Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Disorientation

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

63 reviews

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

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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

4.5

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stellahadz's review against another edition

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funny 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? No

4.75

This book is an absolute delight. It's equal parts hilarious, thought-provoking, and just generally buckwild. The title and cover are both great, the prose is clever and funny, and the story itself tackles timely issues in an interesting way. It's like Yellowface meets The Stepford Wives meets every horror story you've ever heard from anyone who works in academia. Absolutely recommend.

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joensign's review

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dark funny mysterious 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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ceedy's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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karinemi's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring 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

4.0

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juliaureads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.75

Truly, how did it take me so long to read this? It has all my favorite things, including an unhinged MC bent on her own destruction. Ironies that are so frustrating all you can do is laugh and a satisfying resolution. CW: micro and macro-aggressions

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thehighshelf's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective 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

3.5

Taiwanese-American PhD student Ingrid Yang has already sent ages on her dissertation with little - make that nothing - to show for it. Her topic? The late, great Chinese-American poet Xiao-Wen Chou - a subject she hates more with each passing day. After all, she always tried to avoid any ties to her own culture and heritage. Hell, she can barely speak her family’s native language - forcing her parents at a young to only speak to her in English. Oh, and there’s also the tiny, pestering fact that she has never dated an Asian man before. She’s convinced her boyfriend Stephen is the love of her life though. He checks all the boxes a good partner is supposed to check. He’s even a professional translator, working on translating the novel of a (in Ingrid’s mind) way-too-cute and way-too-friendly Japanese woman. But it’s fine, Ingrid tells herself, even as she gets increasingly bad stomach pains, hallucinates frequently due to her use of an over-the-counter allergy medication, and fights confusing bouts of depression and apathy towards her boyfriend.

So, although she is reluctant to admit it, things actually aren’t going that well for Ingrid. Which means, when she finds a message left in the Xiao-Wen Chou archives, she clings to it in the hopes that she might have the key to finally escaping the drudgery of academic life - especially academia she has an increasing disinterest in.

However, the note leads Ingrid to a shocking discovery - one that slowly but surely turns her entire worldview upside down. In the span of a few weeks, she and her best friend are led down a rabbit hole of both inner and outer discoveries - about themselves, about each other, and about the cruel reality of the world around them. Together they experiences everything from books burnings to campus protests and even Yellow Peril 2.0 propaganda.

As the dust settles after Ingrid’s discovery, nothing is really the same to her as it was before - especially her very white boyfriend. Ingrid starts seeing her life in a new light - and what she sees is starting to make her really uncomfortable.

Although literary in tone, the book harbors many humorous moments, making for a pretty great read if you’re in for the slow start. If you’re a fan of dark academia and incisive explorations of racism, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find this book enlightening. Disorientation really delves into the horrors and complexities of institutionalized racism with a satirical and introspective tone.

I think, for some, the main character will come off as unlikeable at first, for a variety of reasons. You can really feel Ingrid’s own self hatred, although she doesn’t see it for what it is. It’s both frustrating and hard at times to read as she does things that seem counterintuitive or circumvents obvious conclusions. At the same time, this makes the character growth and development so much more real. It certainly opened my eyes to a new perspective on academic institutions and they the way they perpetuate racism within their walls. Although the book is not a favorite of mine in terms of general enjoyment I got from reading, I will say I am more than glad I read it and I would happily recommend it to others.

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jamontenn's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative inspiring 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

I picked up this book from my overgrown pile of books I want to read and I could not put it down. I NEEDED to know what happened next. This book discusses important and relevant conversations to have about the nature of not only higher academia but of what it can be like growing up Taiwanese American in particular due to the main character’s experience but also to Asian Americans and immigrants as they are treated in the U.S. The book is filled with melodrama and intrigue and interspersed with bits of important history that doesn’t get taught every day. This book was funny satire, informative history lesson and an overall great read. Many thanks to my friend for gifting it to me.

Also this book discusses difficult topics across various areas but I found them important to the plot of the story.

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kproc381's review against another edition

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emotional funny tense fast-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

4.5

4.5. This did not captivate me in the beginning but once you get to “that” part… I flew through this book. It went from messy to messier and I was into it. I support women’s right and I also support women’s wrongs. If you are a woman of color who grew up in a prominently white area and had your come to Jesus moment, you will really relate to this book (sadly). The writing was very vivid. I found myself acting things out and visualizing the scenes. Love a good satire read!

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lentilkong's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny hopeful informative reflective fast-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

Absolutely loved it. It was hilarious and accurate as academic satire, a portrayal of the political spectrum of Asian Americans as well as Asian woman/femme experience. The themes and tropes were not new to me or anyone who is Asian American, but they were woven together into a complex exploration of how white supremacy and academic institutions reproduce their power and shape Asian oppression/existence. The audiobook narrator was great and delivered the humor of the book well. I will be getting a physical copy for re-reading. I am definitely a Vivian Sun, Eunice Rising, and Ingrid Moon.

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