Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

61 reviews

haave's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted reflective tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

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

scarroll178's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Not what I was expecting. The book is more campy than dark or mysterious. All the characters are stereotypical and one dimensional, including the MC. Idk, if you like satire, go ahead and give this one a try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Cultural appropriation, and Deportation

bootsmom3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative lighthearted mysterious tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

cweeks_ng's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-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

3.25

I wanted to like this book, but the second half was a disappointment for me. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Sexual content

hmih's review

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Cancer, Hate crime, Sexual content, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Police brutality

jacobs25's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

secunda's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative tense 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

4.75

This is one of the best fiction books I’ve read this year. I think the primary audience of course is well-educated Asian women, but I think anyone can enjoy this book. It’s a fantastic skewering of white-dominated Asian studies departments, unstrategic student activism, and grad school. 

I was also confused for most of the book regarding the arc with the white fiancé, but I think the ending of the book more or less sorted it out when Ingrid leaves Stephen not necessarily for his Asian fetish, but because she doesn’t like him as a person. As an Asian woman who is currently dating a white man (and so faced similar questions to the ones Ingrid confronts), I find interrogating your own dating preferences over and over to be counterproductive to your ultimate happiness, so I feel that arc went on a little longer than I liked.

  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Religious bigotry

christiona's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Clever writing on social issues, some of which I had no clue existed in other groups. I love the different formatting of the book, which added a lot to the story. I connected with the humor and enjoyed chuckling, especially in the later parts. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

kathshiroma's review against another edition

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

Minor: Body shaming, Outing, Colonisation, and Deportation

jan_db's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

i had absolutely no idea where this book was taking me at times and i love it for that. 
genuinely made me think about how society treats asian people, especially in a post covid world.
i enjoyed the characters interactions with each other; all of them were established really well i think.
made me laugh at how ridiculous these characters were at times (and also in disbelief that white people like the ones portrayed in this book actually exist…)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting