Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

19 reviews

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Drug use, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Drug abuse, and Xenophobia

Minor: Suicide attempt and Stalking

madeleinebay's review against another edition

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Emotional abuse

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.

---

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.

---

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Racism

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

Minor: Colonisation, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

digestives's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.0

Pretty funny in a sad way and exhausting to read because SO MUCH happens.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse and Racism

Moderate: Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Hate crime

ilyevebabitz's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Cursing, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, Drug use, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Violence, Drug abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Slavery, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, War, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Outing, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

devynreadsnovels's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Racism, and Gaslighting

dfrancis's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-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? It's complicated

2.75

The book was well-written and interesting but just not my cup of tea

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Racism, Misogyny, and Hate crime

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Colonisation, and Sexism

arireadsitall's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou is a unique mix of hot mess, academia, and satire and I really liked it. Tbh it’s not something I would normally reach for but as someone that grabs books based on covers, this one caught my eye. 

Ingrid is a 29 year old Taiwanese American woman working on her PHD on a dissertation on the late poet Xiao-Wen Chou. Just when she thinks she’s lost inspiration she discovers a strange note in the archives of the poet and down the rabbit hole she goes. The journey this note takes her on is messy and unexpected but also eye opening for Ingrid. The writing read like a fever dream which makes sense since a majority of the time Ingrid was in an allergy medicine brain fog.

I appreciated that this book felt “smart” but that I didn’t feel dumb reading it. It made me think and it was eye opening social commentary of racism in the academic world. I also liked that the three female characters were all strong and could stand on their own unlike the men characters.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Hate crime, and Misogyny