Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

35 reviews

eve81's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Confinement, Toxic friendship, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Colonisation, Rape, Racism, Xenophobia, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide attempt

liadh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, War, Racism, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Death

addanumlaut's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

i don't read many non-fiction books, but i'm so glad i picked this one up. while i was vaguely aware of the troubles asian-americans had to face, cathy brought so many details and often overlooked experiences to the forefront in such a way that one can't ignore it. will be re-reading and looking for other books by her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Racism, Toxic friendship, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, War, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, and Murder

bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

informative tense fast-paced

3.0

“Patiently educating a clueless white person about race is draining. It takes all your powers of persuasion. Because it’s more than a chat about race. It’s ontological. It’s like explaining to a person why you exist, or why you feel pain, or why your reality is distinct from their reality. Except it’s even trickier than that. Because the person has all of Western history, politics, literature, and mass culture on their side, proving that you don’t exist.” 

➽ This is a nonfiction about the Asian American identity! I was interested to learn more about the topic and in Minor Feelings the author offers a collection of essays filled with personal anecdotes. I liked the discussions about the model minority myth, the intersection between race/art and assimilation into American culture. While I liked hearing what Cathy Park had to say, I wish her essays had a bigger connection and that the book felt more cohesive. Some chapters were simply more intriguing to me than others. I struggled the most with the chapters that were focused on her personal life, as it felt a bit invasive and detracted from the points she wanted to make. At one point she talked in-depth about a complicated friendship and her friend's mental health issues. That didn't feel like it had a place in this book and I wonder if her friends consented to having very personal things shared for everyone to read about. The balance between personal anecdotes and her political discussions just felt a bit off at times and made this awkward to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Genocide, and Violence

Moderate: Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Torture, War, Colonisation, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

charlieeee's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Violence, Rape, Murder, and War

Minor: Eating disorder, Colonisation, Drug use, Torture, and Suicide attempt

siobhanward's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

4.0

 This book was well-written and felt really raw at points. Hong's exploration of Asian American identity and the intersectionality of race and art was honest and at times challenging to read. I really found her discussion of creating art as a person of colour to be interesting, especially when she points out that POC artists are expected to create "spectacles" that are large enough and racially traumatic enough to be interesting to others. Honestly, that really makes a lot of sense - so many books from POC authors that make best seller or book club lists are deeply rooted in racial trauma. It's rare that I see a POC author's name next to a best selling thriller or romance. Honestly, this gave me a lot to think about when I'm consuming media.

I found the second part of the book just wasn't as strong as the first - there was a lot of focus on Hong's university friends, which took away a bit from her story. It just didn't feel like it fit the narrative set in the fist part, but the book was still really well done and absolutely worth a read, even if it's just to help recognize some of your own biases or things you just don't always consider. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Murder, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

lindseyhall44's review against another edition

reflective

5.0

I chose Minor Feelings as my choice nonfiction book for school, and I am incredibly glad I did. This essay collection mixes memoir, history, anthology, and more into a genre bending work of art about the Asian American experience and the pressure of assimilation. I cannot recommend this book enough!
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The Portrait of an Artist and An Education were my two favorite essays, but every component of this collection brought a unique angle and style, which I appreciated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Hate crime, War, Xenophobia, and Toxic friendship

deetabz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Hate crime, and War

Moderate: Colonisation, Police brutality, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, and Toxic friendship

questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

This book was definitely too clever for me but I feel like I still got a lot out of it. It's a collection of essays which I found really interesting but I also got a bit lost sometimes. Cathy Park Hong is a poet and some of her writing was a bit dense for me and some of the concepts went over my head. However I'm glad I read it and I don't think I've read another book like it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Hate crime, Murder, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

emordnilap's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative medium-paced

5.0

read for my us multiethnic lit class
incredibly powerful read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs

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

Minor: Child death