Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Disorientation

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

27 reviews

abbie_'s review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

Don’t you love it when you have high expectations for a book and not only are they met but exceeded?? Disorientation is without a doubt my favourite book of 2023. I usually read quite short books, so 400+ pages is a fair amount for me, but I could have read another 400 pages of these characters! This book is so perfectly paced, there’s not a single section that feels drawn out or rushed. The character development feels believable (and sometimes scary) even though I believe it’s classed as satire, and I loved Ingrid and Eunice!

It centres around Ingrid, a Taiwanese-American PhD student in her eighth year, who finds herself somehow studying a Chinese-American poet she initially had no interest in. When she uncovers something strange in the archive one day, she sets off a chain of events that nobody could have predicted, unleashing chaos at her university which unwittingly leads to the start of a thinly veiled white nationalist movement. Believe me, it’s a wild ride, both horrifying and hilarious, as Chou’s wit is unrelenting.

Disorientation tackles everything from fetishisation, racism in academia, identity politics, interracial relationships, parent-child relationships, and everything slots into the story so seamlessly. Ingrid’s journey felt realistic in that she doesn’t unlearn all of her internal biases in one fell swoop - it’s halting and messy, she has a lot to learn and unlearn, and I feel like Chou portrays her development incredibly. She made me feel so many emotions for all these characters - disgust, rage, irritation, pride, the unbearable urge to punch Stephen in the mouth. Truly a rollercoaster, my jaw literally dropped several times throughout the book.

Never boring, often shocking, almost always true to real life even with its exaggerations. Loved it so very much!!

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flowchelle's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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alexandrabelze's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

omfg i don’t even know where to start. very funny, super dramatic, and at times satirical. it was not AT ALL what i was expecting, but then again i didn’t read any type of summaries before starting it lmao. it didn’t have me hooked until the first major plot twist, but after that i was dying to see how it ended. kind of an anti-climatic ending, but sadly realistic. ingrid + eunice besties 4 ever <3 stephen is the bane of my existence. every time he spoke i wanted to rip my hair out. i WISH he knew when to shut up.

the SCHOOL GIRL COSTUME??? oh my god i was gagged. nothing could’ve prepared me!!! i had to put the kindle DOWN and reflect.

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lilycollings's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

This was such a fun and clever story. I flew through it having stumbled across the last copy in a bookshop on my lunch break yesterday after having it on my tbr since it was released. It lived up to all my expectations and more. I haven't read a book in a very long time that has left me feeling completely content and fulfilled with where it ended but Disorientation did.

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madeleinebay's review against another edition

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5.0

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luna_bear's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny informative medium-paced

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

4.0

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briannad4's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

3.75

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sakisreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book really does make you feel disorientated 🫠

This was a chance find on Kindle yesterday; after reading Yellowface, the algorithm clearly wanted to give me another amazing take on academia and it’s dark side.

Someone wrote ‘I hope Michael and Stephen step on LEGOs’ in a review and I really felt that 😂 Their despicable treatment of people always left my jaw hanging.

What’s very sinister and twisted about this book is that especially at the beginning, it leads you to believe they are the ‘good guys’, and that you almost want to root for Ingrid and Stephen’s relationship 😦

I really appreciated Ingrid and felt a big pull to her throughout this tale. Her growth is undeniable ✨ I also loved Eunice (Yoon) and what a good friend she was to Ingrid throughout ✨
Initially Vivian got under my skin (as was most likely intended by the author), but she started to grow on me.

AZUMI THOUGH. I’m not going to lie, I was shocked when Stephen revealed that she was in fact, not a sex worker and had come from an affluent family, but I also thought… Props to her 🤷🏻‍♀️

4.5 out of 5 stars ✨
Would definitely recommend! 👏🏼

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jessicaschick's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

i literally stayed up until 3 am to finish this book. on the surface it's a satirical critique of a lot of issues that are present in academia but it's honestly so much deeper than that. i cannot stop thinking about the ending either.

(also stephen and michael can both step on legos)

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beanmilkcantread's review against another edition

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funny mysterious fast-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? Yes

5.0

this book made me want to read again. it was clever n funny n over the top n horrifying n ridiculous in a way that’s like ‘no but that actually WOULD happen in academia.’ this book could have made you want to shake the main character but instead u want to cheer her on. touches on the truly disturbing reality of academia n White Supremacy in a way that is scathing while retaining humor n joy! i loved it!!! can u tell??!!?!?? if i drop out of grad school it’s NOT bc of this book but…this book DID make me feel like if i did drop out that’d be an okay choice too.

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