Reviews tagging 'Racism'

True Biz by Sara Nović

81 reviews

novella42's review

emotional hopeful informative fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

OUTSTANDING. Read it in a single day, I could not put it down. A must-read, especially for hearing people. Damn, that was a good story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Drug use, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Racism

minaestchan's review

adventurous hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Physical abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Pregnancy, Racism, and Alcohol

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

angelarae235's review against another edition

informative 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: Ableism

Moderate: Drug use and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content and Racism

risetorecede's review

dark emotional slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Ableism, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Dementia, Alcohol, Racism, Car accident, and Child abuse

tamarina's review

emotional informative reflective tense

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

4.0

Loved the book and it gave me so much insight and mostly just rage against ableism and audism. As a hearing disabled person there was both a lot of new insights and a lot of relatable things. I was amazed at how quickly the protagonist learned ASL and I so much loved the myth of Eyeth. I was astonished about the history of Martha's Vineyard and so so angry about the closing of so many Deaf schools. I loved the stubbornness of the protagonist and how her choices were portrayed. The sex positive viewpoint of the narrative. And how was a reader I did a total turn in how I looked upon the activities of the group she got involved in, from quite negative to kind of rooting for them. Loved the complexity in all of this. And the way different perspectives in the Deaf community were portrayed.

Not five stars though because the ending was rather abrupt and rushed.

I really want to try and get my hands on the Dutch version as I'm really curious about the information about Dutch Sign Language (NGT) and Dutch Deaf culture!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Medical content, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual content

clovetra's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

FUCKKKKK WAS THIS GOOD!!! I CANNOT RANT & RAVE ABOUT THIS BOOK ANYMORE THAN IM BOUT TO. EASILY MY FAVOURITE BOOK OF 2024 (so far)
this book has everything and more
- as a disabled person i go NUTS for representation. a book where most main characters are deaf, written by a deaf author? im a rabid dog im so thrilled
- the excerpts following charlie were so brilliant and added to this book quite a lot, such as the excerpt on alexander bell when she's learning about him in history class
- the excerpts about signs too!!!!! i loved them!!!!! 
- the mention of the intersectionality between race & disability AND gender & disability.... chefs kiss
- highlighting BASL (which i didn't even know existed!) (granted im australian but still)!! this taught me so much about deaf culture in such an endearing and interesting form
- loved to see a CODA. i used to be able-bodied (long story) and as a child of disabled parents i resonated with february. obviously in very different ways, but mainly due to the underlying commonality between us (or at least a commonality that used to exist)
- wlw rep LETS GOOOOOOOO
- charlie and austin..... my loves. my little baby grills. i also loved kayla a LOT. couldn't stop picturing mel as mel buttle but u know what it works! every character felt like their own person, with motives and goals and a LIFE outside of the main plot. 
- writing style was magnificent
- writing FORMAT????? ugh i was in love. the little italics to show when a character was signing vs orally speaking? perfect. the chapter titles being the main pov's initial fingerspelled???? magnificent.
this book accomplished so much. there were so many themes and none of them felt poorly fleshed out. this book covers everything - grief, eugenics, isolation, race, ableism, jealousy, teenage romance, rebellion, gentrification, community, ableism (both outright and unknowingly), and so much more. 
i don't think i can truly put into words how much i loved this novel. this book is very clearly a love letter to the deaf community, and i have to say i fell hook line & sinker.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Dementia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Drug use, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Racism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Police brutality

wormgirl's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Child abuse, Abandonment, Religious bigotry, and Racism

invaderday's review

adventurous emotional funny informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

i really really really enjoyed this book! it also probably benefits from the way i have only read romance novels for like over a month so the literary writing was like a nice warm bath

anywayy this book was really super cool and kept my attention the whole time. i kind of left wanting a bit more from the ending but overall it was a satisfying story and just an all around good fucking read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Medical trauma, Drug use, Ableism, Child abuse, Racism, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual content and Vomit

lovelymisanthrope's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense 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

I received a copy of this book as a gift.
"True Biz" is a story that follows several students, and the headmistress, at a school for deaf students. The students at River Valley School for the Deaf just want to act like every other teenager in the world. February, the headmistress, is fighting to keep the school open, because she knows how important a school like this is for deaf students. Charlie is a transfer student who has never spent much time with other deaf people. Austin is trying to come to terms with the fact that his baby sister was just born and can hear, despite being born into a predominantly deaf family.
I believe this is the first novel I have read that has deaf representation. I found the commentary on ableism and racism associated with American Sign Language to be fascinating, and something that I had never really thought about. When segregation was still mandated, there were separate deaf schools for those who were white versus black. Because of this separation, American Sign Language developed differently, and some signs actually mean different things depending on which community the person is a part of. I always thought American Sign Language was seen as a universal language, and it was really eye-oping to realize it is not, and it too suffered from racism.
Overall, I enjoyed the story and themes in this book more than the characters. I think it was great that we got to read from a few different perspectives, and they all had a different relationship towards being deaf or the deaf community in general, but I was not overly invested in any specific character's story. I think all of the characters represent an important experience, but as a whole, I did not find any of them especially interesting.
I think this is a great story, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read about deaf characters or who wants to read a story about human connection. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Violence, Torture, and Ableism

Moderate: Pregnancy and Racism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury