Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Sympathiser by Viet Thanh Nguyen

72 reviews

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Torture, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, War, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Gore, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcohol, and Murder

janineledet's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A tense and difficult read, but well worth it, including the interview with the author at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, and Racial slurs

badmom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Torture, War, Colonisation, Classism, and Racism

Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

cassreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This was wonderfully and thoughtfully written. It has so much to say about the Vietnam war, American imperialism, racism, the American Dream™, politics, language, representation. It's incredibly ambitious, and yet I think it manages to do what it wants well for the most part.

The ending was brutal to read (read TW). It definitely shows the brutality of war, the limits of sympathy, but I still feel unsure about it, and about the book's representation of women as a whole. Still working through that mentally.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Suicide, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and War

lavenderlion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

patchworkculture's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Racism, Murder, and War

friendlypoet's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Racism and War

maviemerveilleuse's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Torture, Rape, Racism, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

livscosycorner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

Having recently returned to reading - coupled with the fact  the author is an academic - The Sympathizer with its dense writing style took me much longer than expected to get through. 

I feel my focus was spent  wading through all the metaphors, analogies and lofty language and im left unsure if I enjoyed (for lack of a better word - perhaps engrossed by?) the story itself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, and Violence

Minor: Xenophobia and Racism

anarmandameg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.75

Just gonna recycle my review from The Hanging City and say 'Weirdly Horny'

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Drug use, Murder, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexism, Trafficking, Gore, Genocide, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Infidelity, Racism, Religious bigotry, Torture, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Deportation, Drug abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and War

Moderate: Blood, Classism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, and Domestic abuse