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A review by twiinklex
Chinglish by Sue Cheung
3.0
Maybe don't make light of child abuse and animal cruelty (the author even acknowledges that all her "unfortunate pets" are real) if you wanna discuss racism.
✨ "It's a bit weird though, cos I always feel Chinese when I'm with English people and English when I'm Chinese people. It's never one or the other. It's a bit crap."
Based on the author's real life and "woven together with fiction," this book is told through the POV of a girl from 13 ages to 16 (Year 1984 to 1987). The diary format and illustrations made this a fun and easy read initially. I really felt for the protagonist, who experiences a lot of upheaval and racism in her life. Some scenes that pained me:
- Being asked the dreaded 'where are you from?' even though most people don't see what's wrong with it
- Looking into the mirror to check her eyes after being called 'chinky' by peers who pull their eyes into slits
- Actually thinking that she smelt like soya sauce after being made fun of and washing all of her clothes
I was really invested in her life and kept rooting for her. The entire story itself was wholesome and I enjoyed it. And while I would normally give a 4-star rating for this level of enjoyment, the animal cruelty and child abuse in the book makes me very uncomfortable and warrants 0 stars.
Other reviews have talked about this at length but at a glance:
Domestic and child abuse:
- Holding your wife in a headlock
- Pointing a knife at her throat while in said headlock
- Throwing your son into a nettle field
- Shoving your daughter's head into the toilet bowl
- Flushing said toilet bowl
- Punching her in the back
- Kicking your 2-year-old daughter around like a football
Animal abuse:
- Forgetting about your hamster in its ball, covered in poo
- Vaccuming said hamster and then dumping it back in its cage
- Releasing it into the "wild" at the mercy of dogs
- Getting another hamster
- Taking said hamster for a walk on a leash and letting it to escape
- Feeding your goats trash like mooncakes and Weetabix
- Having one goat "explode" due to a bloated stomach from junk food
- Getting a dog and a bird and subjecting them to more horrors
An overall 3-star rating is very generous.
✨ "It's a bit weird though, cos I always feel Chinese when I'm with English people and English when I'm Chinese people. It's never one or the other. It's a bit crap."
Based on the author's real life and "woven together with fiction," this book is told through the POV of a girl from 13 ages to 16 (Year 1984 to 1987). The diary format and illustrations made this a fun and easy read initially. I really felt for the protagonist, who experiences a lot of upheaval and racism in her life. Some scenes that pained me:
- Being asked the dreaded 'where are you from?' even though most people don't see what's wrong with it
- Looking into the mirror to check her eyes after being called 'chinky' by peers who pull their eyes into slits
- Actually thinking that she smelt like soya sauce after being made fun of and washing all of her clothes
I was really invested in her life and kept rooting for her. The entire story itself was wholesome and I enjoyed it. And while I would normally give a 4-star rating for this level of enjoyment, the animal cruelty and child abuse in the book makes me very uncomfortable and warrants 0 stars.
Other reviews have talked about this at length but at a glance:
Domestic and child abuse:
- Holding your wife in a headlock
- Pointing a knife at her throat while in said headlock
- Throwing your son into a nettle field
- Shoving your daughter's head into the toilet bowl
- Flushing said toilet bowl
- Punching her in the back
- Kicking your 2-year-old daughter around like a football
Animal abuse:
- Forgetting about your hamster in its ball, covered in poo
- Vaccuming said hamster and then dumping it back in its cage
- Releasing it into the "wild" at the mercy of dogs
- Getting another hamster
- Taking said hamster for a walk on a leash and letting it to escape
- Feeding your goats trash like mooncakes and Weetabix
- Having one goat "explode" due to a bloated stomach from junk food
- Getting a dog and a bird and subjecting them to more horrors
An overall 3-star rating is very generous.