Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Disorientation

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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partlyclaudia's review against another edition

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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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gomhearts's review

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challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.75

this book provoked me so much. everything about it was so ... destructive (in both good and bad ways). at multiple points i had to stop reading just to take a breath... from either how terrified i was of the next page, trying to process what happened, or just to pace myself to enjoy the book more. (i failed -- i binged more than 200 pages within a night when i promised i'd go to bed early).

at first, i thought i knew what the book would be about: ingrid coming to terms with her asian identity and the internal racism she harbored in her childhood would manifest into her phd dissertation while researching poet xiao-wen chou.

oh my god i was so wrong.

i started to make hypotheses of what would happen next and each time i was debunked. i was in awe by how the book made you feel defenseless. as someone well-versed in the asian-american diaspora and reading about someone who was just so... anti-asian-american, i felt so frustrated with ingrid but wouldn't put the book down since i was determined to see it through that she changes in the end.
did she change?

i don't really know. and i think she's lying to us all.

it irks me to know that she doesn't divulge into academia again. it sucks that the white man wins. there's even a quote vivan says to her regarding how xiao-wen chou writes chinese poetry to benefit the white community. there's no justice for the dissertation riot. god knows i'm so happy that ingrid is foregoing her dating life but it sucks to hear that her asianness in the end depended on removing a white man from her life (WHICH IS GOOD - i never had good vibes about stephen in the first place, but her speech, as tiktok-drama-infused as it is, was only concocted through a 10-minute manipulation quiz?? seriously?) by accepting that she shouldn't date more white men, does she truly understand her belongingness in america? like come on even at the end, she gets placed on asian tour groups "always" she might add. and not to mention: john smith coming to her at the end? how could she forgive him in the first place? after his storytelling, i starting ripping my hair out in utter shock and blatant racism and ingrid, as an asian american (who may honestly be a placeholder for a white woman), forgives him immediately, even working with him in the process.

the book is satirical. it's so hyperbolic i can't even tell what's meant to be taken seriously. are we supposed to take the poc caucus protest seriously? what about her saviorism when it comes to timothy - and why didn't she do anything about it in the first place? is michael supposed to stand in as a metaphor for asian-using-online-propaganda-brain-rot? and how about alex's detachment from the blond, white woman who he only viewed as a symbol for sex. yet another glorification of the white woman as she can come and go as she pleases. vivian was maybe the most authentic character yet. i never hated her. i actually think i may have hated ingrid even though i understood what she was going through.

as i was writing this review, i went from believing this book hailed a 5-star rating to a 3.75. and i wanted to talk about that. from a book that i believe is supposed to speak about asian-american model minority myths and how these stereotypes are perpetuated in modern life, the exaggeration from Vivian's broadcast to Michael's sinophilic rant to John Smith's puppet-playing facade... felt almost backfiring to me.

i cried a lot during this book. and at its peak, i recognize that it's GREAT fiction. very well-written, humorous when needed, personal, and do touch on many aspects of an asian-american's upbringing. however, the feeling i get after reading is synonymous to dread and confusion. what do i feel about ingrid? should i be happy for her? because honestly i'm not. about eunice? about stephen's performative activism? (not to mention, but hello - why was it never addressed that he keeps those raunchy photos AND the recent search history??? ingrid, why didn't you go for it???) anyways.

after reflection, this book gets a 5 in its provocation. but in the aftermath of how i feel, i have to go to a 3.75 for it (with sadness).

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goldencages's review

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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.

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questingnotcoasting's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

This was much weirder than I was expecting but it was definitely enjoyable. I thought it was going to be a straightforward literary novel with an academia setting but it's highly satirical and the plot kept taking slightly surreal turns. That sometimes made it feel like Ingrid wasn't a real person and I didn't feel particularly attached to her but I was still intrigued to find out what would happen.

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abbie_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

5.0

Don’t you love it when you have high expectations for a book and not only are they met but exceeded?? Disorientation is without a doubt my favourite book of 2023. I usually read quite short books, so 400+ pages is a fair amount for me, but I could have read another 400 pages of these characters! This book is so perfectly paced, there’s not a single section that feels drawn out or rushed. The character development feels believable (and sometimes scary) even though I believe it’s classed as satire, and I loved Ingrid and Eunice!

It centres around Ingrid, a Taiwanese-American PhD student in her eighth year, who finds herself somehow studying a Chinese-American poet she initially had no interest in. When she uncovers something strange in the archive one day, she sets off a chain of events that nobody could have predicted, unleashing chaos at her university which unwittingly leads to the start of a thinly veiled white nationalist movement. Believe me, it’s a wild ride, both horrifying and hilarious, as Chou’s wit is unrelenting.

Disorientation tackles everything from fetishisation, racism in academia, identity politics, interracial relationships, parent-child relationships, and everything slots into the story so seamlessly. Ingrid’s journey felt realistic in that she doesn’t unlearn all of her internal biases in one fell swoop - it’s halting and messy, she has a lot to learn and unlearn, and I feel like Chou portrays her development incredibly. She made me feel so many emotions for all these characters - disgust, rage, irritation, pride, the unbearable urge to punch Stephen in the mouth. Truly a rollercoaster, my jaw literally dropped several times throughout the book.

Never boring, often shocking, almost always true to real life even with its exaggerations. Loved it so very much!!

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alexandrabelze's review against another edition

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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? Yes

3.5

omfg i don’t even know where to start. very funny, super dramatic, and at times satirical. it was not AT ALL what i was expecting, but then again i didn’t read any type of summaries before starting it lmao. it didn’t have me hooked until the first major plot twist, but after that i was dying to see how it ended. kind of an anti-climatic ending, but sadly realistic. ingrid + eunice besties 4 ever <3 stephen is the bane of my existence. every time he spoke i wanted to rip my hair out. i WISH he knew when to shut up.

the SCHOOL GIRL COSTUME??? oh my god i was gagged. nothing could’ve prepared me!!! i had to put the kindle DOWN and reflect.

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cozyarthur2022's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Disorientation is a perfect title for this book. I found it unputdownable, and unforgettable. I went to this almost knowing nothing about the plot, so I was really surprised about where it went and how the main character was. And that’s the thing, the book really is about feeling disoriented, surprised, confused about so many different aspects about this characters life, and you get to feel how it all affects the main character even when she doesn’t. One thing I understand about the less positive reviews is the “over the top” and therefore, perhaps, unrealistic aspects of the story, but once you understand it’s also a satire, and you put yourself in the characters shoes - what if this did happen? And, most importantly, why is this not so far removed from reality as one would wish? - in my opinion, you won’t want to put this book down.
I really appreciated also the main friendship in this book, I was always looking forward for those moments.

All in all, I’d recommend this book for sure!

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