This is a beautifully written novel, and many times, I found myself in awe of Cao's writing. It is a beautiful thing to find an author that makes you wish you could write with their same level of creativity and cleverness, but of course, we can't all be Lan Cao. I will admit that sometimes chapters seemed to drag on a bit, and there were times when I would re-read the same passages and not quite understand what Cao was getting at. But nonetheless, I enjoyed the writing, and I think another re-read would help me further understand this novel. 

I was glad to get to read a novel about the Vietnam War from the point of view of a Vietnamese refugee. Living in America, the novels and history books I learned from always focused on how the war affected America. I hope more teachers across America are willing to teach more books like Monkey Bridge, because this point of view is so important when discussing the atrocities of that war. This book was very informative and interesting. I genuinely feel like I learned a lot. 

Outside of how informative this novel is, it is also very emotional and moving. At its core, it is not just about the history of Vietnam, but it is also a story about a teenage girl and her mother - the struggles within that relationship and the differences that pushed them apart. It is a story about what it feels like to be caught between two worlds because you're both disconnected from your culture but also treated as "other" in America. I'm not Vietnamese, so obviously I do not completely understand or identify with everything that happened in this book, but as a single mother's daughter and as someone who moved from Puerto Rico to the U.S., I saw myself in some parts of this book. I think other women/people of color could feel the same way.