Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

51 reviews

siebensommer's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

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

3.5

why was sucking it up and pushing through it to the end perched on such a high pedestal anyway?
these were the same so-called values that sent phd students running headfirst into the open arms of antidepressants. for once in her life she wanted to be selfishly and deliciously lazy. to embody the most abhorred word of her generation: unproductive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Hate crime, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Drug use, Fatphobia, and Violence

e28rika's review against another edition

funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Cultural appropriation, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

hmih's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexism, Colonisation, Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Classism, Violence, and Hate crime

Minor: Police brutality

kelsmc's review

challenging dark funny reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Lesbophobia

bookwormdystopian2's review

challenging funny 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Gaslighting and Emotional abuse

slaywithsteph's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

Unhinged. This is the unhinged version of Yellowface. The plot which stirs the pot is ridiculously hilarious but the journey I took with Ingrid was not.

Where she began in a pool of her own internalized racism, she emerged with eyes wide open. Where she once made herself smaller, she reclaimed her space. Where she began unsure, she became certain. Where she began meek, she ended strong.

This is a book that I will remember.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Bullying, Police brutality, Deportation, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence and Misogyny

kathshiroma's review against another edition

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Bullying, Violence, and Sexual violence

Minor: Body shaming, Colonisation, Outing, and Deportation

jan_db's review

dark emotional funny 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

i had absolutely no idea where this book was taking me at times and i love it for that. 
genuinely made me think about how society treats asian people, especially in a post covid world.
i enjoyed the characters interactions with each other; all of them were established really well i think.
made me laugh at how ridiculous these characters were at times (and also in disbelief that white people like the ones portrayed in this book actually exist…)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

partlyclaudia's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative inspiring 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

4.0

found a rec for this at a local bookstore. really loved the self-critical tone of the narrator and seeing her develop over the course of the book. big themes of identity and belonging as well as criticism of academia. mild mystery and heist scenes as well as playing with a number of different writing styles. a really poignant look at academia, its faults, and the polarization of race and identity in today’s society. ingrid is deeply relatable and approachable as a lost phD student, struggling to understand her own identity and place in the world. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Xenophobia

Minor: Bullying

emotional manipulation and gaslighting prevalent themes

oceanelle's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

Voicey, fresh, important. In some ways, Ingrid, the protagonist, reads like if you just let all your intrusive thoughts win, which I loved deeply. And in other ways, that unhingedness always teeters on the side of painfully real. I’m going to be thinking about this book all year, what an excellent way to start off my 2024 reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racism, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Colonisation and Xenophobia

Minor: Racial slurs