Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

95 reviews

emordnilap's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

read for my us multiethnic lit class
incredibly powerful read

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs

Moderate: War, Body shaming, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Rape, and Bullying

Minor: Child death

vaniavela's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Cathy Park Hong blends memoir, cultural criticism, and history to expose the truth of racialized consciousness in America. 

The writing is beautifully written and insightful, exploring important themes such as friendships, mental health, and racial identity. The essays were deeply personal and I could feel her emotions through the paper. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and although I could not relate to her experiences, I loved the narrative, rich with history and ideas.

tw: racism, rape/sexual assault, , family neglect/abuse, alcoholism, drug use, suicide mention, trauma.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide

bexi's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Murder, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, War, Toxic friendship, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Hate crime

Minor: Eating disorder, Drug use, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, and Torture

noellelovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.0

This book gave me so much to think about. How little I know of history and the challenges that my ancestors have faced and continue to face. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and War

laceyc1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, War, and Xenophobia

laurendenton's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

I think that this is a difficult book for me to rate because of the fact that it is split into 7 different essays, some of which work in relation to others and some which stand completely alone. The first three essays, which spoke directly in regards to the title Minor Feelings, were extremely eye-opening and affirming to my past experiences with racism and sexism. I was able to, while reading those initial sections, come to the conclusion that the majority of my own racial experiences have been "minor feelings", meaning that they have been subtle and distorted by my own self-hating memory. I have not been pulled over or directly called the n-word, but I have had more indirect experiences that have made me, in retrospect, wonder if maybe I was overreacting the entire time. Similarly, my voicing of such events has been met with sharp dismissals that only further my personal disbelief. The following three essays for me were, to put it bluntly, unremarkable. As stand-alones, perhaps in a separate collection of essays or as their own works entirely, I would've found them to be exceptionally well-done. I was personally not able to make clear connections between these essays and the overall theme of the book and its title. Perhaps if they had been fitted in between the initial three essays, I would've been more appreciative of their content, but because I was so astonished initially, the second half of the book was rather underwhelming to me. The essay entitled "An Education", particularly, seemed out-of-place with the other essays, while "The Portrait of an Artist" was more connected to the idea of "Minor Feelings". Cathy Park Hong is, without a doubt, an incredible writer whose works I will eagerly indulge in in the future, but only half of these essays left me in utter shock at their precision and beauty. I have found this to be the case with another essay collection that I have read, and so it is hard to give a definite rating for a book that has ignited me just as much as it has left me unsatisfied. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Classism, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, War, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy, Slavery, Addiction, Police brutality, Confinement, Fatphobia, Genocide, and Grief

wrackcity's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Suicide attempt

clarabooksit's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

3.5

I liked Minor Feelings but I didn’t love it. Some essays really struck me, especially Hong’s discussions of racism, pop culture—loved her dismantling of Moonrise Kingdom—being Asian America and Korean, and how she confronts race head on, but others I struggled with—notably the essay about art school and her two college friends had some excellent parts but overall didn’t work for me.

Her writing is bold, judgmental and brutally honest. I admired her consistent interrogation of her own thoughts and motives as she ruthlessly questioned those of others. I definitely think it’s worth a read but it’s not a new favorite.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Murder, Violence, and War

Minor: Physical abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Rape

noragjc's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

this book was so good I screamed I cried I threw up I fell to my knees in the walmart

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Racism, Murder, and Rape

becca_sb1316's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Racism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Ableism and Bullying