Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Sympathiser by Viet Thanh Nguyen

19 reviews

ellexelle's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and War

drewfead's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad 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: Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, and Murder

nanometers's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence

veronicats's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

samarakroeger's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

a very solid book that actually made me somewhat curious about the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon, thus prompting me to do some research about a topic I previously found quite dull. 

this truly is about the duality of man.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

fongyay's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Racial slurs, and Vomit

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Death of parent

merle98's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

Great book but I am detracting 0.5 stars for the fact that every single female character in the book is either a food-providing wife/mother, a love interest or sexual partner or being brutally raped/tortured/killed off to advance the male protagonist's plotline (or a mix thereof).  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

alexhaydon's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, and War

sarahsthoughtsonbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I don't know which books it was competing against, it deserves the Pulitzer and any other awards it won. 

Also satire goes over my head, so I might have missed things. 

This book made me put down the book then go down a rabbit hole of Wikipedia to learn more about the Vietnam War (or as it's also known, The American War). Love how Viet Thanh Nguyen wasn't pulling any punches, and he was not necessarily writing to the white audience or those without a working knowledge about the war.

Two themes that I picked up that on - not all on screen representation is good (parody/fictionalisation of Apocalypse Now), and belonging (will probably explore more of this in my IG caption).

Also, while the author has likely done many podcasts interviews, I highly recommend listening to Asian Enough, Season 1, Episode 2. It's my absolute favorite season 1 episode (and John Cho was the guest in the first episode, so that's a high bar in my eyes)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Grief, and Religious bigotry