Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

18 reviews

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.25

minor feelings is a reflective, nuanced read that delves into the complex intricacies of asian american identity. how do u explore sth often treated as invisible, neither here nor there, w/ a public existence as wispy as smoke? it's an arduous task but hong captures many things adeptly in her memoir cum history and cultural criticism work.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Racism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Xenophobia, Murder, Rape, Death, Gaslighting, and Sexism

Minor: War

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

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

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

aqtbenz's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicide attempt

herceia's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

Not a memoir like I expected and i had a hard time connecting the people in the author's lives to the greater story theme, but it was very informative and spoke a lot of the things that i've always had in my mind

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gaslighting and Emotional abuse

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

bexi's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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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

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. 

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Genocide, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Toxic friendship and Suicide attempt