calla is convinced it is meant for their family, and that it was their father’s deathbed wish for her and Vivi to find it together. Intrigued yet reluctant to follow her capricious sister, Vivi must decide whether she’s willing to face or shut the door to the past.

From the ghostly Wisconsin woods to a glittering estate in the French countryside to a sprawling ancestral home teetering on the edge of a ravine in Việt Nam, The Seekers of Deer Creek is a story of sisters, art, and the irresistible gravity of the past—how it endures across time and generations, always present even when buried.

Genres: Fiction, Art, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery, France

320 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication August 4, 2026

About the author

I’m the author of Banyan Moon, the July 2023 Read with Jenna title, Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, and Book of the Month selection. Banyan Moon was also selected by booksellers as an IndieNext pick. The novel was awarded the Crook's Corner Book Prize and longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. A recipient of the 2024 Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Excellence Award, my work has been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, WIRED, Elle, Lit Hub, and other publications. I live in central Ohio with my husband and daughter. My forthcoming novel, The Seekers of Deer Creek, will be released August 4, 2026.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seekers of Deer Creek by the multi faceted writer Thao Thai, was written as an art history based mystery, but develops as an ode to sisterhood and overcoming a tumultuous childhood. Set in the Midwest, we watch the Nguyen sisters Vivi and Calla set out to find out their mysterious ancestors history through France and Vietnam.

I can see Thai writing a mystery/thriller novel in the future, as this one had me on. the edge of my seat as it quickly dives into the mystery of a Vietnamese artist. By the middle, the book becomes more of a nod to sisterhood, as Vivi and Calla's strained relationship is delved into. I do wish the back stories between Vivi and Calla would have been more fleshed out, as there are very limited descriptions of what truly went awry in their past, but you get the idea throughout.

Thao Thai’s second novel after the stellar Banyan Moon is brisk, exciting, but also a passionate tale of hidden love, but overall Deer Creek is both heartfelt and exciting.

[Lizzie L · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Thai’s second novel, two sisters come together in a transcendent journey to understand a painting, its history, and one another. From the woods of Wisconsin, across the world to the French countryside and Vietnam, a story unfolds of both the past and the future, togetherness and independence, knowing and unknowing. What begins as a somewhat desperate pursuit for answers, progresses into a beautiful novel examining art, love, and character. Will Vivi and Calla find what they are looking for??

This would be a perfect read for book club! Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC!

[Amy Broman]

Two sisters inherit from their father both a sketch that appears related to a well-known painting and a letter that may have been written by the artist. With their skills as an artist and an art conservator, respectively, the sisters set out to uncover why their father had those items in his possession and what they might signify. While the premise was interesting, I found the story overly complex and ponderous. Others may enjoy this literary fiction, but I DNFed at 35%.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

[Olive Fellows (abookolive)]

I know many of you were all about Banyan Moon when it came out a few years ago. But the fact that this novel appears to blend a sweeping, slightly mysterious family story with art is what caught my attention. 👀

Click here to hear more about this book and my other anticipated releases of the upcoming quarter over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!

[Brie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This entire book feels like a love letter, a long-lost family heirloom. The Seekers of Deer Creek has the scent of your grandmother's jewelry box. Art that heals. People who have decided to change. The complex and intricate relationships that forms when the formative years are marked by trauma.

I don't think I have the words to describe how reading this book made me feel. My heart is broken, but it's also filled with so much hope.

The prose is enchanting, and the mystery keeps you intrigued every moment. The pacing is excellent.

Today is December 30, 2025, and this is one of the best reads I’ve had this year.

Thank you to Harper Collins and NetGalley for the ARC!

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a really beautiful story centered around two sisters, family, and the things we withhold from others. While being a true novice around art history, I love reading about it and the details around Vivi’s conservation/restoration efforts and knowledge were a real treat. The author definitely already knew their stuff or did an amazing amount of research.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

arc-provided-by-publisher

[Allison Olawsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

a beautiful story of sisterhood and forgiveness. thank you to mariner books for the early copy!

[Nadine in NY Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early review copy.

Was it possible to experience déjà vu with someone you’d never met, an artist long dead? Or was déjà vu nothing more than a metaphysical extension of a wish? The desire for connection creates inevitability, maybe. It is a way of scumbling the past with the intentions of the present.

Two sisters struggle to free themselves from the lingering trauma of their childhood. Their mother left when they were little girls, barely old enough to remember her, and their father was never the same after that.  The family ties in this story are fraught, tangled, and delicate, just as in Banyan Moon.  I love Thao Thai's writing, her characters are always full and rich (and a little bit prickly), her settings are gorgeous, and I sink right into the story effortlessly.  I feel like I've been on a world tour!

Vivi, the older sister, always saw herself as the staid caretaker of her younger, wilder sister, Calla, but both sisters have so much lingering trauma after being raised by their abusive father.  They both struggle to live authentic lives, they desire to love and be loved but they do not seem to know how.  Their actions are often irrational and their choices are not always well thought-out, sometimes destructive.

Both sisters struggle to view themselves as lovable, and they both struggle with how to communicate and how to prioritize things in their lives and to determine what it is they really want to do in life.  After their father dies, Calla discovers notes in his shed that seem to be connected to a new gallery show Vivi's museum is organizing.    This book is basically watching them both make some really bad choices and then figure their shit out as they travel from Chicago to small town Wisconsin to Arles, France, to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, following clues to unravel the secrets of the artist.

There are family secrets to discover, of course, but the reveals are all fairly well broadcast beforehand, so I never found myself shocked by any of it.  In fact, I was a little annoyed that the characters did not consider some of these things beforehand (for example, if someone uses initials, perhaps they are concealing their gender due to unfair pressures of a patriarchal society ... But no one considers this possibility?)  I also found myself wishing that MY family was that interesting!

Most of the story is told in the present day, although there are some diary entries and letters set primarily  in the early 1930s and 1940s. 

There is a lot of family trauma and inherited trauma in this story, but it never dwells on the trauma.  This never becomes "trauma porn."  I found it was well balanced with stories of love, hope, and strong family bonds.

The gorgeous cover is perfect for this story, designed by Ploy Siripant.  More info from the author is here: https://thaothai.substack.com/p/the-s...

4.5 stars rounded up to 5


TW for: drug and alcohol abuse, mania, child abuse, spousal abuse, parental abandonment, infidelity, forbidden romance, and rape.


words I looked up:
(most of these words, except "visconti" and "stovepipe jeans," were obvious from context and did not need to be looked up, but I was curious)

Visconti - a fancy pen
pentimento - the visible traces of an earlier image, brushstroke, or sketch in a painting that an artist has painted over and changed
oneiric - dream-like, relating to dreams
Vinacafe - Vietnamese Instant Coffee
stovepipe jeans - high-waisted, true straight-leg denim style. Cut straight from the hip to the ankle without tapering  
phin - a traditional Vietnamese slow-drip coffee brewing tool
Sông Sài Gòn  - Saigon River
sinh Tố - fruit smoothie
tenebrism - artistic painting technique characterized by extreme, violent contrasts between light and dark.
Muối Ớt  - Vietnamese chili salt
palmyra - a tall fan-leaved palm

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a rare delight in this heart-wrenching, distracting world to become so lost in a writer’s work that you lose track of time entirely, but Thao Thai’s lush prose transported me elsewhere. A balanced novel with equal parts character-driven work and plot, it’s a magnificent pick for any reader eager to get their training wheels on for their first literary fiction adventure this summer.

Her latest novel unfolds the story of two estranged sisters—each shaped by different temperaments and wounds—drawn together by their father’s passing and the promise of an inheritance that just might alter their futures.

Calla, restless and creative, lives with a wild streak that has fueled both her art and her struggles with addiction. After a long stretch apart, it’s the discovery of an 8-by-10 sketch and a 1940s journal entry tucked among their father’s things that brings her back into the orbit of her older sister, Vivi. Vivi, ever the cautious guardian, can’t help but greet Calla’s return with wary eyes, scanning the air for that telltale trace of Pinot Noir even as old loyalties tug at her heart.

When Calla hands Vivi the drawing she found, the trajectory of these sisters’ lives changes entirely. A sketch of two women staring from the surface of a mirror, with a charcoal fissure separating them, is so distinct that it makes Vivi quaver. The faces are blank, but the work in progress delivers a nearly perfect replica of an elusive Vietnamese French Surrealist painter named K.P. Lý. On the cusp of launching the biggest exhibit of Vivi’s career, she has devoted herself to this very artist whose early sketch they now seemingly hold. The drawing seems to be in conversation with a painting titled Blue Mirror, scheduled for delivery the next day.

As Vivi examines this painting upon its delivery, she’s struck by the rich blues with brushstrokes heavy like clay, tactile and gluttonous. Her gaze is drawn to a tapering red streak down the middle, and she begins cleaning the painting. As varnish breaks and peels, another layer is revealed with hints of hidden faces. One who is Vietnamese with cropped hair, winged brows, and a freckle beneath her eye. A freckle that identically matches the one on Vivi’s own face.

Readers are launched on a quest from the forests of Wisconsin to sunlit French estates, and finally to Việt Nam, to learn more about their family’s rich history with this painter, to uncover the secrets of their past through journals, and, hopefully, to restore order to the sisterly relationship they once shared.

Thao writes, “The tragedy of the human experience is how avidly we each resist translation even as we yearn to be understood.” That longing—to be seen and known—ripples through every page of this novel. It’s a story that asks us to look again at our parents’ paths, to sift through the complexities and prejudices they navigated, and to approach each other with renewed gentleness. In the end, we’re all seekers, carrying our own burdens, hoping for understanding as we journey forward.

How lucky we are to live in a world with Thao Thai as a storyteller!

**Thank you to Mariner for the review copy- I'm very excited to share Thao's writing journey on the Book Gang Podcast this summer.**

[Quill (thecriticalreader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars

Thao Thai’s sophomore novel contains her signature stunning prose and emotional storytelling, but suffers from plot conveniences and mawkishness.


Thao Thai’s debut Banyan Moon was one of my favorite books of 2023, so I was delighted to receive an ARC of her next release, The Seekers of Deer Creek. This book follows Vivi, an art historian and museum curator who cannot quite let herself trust in her good fortune. She has her dream job and an adoring partner, but she holds herself on guard for the other shoe to drop. Her sister, Calla, is an addict, and Vivi has felt responsible for her sister ever since her mother left them alone with their abusive alcoholic father as children. As Vivi’s museum prepares to open an exhibit featuring the mysterious K.P. Ly, a Vietnamese painter who disappeared in the 1940s, she discovers that the exhibit’s central painting has a hidden layer underneath it. Vivi risks her career to strip the painting’s top layers to reveal what lies underneath. Even more surprising, this painting seems to have some connection to her recently deceased father—and the investigation of this connection leads Vivi and Calla toward discovery, familial secrets, and confrontation with their inner demons.

The Seekers of Deer Creek features some of Thai’s beautiful prose that I loved in her debut. I also appreciated the emotional momentum of the plot. Despite the issues I had with much of the book, I still found it compelling as I followed the emotional highs and lows as the two sisters navigate a family mystery and their relationship with each other.

Unfortunately, there was much about this book that didn’t quite work for me. For one, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief at many moments. Since Vivi is an art historian, there are lots of references to academia, art curation, and historical research. It became clear that Thai doesn’t have a solid grasp of how these fields work. She describes the career of an art historian as an “attainable” and stable career path compared to artistry, which is laughable for anyone who has any experience in this field. This was just one of many comments and moments about historians/academia that pulled me out of the story.

For another, the mystery unfolds too neatly and too quickly to be believed. Everything falls into place without hardly any effort on the main characters’ part. There’s also a frame narrative portion to the story that I found hard to swallow, as I often do with frame narratives. While I understand that this needed to happen for Thai to reach the hard-hitting emotional beats she wanted, it irritated me.

Finally, the book’s sentimentality frequently borders on the mawkish. All of the characters are constantly having deep heart-to-hearts with each other in dialogue that is way too philosophical and sentimental to be believable. It was overdone and prevented me from fully investing in the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her sophomoric novel, author Thao Thai follows the story of two Vietnamese-American sisters who've grown up in the woods of Wisconsin but whose lives have split once they entered adulthood. Eldest daughter Vivian Nguyen has long struggled with the self-imposed burden she's placed on herself to be the responsible, practical one; since the disappearance of their mother May when they were younger, she's taken on the informal role to be a stand-in mother to her younger sister Calla, who she regards as her complete opposite. Vivi works as an art conservator in Chicago, in a long term relationship with Samuel who has a young daughter named Phoebe while Calla is an artist who recently divorced Wayland, a childhood friend of both sisters. The two haven't spoken in years, but the passing of their father Tuan brings the two back together, but after discovering their father's unknown connection to a surrealist Vietnamese painter known as K.P. Lý, the two begin a journey that neither could have predicted.

In the chapters that follow, we're taken across multiple mediums, time periods, locations, and perspectives as Vivi and Calla begin to unearth the true story of K.P. Lý, where he traveled to for respite after disappearing from the art scene, his true muse and their star-crossed relationship - and on the journey, begin to unravel the truth about their own lineage and family. For Vivi especially, her memories of her father as an alcoholic have tainted her memories of him, an animosity that's bled over into her relationship with Calla as she eventually reconnected with him before his passing. The sisters travel to France and eventually a small village in Vietnam to put the final pieces together - revealing not just the truth of the past but confronting the reality of the present.

I loved Thao Thai's writing in "Banyan Moon" and her lyrical and poignant prose shines just as brightly in "The Seekers of Deer Creek". In Vivi and Calla, she's crafted two complex, flawed, yet fully believable protagonists - two sisters who have been hurt by the other, but still deeply care for other and find common ground in their shared love of art. I loved as well the storyline focused on K.P. Lý, especially as it gave me insight to the art culture at the time and highlighted how taboo topics we take for granted today were treated back then. The novel centered on a number of weighty topics - generational trauma; the violence that Vietnam went through in the 20th century; the longevity but simultaneous brevity of art; and the complex, ever-shifting forms of love, especially between family members.

I hope others will love the breadth and depth of "The Seekers of Deer Creek" and can't wait until it's published in August 2026!

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her sophomore novel, Thao Thai is focused on the relationship between two sisters, Vivi and Calla, with Vivi being our narrator. Vivi is an art historian and restorationist, working for an art gallery in Chicago, prepping to show an exhibit about K.P. Lý, a surrealist artist who lived and worked in France in the 1930s-40s, but who originated from Vietnam. Vivi and Calla's parents are both from Vietnam as well, and when Calla discovers a sketch that exactly matches K.P. Lý's well known portrait, Blue Mirror, along with a mysterious letter written in Vietnamese, she begs Vivi to go with her to hunt down why their father had this sketch and letter, and how it relates to K.P. Lý. Their hunt for the connection between their father and K.P. Lý takes them from Chicago to Vivi's alma mater, to France, and eventually to Vietnam.
As with Banyan Moon, in Seekers of Deer Creek focuses on familial relationships, in this case that of two sisters who survived the same difficult childhood, by coping in different ways. Vivi feels that it is her job to protect Calla, and how that impacts their relationship is explored throughout the book, while also showing how they resolve their own internal conflicts about the flawed childhood they both experienced. How K.P. Lý connects to their family is revealed about halfway through the book, but the impact that has on their understanding of their family is explored throughout the book. Overall, I very much enjoyed this family drama and mystery, and the growth and development that both Vivi and Calla experience as characters.
Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the electronic ARC of this novel for review.

[Leanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seekers of Deer Creek is a beautifully wrought, deeply evocative novel — the kind that feels like opening a long‑sealed box of family relics and finding both tenderness and ghosts inside. Thao Thai weaves a story of estranged sisters, buried histories, and the magnetic pull of a past that refuses to stay quiet.

Vivi and Calla Nguyễn are wonderfully drawn opposites: one meticulous and guarded, the other bold, chaotic, and aching for connection. Their fractured relationship gives the book its emotional spine, and watching them circle each other — wary, wounded, still tethered by something unspoken — is as compelling as the mystery they’re trying to unravel.

The discovery of a sketch linked to the enigmatic Vietnamese painter K.P. Lý becomes the spark that forces them back together. What begins as a search for a lost artwork slowly becomes a journey through the fault lines of their family: grief, inheritance, addiction, silence, and the stories that shape us even when we try not to look.

Thai’s settings are lush and haunting — from the mist‑soft Wisconsin woods to a glittering French estate to the crumbling ancestral home in Việt Nam, perched on the edge of a ravine like a memory about to give way. Each place feels alive, steeped in history and longing.

What lingers most is the novel’s quiet ache: its understanding of sisterhood as something both fragile and fiercely enduring, and its belief that art can hold truths we’re not yet ready to speak.

A moving, atmospheric story about family, legacy, and the irresistible gravity of the past — tender, haunting, and beautifully told.

With thanks to Thao Thai, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

[Igor DelRey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years go I read this author's debut novel and was happily surprised by their beautiful prose and family drama story.
Naturally, I was excited to read Thai's new novel, and she did not disappoint me.
Once again, Thai's stunning prose is a delight for the eyes. More family and relatable drama, this time mostly focused on two completely different sisters who are on a quest to finding out some mysteries from their past.
It's about family, heritage, secrets, and art.

My favourite part of this book was when the sisters were reading the diary of a certain famous painter, and when they find out the true identity of that painter.
The final third of the book, with the sisters visiting family in Vietnam, was also a favourite part for me. The family dynamics and interactions were lovely to read and everything culminates in a sad, but hopeful, ending.

I can easily recommend this book to anyone who likes to read literary fiction with stories focused on siblings and heritage and art, in general.
Thank you, NetGalley and Mariner Books, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.*

This is the first book by Thao Thai that I have read and I found the writing and the plot both poetic and impactful.

It is the story of two sisters raised in the woods of Wisconsin by their father after their mother leaves for a visit to family in Vietnam and never returns. Calla and Vivi are now grown and struggling to reconnect as Calla is going through a divorce and Vivi is working on a major art gallery installation.

Family secrets lead the women to embark upon a journey to their family property in Vietnam and they have to face the causes of their initial rift.

I love stories where the protagonist seeks out family lore and I love sister stories. So this one checked the boxes for me.

*with thanks to Net Galley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Goodreads and Mariner for this ARC. The novel is about 2 Vietnamese American sisters who were close growing up but now in their 30’s have very little in common. Their father recently passed away and left a letter showing a newfound interest in a little known Vietnamese French artist from the 1930’s. Vivi is an art restorer, and Calla is a talented but struggling artist. The sisters embark on a journey to figure out the mystery of their father’s letter. They struggle with their fractured relationship, a troubled childhood while delving into their family’s history. The prose is lush, the characters are well developed, and the plot moves along including several surprise turns. The best book I’ve read this year. (60+ books read at time of review)

[Emily Westerwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second literary fiction novel from Thao Thai. She is local to me and I had the pleasure of hearing her speak at a bookshop event last year so I was excited to snag an ARC of Seekers of Deer Creek. If you liked Banyan Moon, you'll love this one. It's similar in it's themes of Vietnamese culture, generational secrets, and family drama, but this time with a side of art conservation and history. The prose was flowery and descriptive, pacing was a little slow. I liked how the story took us across the world as the sisters tracked down family members and artifacts to help them solve their mystery.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This lyrical novel is an ode to sisterhood, family love and misunderstandings, identity, art and history. Thao Thai’s beautiful language draws you into the Wisconsin, Chicago, France, and Vietnam settings. The phrase that “narrative, after all that, was only a filter through which meaning-varied, contradictory, subversive-could soft” so aptly describes how people can see and experience the same event in myriad ways. I appreciated that the messy relationships were not all cleaned up, but that quiet forgiveness and understanding was a central theme. Adored the author’s first book also and look forward to reading her next books in the years to come.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 rounding up

This book has so much literary potential... it's just too "fluffy" in some respects:
The struggle is all based on Vivi and Calla's "history" and next to none for solving the mystery. They go straight to just the right place, every time.
Neither has a source of meaningful income, yet they jet around the world...

too hard to suspend my disbelief too often. Where is the editor to help her see this, so she can make a much better story?

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Thao Thai hits it out of the park again with this epic tale of generational trauma, sisterhood, and love. I loved each and every character in this tale, and the unexpected twists kept me reading long past my bedtime. A beautiful tale.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for the advance review copy. All opinions are mine.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Mariner Books for providing the copy of The Seekers of Deer Creek by Thao Thai. This was a beautiful story of finding family. The lyrical writing kept me engaged, and I loved the mystery of the sketch. I was surprised when the truth was revealed, and loved how the discovery inspires Vivi and Calla to go in search of their relatives. 4 stars

[Mary Fabrizio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet tale but the ending felt anticlimactic. The clues they were given seemed very obvious and it was hard to suspend disbelief. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Samantha // fictionfigurine]

I CANT WAIT!!!!!!!

[Cindy Burnett (Thoughts from a Page) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thao’s writing, as always, is a marvel. Brilliant, sharp, emotional — this is a book you need.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the art angle of this story, and like art, the book is beautifully put together and the story flows so well.

[Victoria]

The cover is so pretty! I'm excited to read this one.

[jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 4.5☆

A beautiful book about sisterhood, grief, and all kinds of relationships. Thanks to NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for an honest review.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Ms. Thai’s sophomore book, two Vietnamese-American sisters, Calla and Vivi Nguyen, with a complicated childhood and a messy relationship, embark on a journey that takes them to France and Vietnam to uncover the mystery surrounding a painting. The sisters seem to have very little in common other than their ties to art, which comes into focus surrounding a painting, Blue Mirror, by a Vietnamese artist named K.P. Lý, which is also the subject of a letter in their late father’s possession.

Within the mystery surrounding this painting, this lyrical novel explores forgiveness, sisterhood, family, and the ways in which we often misinterpret or misunderstand even those we hold dearest.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for providing me with an ARC of this compelling novel ahead of its expected August 4, 2026, release.

[Viv · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

thao thai did it again with her sophomore book. i knew i wanted to read this book the moment i heard about it but the story was so much more than what i anticipated, what an ode to sisterhood, familial love, art and (cultural) identity. and just the same as the last time, i will be looking forward to whatever thao thai put out next.