Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

5 reviews

aducharme4's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Homophobia and Infidelity

caidyn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Wow. This book. I started it yesterday and couldn't put it down until I was finished. This book was absolutely amazing. I so enjoyed it, even though I was repulsed by it at times. The narrator is so flawed. He's sexist, borderline homophobic, and has done/witnessed horrible things without stopping them. Yet, I was compelled to read it in one sitting. I cannot wait to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Xenophobia

emgulph's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. It was a stunning visual into the intricacies of the Vietnam war, with a refreshing focus on the crimes of all the powers involved, not taking sides. The refuges and victims of the Vietnam War are allowed to be both angry with their so-called American saviors and with their home country in disrepair.

That being said, much of the content in this work is shocking and not for the faint of heart. It's a book about war. Fresh out of finishing this, I'm sure there are content warnings I forgot to list below. There were many moments where I needed to pause and catch my breath.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Rape, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual content

bookscoffeehayley's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

CW: rape, xenophobia, racial slurs, sexism, homophobia

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer was such an interesting read. I really enjoyed going into the mind of our unnamed protagonist. The writing style of this book is so wonderful.

This may make me a dumb reader, but it took me a bit to get into a groove with reading this book because there are no quotations. It was jarring at first, but once I got used to it, I started to really enjoy this stylistic decision.

I don’t know a lot about the Vietnam War. I vaguely remember learning about it in the general sense in school, but it always fell at the end of the year and I felt like we rushed through it. This book was an eye-opening novel to read about the war, specifically from the Vietnamese perspective. I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, The Committed that hit shelves earlier this month. I also grabbed Nguyen’s short story collection, The Refugees, from the library and look forward to reading it as well.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Homophobia

waterlilyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Violence