Reviews tagging 'Deportation'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

6 reviews

sweetsouthwest's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Xenophobia

Minor: Trafficking, Racial slurs, Deportation, and Violence

lily1304's review against another edition

funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved this - somehow this manages to be SO funny, even with a mostly humorless main character and a deep dive into American racism. I appreciate that the story raises a lot of questions about race without having  neat, cut and dry answers.

I also loved Ingrid as a main character - so adrift, and trying on different personalities and ideologies over the course of the story. I really grew to like her. I felt like she was oddly trapped in the 2000s, something about her made me stop and wonder whether the setting was the 2000s. I think that was intentional, and it added something to the story - I don't know how to phrase exactly what.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Blood, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Deportation

The main character abuses allergy meds

danidamico's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Disorientation es una sátira sobre el mundo universitario, principalmente aborda el racismo que predomina en las instituciones académicas de Estados Unidos. La protagonista es Ingrid Yang, una mujer de 29 años que está trabajando en su tesis doctoral. Todo empieza a tomar un giro extraño cuando Ingrid descubre información oculta acerca de Xiao-Wen Chou, el legendario poeta que tomó como objeto para su tesis.

La autora Elaine Hsieh Chou logra construir un texto gracioso y perturbador en partes iguales, explorando las distintas formas en las que el racismo afecta particularmente a las mujeres asiáticas, desde la subestimación e infantilización en el ámbito académico, pasando por la fetichización sexual y la misoginia. El tono de la novela me hizo acordar un poco a Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead de Emily Austin, una de mis lecturas favoritas del año pasado. Comparten un sentido del humor absurdo, algo tragicómico, y protagonistas neuróticas y algo problemáticas. Me gustó mucho el desarrollo de Ingrid, en general suelo sentirme identificada con ese tipo de personajes.

Sí tengo que decir que algunas partes de la trama me parecieron un poco predecibles, en especial el descubrimiento que Ingrid hace alrededor del 30% del libro. Creo que el impacto del

caso de Rachel Dolezal y otros académicos

ya generó que ante ciertas señales uno se imagine lo que está pasando. Dentro de esta misma línea también recomiendo la película de terror Master (2022). En fin, más allá de las partes predecibles y de ciertos momentos algo forzados, Hsieh Chou crea una obra con mucha personalidad, un humor absurdo muy bien logrado y personajes complejos.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Deportation and Hate crime

ramalam98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

An excellent dark academia-adjacent satire. 

It talks about so many things, from yellowface and cultural appropriation/fetishism to internalised racism, academic burnout, and more. 

It was entertaining throughout, definitely a ‘food for thought’ kind of book. 

My only gripe is with a couple of characters. I found Ingrid to be frustratingly naive and stupid ay times though I believe this was intentional. Eunice also felt underdeveloped and I would have liked to have seen more of her storyline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Racism

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Minor: Colonisation, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

harperhoney's review against another edition

challenging funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Deportation, Addiction, Body shaming, and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Police brutality, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Ableism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Outing

rachaelwho's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Stalking, Sexual content, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Addiction, Racism, Racial slurs, Outing, Misogyny, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Deportation, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Body shaming, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse