Reviews tagging 'Racism'

All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien

25 reviews

katarinabee's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective 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

Really great exploration of 1990s Cabramatta, the impacts of intergenerational trauma, and the toxicity of perfectionism. I liked how each chapter was from a different character's perspective - you really developed so much empathy for each person's situation, and how their own world view / personality etc motivated their behaviour.  Having previously worked in the Cabramatta/ Fairfield area myself for a number of years, it was personally really interesting to understand more about what Cabramatta was like 20 years ago (and that some of the struggles of that time are still likely impacting people today).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Addiction, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

It’s so nice to read stories that focus on the diaspora outside of the United States. In this case, All That’s Left Unsaid focuses on the Vietnamese diaspora in Cabramatta, a suburb outside of Sydney. This is a heartbreaking story in many ways, drawing attention to the difficulties that shaped the Vietnamese community of this suburb, as well as the life of the protagonist, Ky. While this seems to be marketed as a mystery (which it technically is, since Ky is trying to find out who murdered her brother), this didn’t really read to me as a mystery book. To me, it was more a contemplation on the struggles of this Vietnamese community dealing with unchecked racism, immigration, drug abuse and addiction, the traumas of war which, inevitably, leads to generational trauma. In other words, if you’re hoping for a standard murder mystery, this book won’t meet that expectation.

All things considered, I thought Lien addressed these topics quite well, in the sense that none of them read as superficial or an afterthought. That being said, I think the pacing and execution of the story itself was a bit rough. It took some time to get used to the jumping back and forth between the past and present, which I felt disrupted the overall flow of the book. As a result, this affected the pacing. I didn’t feel engaged during some parts of the book, while other moments were gripping.

Ultimately, though, I think it is worth picking up this book, especially if you’re interested in reading diasporic literature that doesn’t center USians.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Drug use and Child abuse

Minor: War, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse

kellyung's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Racial slurs, Racism, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Blood

e11en's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

Brilliant. So beautiful and so clever. I loved it despite the heartbreak.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, Child death, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Drug use and Physical abuse

bookishcori's review

challenging mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug abuse, Racism, Xenophobia, and Death

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and War

estam1's review

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

anewton's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

A beautiful written story that explores culture, immigration and generational trauma. A sad but strangely satisfying read, with believable context and characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racism, Death, Child abuse, and Racial slurs

kinta's review

challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

looking at the premise of this book you’d think its just an average mystery - but oh my goodness it is so much more than that. it’s a story of belonging, loss, culture, addiction and family.

set in the 90’s in Australia’s heroin capital, Cabramatta, the novel primarily follows Kay and her uncovering of details and events that occurred on the night her younger brother Denny was murdered. straight-a student and quiet, his peers are baffled by his sudden and gruesome death on the night of his formal. this book is perfectly paced and dips into the perspectives of witnesses of the murder. 

my favourite excerpt: 

There is no way for me to tell her that we’ve lost so much more - more than time with our parents, more than time with each other. There is no way for me to tell her that the loss began well before we were born, that our parents had loss, and our ancestors had loss - loss of home, loss of place, loss of self, loss of life - and we were born with that loss, carried it, burdened by it, part of it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Death

Minor: Blood and Murder

deepgreensandblues's review

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Physical abuse

jtran's review

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Murder, Death, Violence, Grief, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, and Domestic abuse