Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

53 reviews

mapmaker87's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Murder, and Racism

mirroaoror's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

3.0

I genuinely don't know how to rate this book because I am honestly shaking in my boots as I am writing this. The amount of times this book has horrified me is too many to count. But I will say that it suceeded in presenting me a new perspective on the events that happened in those times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Body horror, Death, Violence, Rape, Blood, Torture, Xenophobia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: War, Gun violence, and Misogyny

juliloops's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious 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

4.0

I’ve never felt more Vietnamese 🇻🇳🇻🇳🌏🌏🫡🫡👹👹

Perhaps I missed the point somewhat, but the very graphic, very characteristically descriptive rape scene seemed very unnecessary. To what end did it serve? To emphasize the horror of war? The monsters on both sides? You’ve well proven your point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual violence

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious 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

4.5

Finally a book about the Vietnam War by a Vietnamese person. Took a while to finish this. Wanted to savor it but also, it was a lot to digest. Strongly recommend reading the op-ed and Q&A at the end too. Gives me a much greater in depth insight into the book by setting it from the author’s perspective.

PS, have a dictionary handy. There were a LOT of SAT words!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, War, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Religious bigotry

kisstheladder's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective 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: Kidnapping, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Genocide, Torture, Sexual assault, Racism, Suicide, War, Violence, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Kidnapping, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, War, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Gore, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcohol, and Murder

janineledet's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

A tense and difficult read, but well worth it, including the interview with the author at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, and Racial slurs

amystark's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Police brutality, Rape, and Sexual violence

the_ice_within's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

3.5

The pace of the book was way too slow. While there were many truisms, and a masterpiece in literature and writing style, the plot itself was almost unbearable to keep up with… as there really wasn’t much of a plot. It was a fascinating depiction of the war, and intellectually and cultural-importance-wise I can see why this book won so many awards, but it was a tough book to get through. Not just because emotionally it was a dark book, but the complex writing and extremely slow pace honestly killed the mood for most of the middle of the book. It truly felt like I was trudging along with the character’s miserable life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Rape

ceedy's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, War, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Gun violence