Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

35 reviews

literaried's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Gaslighting, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Suicide attempt, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Stalking and Sexual content

alysereadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.0

This book was unique and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. It made me reflect on what it means to identify as an Asian person. Also found the exploration of academia and general disillusionment fun to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Addiction

Moderate: Xenophobia

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.

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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

olive_lol'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

4.5

This novel's satire lends itself to sharp social commentary as the story ramps up in intensity and scope. It does a great job of utilizing humor and illustrates authentic themes through absurd scenarios. I loved Ingrid's development and how heartfelt it was. Overall, this book is great for someone looking for a funny book with a lot to say.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Drug abuse, Gaslighting, and Racial slurs

Minor: Sexual content, Cursing, and Suicide attempt

blairlovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

Hilarious, a bit surreal, and very very honest. I was really impressed by the way Chou guided us through Ingrid's journey in a way that was very honest about her shortcomings but didn't look down on her as a character. Everyone felt real. I hated Stephen so, so much from the very beginning. A great read about the complications of being a "model minority."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Toxic relationship

unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Racism, Xenophobia, and Sexism

Moderate: Violence

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Racism

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

Minor: Colonisation, Suicide attempt, and Deportation

ortizzyy's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, and Racism

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

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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

archiveofrasa's review against another edition

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

4.75

this really came for academia's throat. for the JUGULAR. the twists also held me and shook my South Asian ass by the shoulders to not trust white men ever and I agree!

this was the first satirical work of fiction I had ever read and honestly? a good way to start. what made it super fucking hilarious was how accurate the shit they were saying was. Ingrid, Vivian, Eunice, Alex, even the ass white men. among that, Ingrid's development was so satisfying to read. she goes from this literal pick-me East Asian into what realistically many people of colour are in this day and age (not the exaggerated stereotype that the right love to make fun of, though you do get that with Vivian in a sort of love letter manner). I love reading flawed women in fiction and their shenanigans, it's what makes me fly by these things so quickly. the discussion of white men fetishising (East) Asians is 100% a conversation that needs to be had and this book handles it so so well.

I also loved how not only the antagonistic characters had flawed views.

Spoiler

Alex points out how easily Eunice and Ingrid throw themselves at their white counterparts but is also super hypocritical in the same sense.

very realistic and refreshing to see! it also just outwardly spoke about issues that a lot of us are too scared to bring up, so if you're white, I highly recommend reading this book to fully grasp what we mean by fetishistic racism.

I definitely agree the pace slowed down a bit in the middle but personally was okay with it! I think what maybe knocked this down a 0.25 was how heavy it was on the satirical aspects. the characters really had no room to breathe and neither did I (out of laughter? maybe) but I'm not sure how else you would've gone about it, so it doesn't affect me too much.

the detailed writing was my favourite too, how Chou built so much character in what Ingrid describes. definitely gonna reread this again to fully absorb the prose. third person definitely fits the narrative style of this story, I think if it was in first person, Ingrid would've annoyed me too much to continue reading. and the ending was incredibly gratifying, never felt myself cheer for Ingrid harder. 

overall very much looking forward to what Chou writes next!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Addiction