Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying

22 reviews

brulereads's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-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

3.0

An important topic. But I had expected more grief/ghost than the hunger.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Vomit

blithesquesttoread's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

Moderate: Death of parent

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-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

5.0

This was excellent. There were some parallels to my own life, though far less extreme. It probably resonated with a lot of us Asian women and girls. There’s already so much pressure on us and the way we look, and is almost always wrapped up as a concern over our health, but the extra layer of Confucian guilt and filial piety takes to a whole other level. So I’m grateful this book was written, because as extreme as it was, I’m also sure there are actually families this intense or even more. Wish I’d had a book like this in middle school. It would’ve helped me get out of my head on what it means to be a good daughter and why an artificial definition of thin is meaningless.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

koreanlinda's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

4.25

This was such a fortunate find in the library. Victoria Ying tells her own story of an eating disorder through a teenage protagonist Val. She is a Vietnamese American with a mother who micromanages her daughter's eating. I have a mother who obsesses over other's judgment of appearance and eating, so I related to Val's struggle. It took me a long time to love my body, stop dieting, and focus on more important parts of my life. 

I hope this book and similar stories are read widely among young people. I think the pressure to look good on social media is ever so high. It takes a lot of self-care and community support to fight off that pressure.

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in March 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Fatphobia

Moderate: Child abuse and Death of parent

dosxhime's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

black_flamed_candle_b00ks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

taylorthebookwitch's review

emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

1.75

Listen okay i really wanted to like this one. The art was lovely but the message was frankly terrible. Im sick of books about abusive parents who “did the best they could.” Hard pass from me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Vomit and Death of parent

poemsandponds's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

This book was sad and melancholy. It hurt to see Val’s relationship with her mother and how her mom put fuel on a fire of Val’s unhealthy relationship with food. Had some good takeaways about friendship, creating space from toxic family relationships, and healing. There was a certain level of emotional distance and also part that felt sanitized and just there for the story’s plot that made the book fall short a bit in the end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Death of parent

Moderate: Vomit

sisters26's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fatphobia, Vomit, and Death of parent