Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling by Wai Chim

8 reviews

liliana_b's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Good read. Pretty heavy themes. Suitable 14+ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

shutupiamreading's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

This was such a beautiful little book. I truly appreciated how the author wrote about mental illness/psychosis in a very kind and understanding way, emphasising that the mental illness does not define a person and their personality. It was heartbreaking to see the character go through what happened in this book but she did it with so much grace - I just loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Racism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child abuse

cateemma's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, and Racial slurs

Minor: Dementia, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

The MC's mother

(whilst experiencing delusions) kills a fish by poking its eyes out

. Said mother also expresses

racist and ableist comments

towards others, due to her mental illness. The sixteen-year-old MC also enters into

a relationship and has several intimate scenes with a boy approximately three years older than her (about nineteen, although his age is never stated explicitly), making this a minor/adult relationship. This is a major plot point.

camilleareads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

Moderate: Racism and Suicide

yuna's review

dark emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a raw read, but a necessary one given how taboo mental health/illness is even now, especially in Asian culture. Anna is empathetic and lovable as she struggles to keep it together while having to manage her family's issues alongside everyday teen stuff. I loved her relationship with her siblings (Team Lily all the way). Her grappling with diaspora identity and filial piety and cultural values, and the positives and shortcomings of all those things, will probably be relatable for a lot of readers. 

Liked Anna's arc, though it felt like she regressed at the end

with regard to her mom's relapse and that wasn't really addressed?

There's also a lot more emphasis in the latter half of the book on her chasing this sense of normalcy that's not real, and her realization moment for that is over with really quick and didn't land with much impact for me.

I mostly liked the Anna-Rory relationship if I didn't think about the age gap. He's a good sounding board and one to speak truths to Anna's biases. His character feels only a couple years older than her, very much in 18-19ish range. But if I stop and think about the vague references to how long ago it was since he dropped out of high school I think he's actually more in the 20-21+ range to her 16. Which...I'm not a fan of. Especially since he's written to seem younger, why not have him be younger? Also felt like their sex "scene" (not really a scene, more like two sentences referencing that they did it) was thrown in there just to be low-grade scandalous? Anna doesn't remark on it at all afterward! A girl who is constantly struggling with being a bad Chinese daughter and got all flushy about riding alone in a car with a boy and then her first time gets a sentence and that's it? I'm not buying it. Felt like the age gap and the sex were just there to be edgy or something without any substance.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

editorbrenna's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

michelejenn's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Racism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization