Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

True Biz by Sara Nović

26 reviews

nanduh's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring sad medium-paced

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

3.5

i learned sooo much from this book! as a kid i was really into ASL and this has honestly inspired to get back into it but i do have some mixed feelings. overall, i enjoyed the characters and most of the plot but it did feel a bit incomplete as there were a good amount of loose ends that i feel could’ve been tied up. some issues (no real discussion of the underage drug use and the adult/minor relationship) i felt were a bit glossed over or not treated with the same seriousness as others. i loved the historical inserts about deaf history and culture so overall i do recommend this novel to get insight to a community that has historically faced and is currently facing eradication. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Death of parent, Racism, and Sexual content

Minor: Forced institutionalization

the nature of Charlie and Slash’s/Kyle’s relationship (sexual and adult/minor) is mentioned as possibly problematic once and from then on Charlie is referred to as “jailbait” by a friend of Slash. This paired with their romanticized drug usage made me very uncomfortable with their relationship, especially since Slash ends up being propped up as a kind of ally to Charlie&Austin.

gabbygarcia's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Death of parent, and Ableism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Cursing, Death, Medical trauma, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Minor: Car accident, Abandonment, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury

Deaf discrimination

cochlear implant complications, discussion of forced surgeries

in_themoonlight's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Medical trauma, and Ableism

Moderate: Drug use, Death of parent, Alcohol, Grief, and Car accident

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Injury/Injury detail

stripes_and_naps's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about Deaf Culture. The only downside for me was that the ending felt too abrupt and anticlimactic but I understand why that was a choice that the author made. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Alcohol, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Ableism, and Drug use

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Homophobia and Racism

pandact's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.5

I haven't watched Euphoria, so I'll compare this book to Elsa Sjunnesson's memoir Being Seen. It has hard-hitting personal stories and essays, and you'll love the characters and their signing even in the audiobook version! The crash course even includes some DeafBlindness as it speeds through the checklist of banned books, so you'll definitely learn something from this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Dementia, Death of parent, and Bullying

Minor: Rape, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Genocide, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

ajoyr's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Body horror

Minor: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Alcohol, and Drug use

jennp28's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was a really fascinating and arresting look into deaf culture. The cast of characters and the varying POV really worked to show all the angles of the story and the interstitials of non-fiction deaf history, sign language etc really added to the book. I listened to the audiobook, perhaps ironically, but I really appreciated the inclusion of the sound of the signs being made. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Medical content, Car accident, Grief, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Violence

signeskov's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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

4.25

A super insightful and important coming-of-age novel that presents an intimate and diverse experience(s) of deafness within the walls of an imaginary school for the deaf in southern Ohio. For those of us who have only ever been part of the hearing world, the novel provides a multitude of nuances of what being deaf has meant in North America then, now - and how the community risks further erosion in the future due to new technologies and unequal power relations between the hearing and deaf worlds. A nice read for anyone craving a coming-of-age teenage story with a twist of anarchy and who wants to learn something new.

Also: make sure to read this in a print format! The book includes many wonderful illustrations of ASL that you can practice and learn from as you read. I imagine this works for a much better reading experience in a print than audio book format.

(NB: I chose this book originally as part of the 2023 StoryGraph genre challenge to read a novel with disability rep - though, as it is also apparent from the book, deafness may or may not be a disability depending on the deaf individual you ask and their own lived experience. For now, though, given the thorough injustices experienced by deaf children and adults alike in societies still structured around the presumption of hearing, I believe this novel still qualifies as a relevant selection for the challenge)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Car accident, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Hate crime, Medical trauma, and Racism

Moderate: Grief, Alcohol, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, and Religious bigotry

analenegrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

As a disabled person, one of my big endeavors for 2023 is to read more disability-centered books and True Biz came highly recommended. The first few chapters were hard to get into, but once I got sucked into the story, it felt impossible to put down. 

Charlie as a character was very interesting and her family life tells an important story of Deaf experiences in the United States today. Juxtaposing her with Austin allowed me, as the reader, to see the two sides to Deaf life and the challenges of each. 

I'm not sure where I thought the book would end, but it wasn't that in a very good way. The story ramped up in a believable way, making it a very good read. 

My first criticism lies in the way Austin's ex is written; she's such a flat character, seemingly only there to make Charlie seem cooler and better. My other criticism of this is its advertisement as LGBTQIA+; while the headmistress is a lesbian, the story is only about her a little bit, and the overarching story is about Charlie and Austin, a straight couple. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Gaslighting

marissab's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Ableism, Alcohol, Car accident, Dementia, Medical content, and Grief

Moderate: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, Classism, Cursing, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Bullying