Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

49 reviews

kisstheladder's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and War

Moderate: Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

badmom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Infidelity, Excrement, and Pregnancy

cassreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This was wonderfully and thoughtfully written. It has so much to say about the Vietnam war, American imperialism, racism, the American Dream™, politics, language, representation. It's incredibly ambitious, and yet I think it manages to do what it wants well for the most part.

The ending was brutal to read (read TW). It definitely shows the brutality of war, the limits of sympathy, but I still feel unsure about it, and about the book's representation of women as a whole. Still working through that mentally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and War

lavenderlion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Colonisation, and War

livscosycorner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Having recently returned to reading - coupled with the fact  the author is an academic - The Sympathizer with its dense writing style took me much longer than expected to get through. 

I feel my focus was spent  wading through all the metaphors, analogies and lofty language and im left unsure if I enjoyed (for lack of a better word - perhaps engrossed by?) the story itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, and War

Minor: Racism and Xenophobia

anarmandameg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Just gonna recycle my review from The Hanging City and say 'Weirdly Horny'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Blood, and Classism

gabapentin's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, and War

thekacie's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

One of the best books I’ve ever read. Interesting to have read this at a time when I’m more broadly reflecting on my own beliefs about war, and America’s destructive track record of military interventions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, and War

scrapeen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, and War

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

jmcampbell57's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Racism and War