Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Disorientation by Elaine Hsieh Chou

6 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Gaslighting

Minor: Vomit

carbs666's review

challenging dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was genuinely so smart and funny and weird and if you've spent any time in the ivory towers of academia (especially studying the humanities) or have been to grad school it will hit especially hard!

Ingrid is such an interesting character - the way she wakes up and looks around her life one day and wonders how the fuck she got there is extremely relatable, and while her inability to decide for much of the book if she's going to bury her head in the sand (or in over the counter narcotics) or stay painfully, horribly awake is a bit frustrating it's also realistic and understandable. Who among us hasn't debated with ourselves whether we really want to see what going on or pretend we can't - because once you see something, it's harder to do nothing about it. Additionally Ingrid's awakening to the experiences of racism in her life and the lives of her peers (and her hilarious learning curve of social justice terminology) felt extremely real in the context of a small liberal arts college campus. I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Racism

Moderate: Vomit

amaezone's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

A clear five-star novel :
• one for the look inside "a regular person's" mind starting to reflect on their own position and attitudes regarding race,
• one for the description of academia as it works today,
• one for the great friendship and

avoidind the "they leave the bad guy and shortly after gets with the good guy" scenario

,
• one for the nuanced and clear explanation and depiction of the personalities of all the characters (which to a certain extent, avoids the bad person/good person characterization, although the sides are clearly defined,
• one for

the ending out of academia as perfectly legitimate

. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Trafficking

smute's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Racial slurs

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, and Sexism

Minor: Violence, Sexual assault, and Vomit

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

(adjusted from 3.0 to 3.5; i’ve since searched for similar books but come up short, so i have to recognize it for creating that itch and being original)
the courtroom tableau was brilliantly executed, definitely my favorite part
the plot summary was so fucking promising, but i found the writing to be lacking. i feel like it addressed its heavy topics through regurgitations of already finished conversations, rather than playing out those conversations in real time, if that makes sense. i know it's supposed to be absurdist, but the plot was just off the rails at times. Vivian's character development was very good though, shout out to that. also, the audiobook narration was very bland
cover review: ★★★★½. the illustration is gorgeous, just not a fan of either the typeface or the color of the title and author's name

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Cultural appropriation, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, Rape, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Infidelity

Minor: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Ableism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Death, Drug abuse, Cancer, Homophobia, Mental illness, Cursing, Blood, Drug use, Outing, and Islamophobia

harperhoney's review

challenging funny informative 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Classism, Violence, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Deportation, Addiction, Body shaming, and Colonisation

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Police brutality, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Ableism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Outing