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k8lynn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
also, reverse racism is totally not a thing.
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
ceceska's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ce livre suit l'histoire de June, une femme blanche, qui vole le manuscrit non publié de son amie asiatique suite à son décès. Le manuscrit porte sur le rôles des travailleurs chinois lors de la Première Guerre mondiale. Elle publie le récit de son amie en le faisant passer pour le sien, mais en y faisant quelques modifications...
Les thèmes de ce livre sont : le racisme, la solitude, la jalousie et l'appropriation culturelle. Ces thèmes sont explorés dans un long monologue fiévreux et dérangé de la protagoniste.
Ce livre était unique puisque la majorité de celui-ci était le fil de pensées de la protagoniste, June. Les dialogues sont peu nombreux mais sont très efficaces. Dans ce cas-ci, moins de dialogue a rendu l'histoire très intéressée puisqu'on voit bien la psyché de la protagoniste ainsi que le raisonnement qui la pousse à prendre des décisions chaotiques.
J'ai beaucoup aimé détester June. Je ne sais pas quand est la dernière fois que j'ai autant détesté une protagoniste d'un roman. June était extrêmement raciste, méchante et qui pense que tout lui est dû. Elle est absolument horrible. Chacune de ses décisions est pire que la précédente. J'ai adoré ça.
Ce roman m'a tenue en haleine du début jusqu'à la fin. J'ai eu des réactions de surprise à haute voix plusieurs fois pendant ma lecture. Je n'en revenais simplement pas des événements qui se produisaient.
Ce roman était très bien écrit. J'ai beaucoup apprécié ma lecture. Le rythme était très rapide, ce que j'apprécie énormément. Je ne m'attendais pas du tout à cela considérant que la majorité du livre est ses pensées.
Bref, encore une fois, je recommande ce livre à TOUT le monde.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, War, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Colonisation, Bullying, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Genocide, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Deportation, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
katrinalamothe's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Gaslighting, Slavery, Emotional abuse, War, Cursing, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Bullying, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Vomit
Minor: Islamophobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
rnbhargava's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Murder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Blood, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual content, Eating disorder, Medical content, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, War, Drug use, Grief, Biphobia, Classism, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Rape
The entire narrative of this book is about a White American woman excusing and justifying her actions against a college friend and writer colleague who is Chinese American plus the varying moods and swings in action to conceal what she is doing. We are in the mind of the white woman character the whole time and it’s intentionally uncomfortable to be in this character’s head. Pace yourself if you need to though this novel isn’t that long._meganrose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racism and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Blood and Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Physical abuse
ninahuynh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Overall, I like the book. There were just some parts where the writing was a biz clunky for me and I had to re-read the sentence several times to understand it.
Graphic: Blood, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Death of parent, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Medical content, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and War
xgabrielle_hx's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Death, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Medical content
Moderate: Blood, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Islamophobia
abicaro17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Classism, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Alcohol, Body horror, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Islamophobia, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Medical content, Sexual assault, Stalking, Cursing, Rape, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Stalking, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Alcohol, Body horror, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Cultural appropriation, Death, Racism, Sexism, Cursing, Grief, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Colonisation, Genocide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Bullying, and Homophobia
dsalazar's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This reminded me of The Curse on Hulu with Nathan Fielder, Ben Sadfie, and Emma Stone, where everyone (including the audience) is in on the joke except the main characters. I especially liked that the whole plot revolved around the writing/publishing industry and how vicious it can make a writer. It felt like I was reading a fictional story but also questioning which parts came from Kuang’s lived experiences. This added depth and intrigue as I learned more about a failed v. successful novelist’s journey.
Aside from the language and pacing, diving into Junie’s psyche felt like watching that recent Golden Globes host flop horrendously. It’s as if I simultaneously hated her, needed to understand her more, wanted to stop reading cause of the overwhelming cringe, and pitied her.
Plot-wise, it was enough of a glimpse into Junie’s life, family, and background to move the story along but not so deep that I would get bored or lost in the details. There was just enough to bring me into the story and Junie’s head, which made this a fairly easy read. I do think the ending was a bit predictable but only insofar as (I think) Kuang intended. Any readers will enjoy this even more if they are super online and have used Twitter. Iykyk
Anyway, I loved it and everyone should read it!!
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Minor: Alcohol, Misogyny, Blood, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content