The Refugees

Shape draws the sharpest complaints about The Refugees: stories cut off before a reader feels the situation has resolved, and one reviewer puts it plainly, “my problem with many of the stories is that they end abruptly.” A few readers stay at arm's length emotionally from these characters, with the prose's restraint tipping into flatness rather than quiet power; one says the “characters here felt flat and lifeless to me.” Because all eight stories share the same premise, a refugee family adjusting to a new country, a handful of readers feel Nguyen leans on that setup too heavily instead of varying it further. Two of the stories are named as forgettable next to the strongest ones, and the later half doesn't always live up to the opening ghost story's promise.