Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

37 reviews

cassreading's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This was wonderfully and thoughtfully written. It has so much to say about the Vietnam war, American imperialism, racism, the American Dream™, politics, language, representation. It's incredibly ambitious, and yet I think it manages to do what it wants well for the most part.

The ending was brutal to read (read TW). It definitely shows the brutality of war, the limits of sympathy, but I still feel unsure about it, and about the book's representation of women as a whole. Still working through that mentally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Suicide, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and War

lavenderlion's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

livscosycorner's review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Having recently returned to reading - coupled with the fact  the author is an academic - The Sympathizer with its dense writing style took me much longer than expected to get through. 

I feel my focus was spent  wading through all the metaphors, analogies and lofty language and im left unsure if I enjoyed (for lack of a better word - perhaps engrossed by?) the story itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Xenophobia and Racism

anarmandameg's review

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Just gonna recycle my review from The Hanging City and say 'Weirdly Horny'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, Murder, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Trafficking, Gore, Genocide, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Domestic abuse

gabapentin's review

dark slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Rape, Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs

thekacie's review

challenging dark funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

One of the best books I’ve ever read. Interesting to have read this at a time when I’m more broadly reflecting on my own beliefs about war, and America’s destructive track record of military interventions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Xenophobia, and Racism

scrapeen's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual violence, Rape, War, Child death, and Grief

Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia

jmcampbell57's review

challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Torture, Death, and Murder

Moderate: War and Racism

jillaay_h's review

challenging dark funny mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Racism

hopscotchreads's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

As a wasian/hapa myself, this hit close to home. I still think about my favorite quotes. Lots of important conversations here. But some of the writing is pointlessly verbose and there's a men-writing-women feel that is super annoying sometimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Murder, Death, Torture, Violence, Racism, War, and Rape

Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Animal cruelty