Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

24 reviews

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

---

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

kaseyd's review against another edition

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

ainereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Racism, and Blood

leah_alexandra's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

Nearly 5 stars if not for some spoiler content below. The writing is phenomenal. The narrative is gripping and really creates a sense of forward momentum that makes it hard to put the book down. 

This book was 5 stars for me until the scene where the female agent is raped at the end. I fully understand that rape and sexual torture are unfortunately not an uncommon part of military activity, and do not object to depicting that content in books. However, this scene was used as the pivotal event in "helping" the narrator complete his "reeducation," and I am uncomfortable with the use of rape/sexual torture as primarily a device that moves another (male) character's story forward.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia