Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

195 reviews

jg34's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Heartbreaking but oh so real. This is dystopian but a reality we can all easily imagine becoming true as it’s inspired by real practices. Beautifully done

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Racism, and Hate crime

rinakei's review against another edition

There was a moment that was a little bit too triggering for me as an Asian-American, and I haven't been able to get back into a comfortable mindset to read this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

There is a description of an (content warning: assault, racism, animal abuse/death)

Asian woman assaulted by a man on the sidewalk, who then subsequently steps on her dog, likely killing it.

I needed to stop reading the book shortly after this event occurs in the story.

dominika_benmichael's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

The basic premise feels half-baked

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

knkoch's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I listened to the audiobook version of this, narrated by Lucy Liu, and it worked well for me in that format. It’s fast-paced, urgent, measured, well-structured, and contains no superfluous elements. The political dystopia it depicts feels extremely relevant, and the warmth of resistance throughout was well-executed. I would have gotten to this much sooner if I’d known it had this darker, urgent tone. Some of the fault lies with me never reading summaries, but the cover image (the feather on a pale blue background) also feels jarringly off. It gave me the impression this was a light, frothy story. 

Celeste Ng is a master, unsurprisingly!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, and Racism

There are several incidents of overt anti-Asian racism and violent hate crimes described.

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

Immediately pulled in! I loved Ng’s two other books and she’s definitely an auto buy author now.

I did have to get used to the lack of quotation marks. I also found that  the chapters could be a little long for my personal taste, but sometimes the story held my focus that they went by quickly. The story itself is Heartbreaking and inspiring! I loved the complex characters and getting to know them throughout the novel. I also loved Ng’s prose as always; there were plenty of lines I was struck by, reread, and wanted to highlight (but couldn’t because I read a library copy)!

Although the events of the book are fiction, there were a lot of parallels to what we have seen both in the past and the present. I highly recommend Our Missing Hearts if you enjoy dystopian novels, literary prose, and/or complex characters! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abandonment, Police brutality, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief

tltorrez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

Like everything Celeste Ng writes it’s beautiful but it’s incredibly sad. Her books always have an element of hope but this one feels much harder. This is a dystopia in the near future. Too near really. Definitely a must read if you’re a fan of her work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Police brutality, Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

haunted_jackalope's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism

Moderate: Police brutality

Minor: Violence

alimackenzie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.25

3/3.5 stars. I may change this as I sit with it more, but right now this is how I’m feeling. It’s unfortunate as the subject matter is so important and timely, and I LOVED her other books, but this one just felt “meh” in the end for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Kidnapping, and Hate crime

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

yuyine's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Formidable roman sur le racisme, les dérives autoritaires actuelles et la beauté du militantisme pacifique, Nos cœurs disparus est également un magnifique récit d’amour filial. Entre volonté pour lutter pour ses valeurs et nécessité de protéger les siens, le récit de Margaret est une histoire bouleversante qui porte en creux la volonté d’un monde plus juste, réenchanté par les histoires. Coup de cœur.

Critique complète sur yuyine.be (https://yuyine.be/review/book/nos-coeurs-disparus)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent

paigereitz's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Abandonment, Bullying, and Xenophobia