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secunda's review
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
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
4.75
This is one of the best fiction books I’ve read this year. I think the primary audience of course is well-educated Asian women, but I think anyone can enjoy this book. It’s a fantastic skewering of white-dominated Asian studies departments, unstrategic student activism, and grad school.
I was also confused for most of the book regarding the arc with the white fiancé, but I think the ending of the book more or less sorted it out when Ingrid leaves Stephen not necessarily for his Asian fetish, but because she doesn’t like him as a person. As an Asian woman who is currently dating a white man (and so faced similar questions to the ones Ingrid confronts), I find interrogating your own dating preferences over and over to be counterproductive to your ultimate happiness, so I feel that arc went on a little longer than I liked.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, Addiction, Self harm, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Drug use, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Rape, Slavery, Religious bigotry, and Sexual assault
sissizc's review
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Vomit
frankiedoodle's review
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I picked up this book because I loved Yellowface by RF Kuang and Disorientation was suggested to me as a similar book. It was strikingly similar (both in subject matter and writing style), but I'm not sure that having that comparison at the front of my mind as I read set Disorientation up for success. While both books use satire and absurdism to deliver a message about anti-Asian racism and the model minority myth, I found Yellowface to be slightly more subtle and fun to read. It's always a tall, somewhat unfair task for a book to be immediately and directly competing with one of your favorites, so feel free to take this review with a grain of salt.
This book had a lot to say about identity, academia, and the way that White Supremacy subconsciously infiltrates all of our senses of self, but I didn't feel super trusted as a reader to pick up on that message. Most of this book's more thoughtful points get delivered through lectures and op-ed style blocks of text (sometimes literally coming in the form of op-ed articles written by one of the academic characters), and it made the pacing drag quite a bit. I appreciated and even learned a lot from the points this book had to make, I just wished that maybe we had gotten the chance to find our way to those points through the plot, been shown more and told less.
Every single character in this book fits neatly and completely into a trope. I couldn't decide whether I liked that or not, honestly. I think it was an intentional choice...Disorientation reads as parody, it exists in a world where, by the end, everyone has dropped any inhibition or pretense. Everyone is always at every turn saying the quiet part out loud. On the other hand, existing in the head of an unreliable narrator who's doing outrageous things gets a little less enjoyable when NOBODY in this literary universe is any more reliable or any less outrageous. I guess I was just expecting a little more grounding and had to work to suspend my disbelief as I caught up with what kind of book this was going to be.
Ingrid's visceral journey to find herself and her voice was evocative and fulfilling, and I think will likely hold a lot of validation for AAPI individuals or those in academia. It might have been a little bit on the nose about it all, but overall I found it a very ambitious and creative undertaking and I enjoyed it.
This book had a lot to say about identity, academia, and the way that White Supremacy subconsciously infiltrates all of our senses of self, but I didn't feel super trusted as a reader to pick up on that message. Most of this book's more thoughtful points get delivered through lectures and op-ed style blocks of text (sometimes literally coming in the form of op-ed articles written by one of the academic characters), and it made the pacing drag quite a bit. I appreciated and even learned a lot from the points this book had to make, I just wished that maybe we had gotten the chance to find our way to those points through the plot, been shown more and told less.
Every single character in this book fits neatly and completely into a trope. I couldn't decide whether I liked that or not, honestly. I think it was an intentional choice...Disorientation reads as parody, it exists in a world where, by the end, everyone has dropped any inhibition or pretense. Everyone is always at every turn saying the quiet part out loud. On the other hand, existing in the head of an unreliable narrator who's doing outrageous things gets a little less enjoyable when NOBODY in this literary universe is any more reliable or any less outrageous. I guess I was just expecting a little more grounding and had to work to suspend my disbelief as I caught up with what kind of book this was going to be.
Ingrid's visceral journey to find herself and her voice was evocative and fulfilling, and I think will likely hold a lot of validation for AAPI individuals or those in academia. It might have been a little bit on the nose about it all, but overall I found it a very ambitious and creative undertaking and I enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Racism, Emotional abuse, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Sexual assault
goldencages's review
challenging
emotional
funny
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
5.0
A truly witty, funny and on-point satire on the workings of academia and Asian-American identity.
trigger warnings: gaslighting, pill addiction, cultural appropriation, externalised and internalised racism
You know you have a good book in your hands when you want to recommend it to everyone. A bit over a month now after reading it, I still feel that it is one of my most impactful reads of this year. If I had more time, I'd have written an essay about it but alas, I'll keep this to a short but hopefully still helpful review. Disorientation is a book about Chinese American PhD student Ingrid, a major of East Asian Studies who hasn't been able to finish her thesis about the works of a (fictional) famous Chinese-American poet for years. One day, however, she makes a shocking finding – one that sets her off to question everything about her life: the purpose of her thesis, her fellow students, her mentors and supervisors, her boyfriend, her best friend, and most of all herself. Who is she and who is she on the way of becoming? Who does she want to be and what does it mean to be Asian-American? Who gets to say what Asian-American means and who gets to represent it?
Now, this description may sound vague and maybe even a bit basic. However, the real gem of this book is its writing style. Ingrid's spiral into madness is written as a satire, rendering it both darkly funny yet also furiously on-point as a reflection of our unjust society.
All the while, Ingrid is not a perfect human being (nor are any of the other characters for the matter): she is written as flawed, self-righteous, insecure, conflicted, and cowardly yet also impulsive, which made her perfect main character material for me. In that sense, Disorientation is an excellent Bildungsroman that doesn't shy away from the (hypo)critical and difficult aspects of being part of an Asian diaspora - aspects that we may also have exhibited or performed ourselves but may have always felt somewhat reluctant or shameful to confront and reflect – at the same time that it takes us on the mad but also hopeful journey of Ingrid's slow but sure enlightening, a journey I highly recommend to everyone taking.
trigger warnings: gaslighting, pill addiction, cultural appropriation, externalised and internalised racism
You know you have a good book in your hands when you want to recommend it to everyone. A bit over a month now after reading it, I still feel that it is one of my most impactful reads of this year. If I had more time, I'd have written an essay about it but alas, I'll keep this to a short but hopefully still helpful review. Disorientation is a book about Chinese American PhD student Ingrid, a major of East Asian Studies who hasn't been able to finish her thesis about the works of a (fictional) famous Chinese-American poet for years. One day, however, she makes a shocking finding – one that sets her off to question everything about her life: the purpose of her thesis, her fellow students, her mentors and supervisors, her boyfriend, her best friend, and most of all herself. Who is she and who is she on the way of becoming? Who does she want to be and what does it mean to be Asian-American? Who gets to say what Asian-American means and who gets to represent it?
Now, this description may sound vague and maybe even a bit basic. However, the real gem of this book is its writing style. Ingrid's spiral into madness is written as a satire, rendering it both darkly funny yet also furiously on-point as a reflection of our unjust society.
All the while, Ingrid is not a perfect human being (nor are any of the other characters for the matter): she is written as flawed, self-righteous, insecure, conflicted, and cowardly yet also impulsive, which made her perfect main character material for me. In that sense, Disorientation is an excellent Bildungsroman that doesn't shy away from the (hypo)critical and difficult aspects of being part of an Asian diaspora - aspects that we may also have exhibited or performed ourselves but may have always felt somewhat reluctant or shameful to confront and reflect – at the same time that it takes us on the mad but also hopeful journey of Ingrid's slow but sure enlightening, a journey I highly recommend to everyone taking.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation and Racism
Moderate: Gaslighting and Addiction
flowchelle's review
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Stalking
luna_bear's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
medium-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: Gaslighting, Racism, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Bullying, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Violence and Murder
storielore's review against another edition
challenging
funny
reflective
tense
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Gaslighting, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Addiction, Cultural appropriation, Suicide attempt, Ableism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Stalking and Sexual content
alysereadsbooks's review
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
This book was unique and I’ll be thinking about it for a long time. It made me reflect on what it means to identify as an Asian person. Also found the exploration of academia and general disillusionment fun to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Addiction
Moderate: Xenophobia
archiveofrasa's review
funny
informative
reflective
medium-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
4.75
this really came for academia's throat. for the JUGULAR. the twists also held me and shook my South Asian ass by the shoulders to not trust white men ever and I agree!
this was the first satirical work of fiction I had ever read and honestly? a good way to start. what made it super fucking hilarious was how accurate the shit they were saying was. Ingrid, Vivian, Eunice, Alex, even the ass white men. among that, Ingrid's development was so satisfying to read. she goes from this literal pick-me East Asian into what realistically many people of colour are in this day and age (not the exaggerated stereotype that the right love to make fun of, though you do get that with Vivian in a sort of love letter manner). I love reading flawed women in fiction and their shenanigans, it's what makes me fly by these things so quickly. the discussion of white men fetishising (East) Asians is 100% a conversation that needs to be had and this book handles it so so well.
I also loved how not only the antagonistic characters had flawed views.Alex points out how easily Eunice and Ingrid throw themselves at their white counterparts but is also super hypocritical in the same sense. very realistic and refreshing to see! it also just outwardly spoke about issues that a lot of us are too scared to bring up, so if you're white, I highly recommend reading this book to fully grasp what we mean by fetishistic racism.
I definitely agree the pace slowed down a bit in the middle but personally was okay with it! I think what maybe knocked this down a 0.25 was how heavy it was on the satirical aspects. the characters really had no room to breathe and neither did I (out of laughter? maybe) but I'm not sure how else you would've gone about it, so it doesn't affect me too much.
the detailed writing was my favourite too, how Chou built so much character in what Ingrid describes. definitely gonna reread this again to fully absorb the prose. third person definitely fits the narrative style of this story, I think if it was in first person, Ingrid would've annoyed me too much to continue reading. and the ending was incredibly gratifying, never felt myself cheer for Ingrid harder.
overall very much looking forward to what Chou writes next!!
this was the first satirical work of fiction I had ever read and honestly? a good way to start. what made it super fucking hilarious was how accurate the shit they were saying was. Ingrid, Vivian, Eunice, Alex, even the ass white men. among that, Ingrid's development was so satisfying to read. she goes from this literal pick-me East Asian into what realistically many people of colour are in this day and age (not the exaggerated stereotype that the right love to make fun of, though you do get that with Vivian in a sort of love letter manner). I love reading flawed women in fiction and their shenanigans, it's what makes me fly by these things so quickly. the discussion of white men fetishising (East) Asians is 100% a conversation that needs to be had and this book handles it so so well.
I also loved how not only the antagonistic characters had flawed views.
I definitely agree the pace slowed down a bit in the middle but personally was okay with it! I think what maybe knocked this down a 0.25 was how heavy it was on the satirical aspects. the characters really had no room to breathe and neither did I (out of laughter? maybe) but I'm not sure how else you would've gone about it, so it doesn't affect me too much.
the detailed writing was my favourite too, how Chou built so much character in what Ingrid describes. definitely gonna reread this again to fully absorb the prose. third person definitely fits the narrative style of this story, I think if it was in first person, Ingrid would've annoyed me too much to continue reading. and the ending was incredibly gratifying, never felt myself cheer for Ingrid harder.
overall very much looking forward to what Chou writes next!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, and Addiction
k_aro's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
On the level of how articulately and beautifully this book manages to encapsulate so many disparate Asian-American experiences, it really deserves the biggest props.
Unfortunately, as an Asian-Canadian... I wish I could say this (that is to say, any of the bigotry) was shocking to me. It's really rewarding to watch Ingrid grow both not only as someone who can articulate her own desires but also come to terms with the oppressions she faces now and perpetuated when she was younger (and at points in the book!). I do have to say, the first... third? Is truly frustrating as someone who had to grow up and grow through these feelings myself.
I mean, half the time I feel like I'm staring at a mirror of myself. There really is something about how immigrant narratives are so often circular in nature.
However, the other thing that Disorientation should get props for is how it manages to express that every single person has at least one little piece of the puzzle, even if they're pretty horrible in other ways. Take, for example, Alex, who really does understand the fetishization of Asian women - but is also an MRA/appropriates Black culture. He only understands it through this very myopic lens (at first), but he really does get it. And, for how it sympathizes with Ingrid for her desire to close her eyes and just go along with it, because it is easier than anything else.
I have some... weird feelings about how Vivian Vo and the POC Caucus are talked about - I don't think Chou is always wrong about it, mind, I just think certain framings are a bit weird given the overall story's conclusion.
That said, it refuses to excuses both the institutions and the people who perpetuate them. For John (the true identity of the elusive poet Ingrid agonizes over), Ingrid is possibly (or possibly not!) tricked into sympathizing with him, but when it is revealed he really is a fucking scumbag (and he is!), Ingrid has no qualms in her irritation and hatred with him.
I also appreciate the perpetuation of the system, even if it isn't the "happy ending" I may have wanted. There's an article that for the life of me I cannot find, but it talks about how Babel (by R. F. Kuang) and Portrait of a Thief (by Grace D. Li) try and deconstruct academia, but still have their main characters assume academia as the inherent natural high point they work to, with Kuang and Li alike hailing from T10 schools. Even beyond not attending a T10, Ingrid's decision to move out of academia is interesting.
That said, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. Everyone seems to consolidate their opinions - not a bad thing! - but it does come very quickly.
Unfortunately, as an Asian-Canadian... I wish I could say this (that is to say, any of the bigotry) was shocking to me. It's really rewarding to watch Ingrid grow both not only as someone who can articulate her own desires but also come to terms with the oppressions she faces now and perpetuated when she was younger (and at points in the book!). I do have to say, the first... third? Is truly frustrating as someone who had to grow up and grow through these feelings myself.
I mean, half the time I feel like I'm staring at a mirror of myself. There really is something about how immigrant narratives are so often circular in nature.
However, the other thing that Disorientation should get props for is how it manages to express that every single person has at least one little piece of the puzzle, even if they're pretty horrible in other ways. Take, for example, Alex, who really does understand the fetishization of Asian women - but is also an MRA/appropriates Black culture. He only understands it through this very myopic lens (at first), but he really does get it. And, for how it sympathizes with Ingrid for her desire to close her eyes and just go along with it, because it is easier than anything else.
I have some... weird feelings about how Vivian Vo and the POC Caucus are talked about - I don't think Chou is always wrong about it, mind, I just think certain framings are a bit weird given the overall story's conclusion.
I also appreciate the perpetuation of the system, even if it isn't the "happy ending" I may have wanted. There's an article that for the life of me I cannot find, but it talks about how Babel (by R. F. Kuang) and Portrait of a Thief (by Grace D. Li) try and deconstruct academia, but still have their main characters assume academia as the inherent natural high point they work to, with Kuang and Li alike hailing from T10 schools. Even beyond not attending a T10, Ingrid's decision to move out of academia is interesting.
That said, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. Everyone seems to consolidate their opinions - not a bad thing! - but it does come very quickly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: Infidelity, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia