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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
For a PhD student, Ingrid is incredibly dumb.
This book was disarming for reasons both good and bad. The good: there's a lot of important questions raised here about internalized racism, including racism and misogyny perpetuated by fellow East Asian women, Asian American identity, what it means to be American, and the whiteness of academia, oh, and of course bonus points for the cute cover (this was the initial draw). But, generally, it was pretty entertaining, though I didn't find it funny at all.
The bad: a heavy-handed approach with these topics, Ingrid is a spineless, back-stabbing two-faced character who is so hugely hypocritical, the absurdity of the academia espionage, the heightened reality and flat one-dimensional characters can make it harder to examine the more serious topics. A lot of these topics are nuanced and lack a clear-cut answer, but you wouldn't necessarily know that from how cartoonishly ghoulish or high-handed some of them act. Worst of all, the ending is so abrupt and leaves you so unsatisfied after how long this book is. Overall, just an okay read.
The bad: a heavy-handed approach with these topics, Ingrid is a spineless, back-stabbing two-faced character who is so hugely hypocritical, the absurdity of the academia espionage, the heightened reality and flat one-dimensional characters can make it harder to examine the more serious topics. A lot of these topics are nuanced and lack a clear-cut answer, but you wouldn't necessarily know that from how cartoonishly ghoulish or high-handed some of them act. Worst of all, the ending is so abrupt and leaves you so unsatisfied after how long this book is. Overall, just an okay read.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a good book that wasn’t entertaining
challenging
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
k this book was amazing. just when i thought i had figured out the plot it surprised me repeatedly. such beautiful writing and powerful, nuanced ideas. also given the seriousness of a lot of the subject matter, it was a really fun book with vivid imagery and mystery/thriller elements. would not be surprised if it was adapted for the big screen
Hmmm, I was enjoying it initially, the slightly farcical plot, but it felt too much of a reach for me. The writing may just not have been consistently good enough to keep me engaged I think? Likeable characters but not totally believable.
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My rating might’ve been higher if I had read this from a different medium. It’s not that the audiobook narrator isn’t good, I think she is, however I don’t think she carried the dry dark humour across the way I would’ve needed her to.
That being said, I think this book is weird and I like that about literature, this book is satirical and if the blurb speaks to you, you should probably pick it up.
That being said, I think this book is weird and I like that about literature, this book is satirical and if the blurb speaks to you, you should probably pick it up.
8 years in the archive for everything to fall apart…honestly i think she handled it as best she could other than the variety of things she did wrong