Reviews tagging 'Death'

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

26 reviews

imds's review against another edition

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  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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scarroll178's review against another edition

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emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I have so many questions about how this world works. Okay, so everyone is an actor? Have they always been actors, or were they ever real people? If Willis Wu’s ultimate goal is to become Kung Fu Guy, then what is the audition process like? Where is the casting team?

The thematic elements in this book are by far its strongest parts. The author has a lot to say about internalized racism and stereotypes about Asian Americans. These ideas made the book engaging, but I wish the author had written them in the format of an essay rather than a novel. 
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horizonous's review

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challenging reflective fast-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

2.5

This is a difficult one to rate and review. It's unlike anything I ever read and very unique in its screenplay formatting. I liked how the theme of assimilation is explored through generic Hollywood stereotypes but I can't help but think in the end it lacked a bit of depth because it was more style then substance? 
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elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

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funny reflective fast-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

3.5

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yuyuv's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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cozyscones's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful 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

4.5

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inkylabyrinth's review against another edition

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funny informative lighthearted fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Interior Chinatown is about Willis Wu, a struggling actor who wants to break out of the Generic Asian Man roles he’s always playing on the never-ending cop show Black & White. Still, Willis worries that the only role he can aspire to is Kung Fu Guy, and maybe he doesn’t want that.

This book is very surreal, very clever satire. It has so much to say on how Asian-Americans fit into American culture, or how they are often either forgotten or made into stereotypes. Smart, funny, unconventional, easy to read, highly recommended. 
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tinathedrifter's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes

5.0

What to say - this novel spoke like a Hollywood script right to my heart. The main character spends his life trying to make it out of a typecasted Generic Asian Man role that’s a trap for him, only to find
that his dream of being Kung Fu Guy was just one rung higher on the ladder that leads nowhere. The question I asked myself - closing the book, was - in what ways am I playing my own gendered version of the Young Asian Woman trap?
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samchase112's review against another edition

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

5.0

A brilliant, distressing satire about Asian stereotypes and American culture. Both devastating and hopeful at once.

I highly recommend the audiobook, it was well-performed and, thanks to the narrator’s fantastic portrayals of multiple characters and voices and accents, I never felt lost even in this uniquely structured story.
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michaelion's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative reflective 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

4.0

🎬RE👏🏾PRE🎬SEN👏🏾TA🎬TION👏🏾 🎬MAT👏🏾TERS🎬 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 REPRESENTATION MATTERS !!!

One of the best details that gave it extra points is that it's about the same time reading as it would be for an actual script for a regular feature length film. 5 stars for the audiobook. Of the few audiobooks I've listened to, they're produced very dry, just a persom reading to you, but this one has sounds effects and little fun details that make the already vibrant story really come alive.
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