Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - My Year of Meats

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

6 reviews

sponberry's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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bookwyrmsam's review against another edition

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emotional fast-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

3.0

I thought this book was well written and the thematic exploration was interesting, there just wasn't anything here that I think will stick with me after closing the book. I do wonder how much of that is the amount of time that has passed since publication; I was already well aware of how horrifying the meat industry in the Unites States is before reading this, it's part of why I rarely eat meat. I also wanted the discussions of domestic violence, and miscarriage to go further. Those arcs felt rushed/incomplete to me when the book came to a close.

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sweetearlgrey's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.75

The premise of this book is so unusual yet the message is really far-reaching. Just as in The Book of Form and Emptiness, Ruth Ozeki infused the story with so much social commentary that I was left with a lot to think about afterwards. The characters were diverse and complex, with all of them having different outlooks on life largely due to their social and cultural backgrounds. Some moments were extremely traumatic and had me on the verge of tears which I didn't expect due to the rather lighthearted beginning. I listened to the audiobook and found that Ruth narrated in a very engaging way, taking on different voices and accents depending on the character. I'm thoroughly impressed by what I've read from her so far, looking forward to more!

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