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juliaureads's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, and Colonisation
thehighshelf'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
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs and Xenophobia
Minor: Addiction
tiny_comforts's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
As someone who is an Asian woman attending a PhD program, this was such a fun read - the satire on academia definitely landed on me!
Ingrid's character arc was so satisfying to read through, especially with her self-reflection and her relationships with the people around her! The ending felt so satisfying, and the way her character was written definitely made me care for her.
Ingrid's character arc was so satisfying to read through, especially with her self-reflection and her relationships with the people around her! The ending felt so satisfying, and the way her character was written definitely made me care for her.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Cultural appropriation
bites_of_books's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
5.0
I absolutely flew through this book! I might have been a bit triggered by the depiction of academia (a bit close to home, reminding me of my grad school days...) but it was a very satisfying read overall.
Ingrid is a young PhD student on track to become someone in academia, if only she could figure out how to finish her dissertation. The character development that she goes through is impeccable and all the other supporting characters provide great contrast, add complexity, and kept the story moving at a fast pace.
A great novel that I'd highly recommend if you're at all interested in the ways that academia has and continues to profit off of POC students and cultures. Also, if you just want a story that is character driven with complex character development!
Ingrid is a young PhD student on track to become someone in academia, if only she could figure out how to finish her dissertation. The character development that she goes through is impeccable and all the other supporting characters provide great contrast, add complexity, and kept the story moving at a fast pace.
A great novel that I'd highly recommend if you're at all interested in the ways that academia has and continues to profit off of POC students and cultures. Also, if you just want a story that is character driven with complex character development!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Classism, and Deportation
secunda's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
tense
fast-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
4.75
This is one of the best fiction books I’ve read this year. I think the primary audience of course is well-educated Asian women, but I think anyone can enjoy this book. It’s a fantastic skewering of white-dominated Asian studies departments, unstrategic student activism, and grad school.
I was also confused for most of the book regarding the arc with the white fiancé, but I think the ending of the book more or less sorted it out when Ingrid leaves Stephen not necessarily for his Asian fetish, but because she doesn’t like him as a person. As an Asian woman who is currently dating a white man (and so faced similar questions to the ones Ingrid confronts), I find interrogating your own dating preferences over and over to be counterproductive to your ultimate happiness, so I feel that arc went on a little longer than I liked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, and Religious bigotry
sissizc's review against another edition
reflective
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit
frankiedoodle's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I picked up this book because I loved Yellowface by RF Kuang and Disorientation was suggested to me as a similar book. It was strikingly similar (both in subject matter and writing style), but I'm not sure that having that comparison at the front of my mind as I read set Disorientation up for success. While both books use satire and absurdism to deliver a message about anti-Asian racism and the model minority myth, I found Yellowface to be slightly more subtle and fun to read. It's always a tall, somewhat unfair task for a book to be immediately and directly competing with one of your favorites, so feel free to take this review with a grain of salt.
This book had a lot to say about identity, academia, and the way that White Supremacy subconsciously infiltrates all of our senses of self, but I didn't feel super trusted as a reader to pick up on that message. Most of this book's more thoughtful points get delivered through lectures and op-ed style blocks of text (sometimes literally coming in the form of op-ed articles written by one of the academic characters), and it made the pacing drag quite a bit. I appreciated and even learned a lot from the points this book had to make, I just wished that maybe we had gotten the chance to find our way to those points through the plot, been shown more and told less.
Every single character in this book fits neatly and completely into a trope. I couldn't decide whether I liked that or not, honestly. I think it was an intentional choice...Disorientation reads as parody, it exists in a world where, by the end, everyone has dropped any inhibition or pretense. Everyone is always at every turn saying the quiet part out loud. On the other hand, existing in the head of an unreliable narrator who's doing outrageous things gets a little less enjoyable when NOBODY in this literary universe is any more reliable or any less outrageous. I guess I was just expecting a little more grounding and had to work to suspend my disbelief as I caught up with what kind of book this was going to be.
Ingrid's visceral journey to find herself and her voice was evocative and fulfilling, and I think will likely hold a lot of validation for AAPI individuals or those in academia. It might have been a little bit on the nose about it all, but overall I found it a very ambitious and creative undertaking and I enjoyed it.
This book had a lot to say about identity, academia, and the way that White Supremacy subconsciously infiltrates all of our senses of self, but I didn't feel super trusted as a reader to pick up on that message. Most of this book's more thoughtful points get delivered through lectures and op-ed style blocks of text (sometimes literally coming in the form of op-ed articles written by one of the academic characters), and it made the pacing drag quite a bit. I appreciated and even learned a lot from the points this book had to make, I just wished that maybe we had gotten the chance to find our way to those points through the plot, been shown more and told less.
Every single character in this book fits neatly and completely into a trope. I couldn't decide whether I liked that or not, honestly. I think it was an intentional choice...Disorientation reads as parody, it exists in a world where, by the end, everyone has dropped any inhibition or pretense. Everyone is always at every turn saying the quiet part out loud. On the other hand, existing in the head of an unreliable narrator who's doing outrageous things gets a little less enjoyable when NOBODY in this literary universe is any more reliable or any less outrageous. I guess I was just expecting a little more grounding and had to work to suspend my disbelief as I caught up with what kind of book this was going to be.
Ingrid's visceral journey to find herself and her voice was evocative and fulfilling, and I think will likely hold a lot of validation for AAPI individuals or those in academia. It might have been a little bit on the nose about it all, but overall I found it a very ambitious and creative undertaking and I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Sexual assault
goldencages's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
A truly witty, funny and on-point satire on the workings of academia and Asian-American identity.
trigger warnings: gaslighting, pill addiction, cultural appropriation, externalised and internalised racism
You know you have a good book in your hands when you want to recommend it to everyone. A bit over a month now after reading it, I still feel that it is one of my most impactful reads of this year. If I had more time, I'd have written an essay about it but alas, I'll keep this to a short but hopefully still helpful review. Disorientation is a book about Chinese American PhD student Ingrid, a major of East Asian Studies who hasn't been able to finish her thesis about the works of a (fictional) famous Chinese-American poet for years. One day, however, she makes a shocking finding – one that sets her off to question everything about her life: the purpose of her thesis, her fellow students, her mentors and supervisors, her boyfriend, her best friend, and most of all herself. Who is she and who is she on the way of becoming? Who does she want to be and what does it mean to be Asian-American? Who gets to say what Asian-American means and who gets to represent it?
Now, this description may sound vague and maybe even a bit basic. However, the real gem of this book is its writing style. Ingrid's spiral into madness is written as a satire, rendering it both darkly funny yet also furiously on-point as a reflection of our unjust society.
All the while, Ingrid is not a perfect human being (nor are any of the other characters for the matter): she is written as flawed, self-righteous, insecure, conflicted, and cowardly yet also impulsive, which made her perfect main character material for me. In that sense, Disorientation is an excellent Bildungsroman that doesn't shy away from the (hypo)critical and difficult aspects of being part of an Asian diaspora - aspects that we may also have exhibited or performed ourselves but may have always felt somewhat reluctant or shameful to confront and reflect – at the same time that it takes us on the mad but also hopeful journey of Ingrid's slow but sure enlightening, a journey I highly recommend to everyone taking.
trigger warnings: gaslighting, pill addiction, cultural appropriation, externalised and internalised racism
You know you have a good book in your hands when you want to recommend it to everyone. A bit over a month now after reading it, I still feel that it is one of my most impactful reads of this year. If I had more time, I'd have written an essay about it but alas, I'll keep this to a short but hopefully still helpful review. Disorientation is a book about Chinese American PhD student Ingrid, a major of East Asian Studies who hasn't been able to finish her thesis about the works of a (fictional) famous Chinese-American poet for years. One day, however, she makes a shocking finding – one that sets her off to question everything about her life: the purpose of her thesis, her fellow students, her mentors and supervisors, her boyfriend, her best friend, and most of all herself. Who is she and who is she on the way of becoming? Who does she want to be and what does it mean to be Asian-American? Who gets to say what Asian-American means and who gets to represent it?
Now, this description may sound vague and maybe even a bit basic. However, the real gem of this book is its writing style. Ingrid's spiral into madness is written as a satire, rendering it both darkly funny yet also furiously on-point as a reflection of our unjust society.
All the while, Ingrid is not a perfect human being (nor are any of the other characters for the matter): she is written as flawed, self-righteous, insecure, conflicted, and cowardly yet also impulsive, which made her perfect main character material for me. In that sense, Disorientation is an excellent Bildungsroman that doesn't shy away from the (hypo)critical and difficult aspects of being part of an Asian diaspora - aspects that we may also have exhibited or performed ourselves but may have always felt somewhat reluctant or shameful to confront and reflect – at the same time that it takes us on the mad but also hopeful journey of Ingrid's slow but sure enlightening, a journey I highly recommend to everyone taking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Addiction and Gaslighting
flowchelle's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, and Dysphoria
luna_bear's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Violence and Murder