Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story by Sarah Myer

22 reviews

apogee_11's review against another edition

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Violence

brogan7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

I didn't know much about this book when I requested it from the library, and to be honest, the cover was a little off-putting (because it seemed racist in itself?).  However, Monstrous is a beautiful, complex, difficult story of growing up, being different, dealing with racism, choosing one's path.

You can't help but root for energetic, wild, zappy Sarah Myer as a child...even if she gets a little out-of-control, sometimes, a little over-dramatic and attention-seeking, and oh yes, sometimes a little violent.  But as Sarah grows up, the adopted ethnically Korean daughter of a white couple of German heritage in rural Maryland, things get complicated.  "Fitting in" is hard to do...and "being who she is" sometimes feels like...being a monster?

What I like about this book is that it was honest in depicting a person's growth process, mistakes and all.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

rdyourbookcase's review against another edition

hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I enjoyed Monstrous. The use of color was beautiful and the author is a talented artist who showed a lot of vulnerability in sharing this story.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

rosalyn's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Beautifully illustrated the struggles of trying to find yourself in a world that's against you. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

dwarrowdams's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

Really sad but powerful book about the impact of racism (specifically anti-Asian racism) on the author’s life. Mind the CWs, but the art is lovely and the book is very much worth your time.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Violence and Sexual harassment

jac_panic_attac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Sexism, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fatphobia and Alcohol

indeedithappens's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism

Minor: Trafficking and Alcohol

bexrecca's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

A deeply honest memoir. This one was hard to read at times and really sad, while providing some hope at the end. I am glad their family was so supportive and it seems like a lot of hard conversations happened both inside and outside of the text. Well worth the read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, and Xenophobia

yuna's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful sad medium-paced

5.0

This is so good. It's raw and relatable, and the art is beautiful. Exchange mermaids for horses, reading/writing for anime (or horses, the horse phase lasted a looong time), and you'd have kid-me in a lot of ways. I was raised in a suburb rather than the country, and was "fortunate" to largely be exposed to a "nicer" kind of racism than Sarah experienced, but a lot of this still rings true.

It's very affirming to see an adoption story with wonderful, supportive parents, and for the adoptee to still struggle with identity and acceptance. It can feel like adoption discourse gets boiled down to 'bad adoptive parents=bad experience,' or 'good adoptive parents=might as well be an advertisement for Holt International' all while contending that we're not a monolith (*rolls eyes*).

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

lilybear3's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

To preface this review, I myself am a transracial adoptee.  I was adopted by white parents from China as a baby.  I'm immediately adding this to my "Essential Reading List If You Want to Get to Know Me" (title in progress).  This might be less of a review and more of I related to this so hard and I'm glad it exists and everyone should read it so they can have an idea of what it's like to be a transracial adoptee.

It's important to note that every adoptee experience is unique and each person has a different perspective.  Some are good, some are bad, some are neutral.  All adoptees' stories are valid and hold significance.  At the root of it, adoption is trauma.  Period.  This is something that was hard for me to learn and that my experience doesn't invalidate others' and vice versa.

Sarah's story is impactful and does not shy away from documenting the racism they experienced in their childhood nor the ableism of the 2000s (both of these are still prevalent, may look different today).  I related a lot; growing up in a small white town, not being exposed to other cultures, not knowing when I was micro-aggressed or what those were (lack of exposure to stereotypes), etc.  When I didn't see myself in Sarah, I saw myself in Liz, Sarah's sister.  Growing up, I was a lot like Liz in that adoption was a part of my identity, but I didn't think about it as much.  I'm fortunate to have no major racist incidents and I got along with many of my peers.  It wasn't until my early-ish mid-twenties I started coming out of the adoptee fog.  I'm also grateful to relate to having extremely supportive and loving parents.

I mean this is in the best way possible; I can't wait to talk about it in therapy.  I learned some stuff about myself with the help of Sarah's story.  This book was healing for me and I hope it is for others. 

The art is incredible.  Simply amazing at illustrating these emotions they just hit the reader hard.  Sarah is truly talented.

Backmatter included a note from the author, a list of adoptee and mental health resources, and family photos.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Mental illness, Transphobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Cancer, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Dysphoria