Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

17 reviews

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, Alcohol, and Violence

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

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

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

Moderate: Body shaming, Vomit, and Racial slurs

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

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

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

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

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