I received a free copy of this graphic novel from Abrams&Chronicle in exchange for an honest review.

The Best We Could Do is a gripping graphic novel telling the story of author Thi Bui's family who escaped Vietnam after the war and made their way to America.

I found this a very striking and enthralling tale, with a beautiful honesty throughout. The black and white drawings really highlighted the serious side of the story which was a young couple's struggles to bring up their family in the middle of a terrible war and then striving to give them a better life in America, working for a mere wage just so they could go to school and get a good education. There were some really striking images, a few being the moment Thi Bui's son is born and a moment on the boat escaping Vietnam to Malaysia where her father looks up to the stars. I haven't read a whole lot about the Vietnam War or what life was like there before and during the war but this graphic novel really gave me a great picture of it.

I thought the struggles of the parents having to deal with their memories of the war and the struggle Thi Bui had to connect with her parents in different ways was told really well. I really felt a connection to the characters and their struggles. Thi Bui's own new understanding of family and what it meant to be a parent after the birth of her son was also told in a really nice way.

Overall, a striking graphic novel that told an important story about a family uprooted in a lovely yet serious way. It made some difficult topics easy to understand. This is also a wonderful diverse book and an own voices read as it is a memoir of Thi Bui's family.