Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran

13 reviews

aformeracceleratedreader's review

medium-paced

5.0

Absolutely loved this. Extremely relatable on so many levels. 
There are some content/trigger warnings to be aware of but nothing extremely graphic.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Cursing, Bullying, Drug use, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Racism, and Child abuse

sirhcybe's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

Phuc had a troubled childhood with an abusive father and lots of racism and bullying directed his way. So it's no wonder he was an angry, punk  troublemaker as a teenager. I live near the town where he grew up and he's pretty hard on it.  The book ends with him finally achieving his longed for goal of getting out of Carlisle and going to college so we never quite see him mature into the teacher he becomes or find out if he ever reconciles with his parents, which made the book feel inconclusive to me. I also didn't personally relate to his teenage troubles and I don't particularly enjoy reading stories about other people's sad lives. Finally, while generally well written, it did annoy me occasionally that Phuc writes like he's trying to get high school English teachers to assign his book because it has so many good SAT vocabulary words.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Sexual content

modzu's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Cancer, and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Grief, Blood, Drug use, Infidelity, War, Murder, and Animal cruelty

mmccombs's review

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

Well-written and very compelling, Sigh, Gone was a book I unexpectedly finished in like two sittings because I couldn’t get enough of Tran’s voice and story. While I did sometimes wish it leaned more heavily into the books that titled each chapter (or more heavily into the punk aspect, I feel the title was maybe misleading), I loved how he took so many disparate pieces of his life and brought them together into a cohesive and nuanced mosaic with so much compassion for his family and himself. Would definitely recommend for a solid, incredibly readable memoir (and would doubly recommend the audiobook experience)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Violence, and Toxic relationship

annvsted87's review

emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, and Child abuse

saara_ilona_muu's review

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is a great first-effort written by a Vietnamese-American Gen X skater-punk. I loved so much about this book. He's got an authentic voice, and I found myself laughing and crying at various points.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Bullying, Child abuse, Grief, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Violence, Alcohol, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: War, Murder, and Suicide

chasinash's review

dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Bullying, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Fire/Fire injury

plantybooklover's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

4.75

Phuc is evacuated from Saigon with his family in 1975 and ends up, surprisingly, in Carlisle, PA.  I grew up- shockingly- 11 miles away. we were 3-4 years apart and as far as I can tell, never crossed paths- although I am sure he met my Mom at some point. 
   Phuc is an excellent story teller and rolls through his life - with it's many challenges- in a funny, but also genuine and clear eyed way. His descriptions of Carlisle, were spot on, and I related my way to tears at some points in the book- his story- while uniquely his, resonated with me- and I am sure it will resonate with anyone who has felt like an outsider. 
The only thing that would have made it better, would have been to have some chapters of his time in college- he attended the same college as my sister, so ... I'd love to sit down with him and compare out some notes some day!
I'd recommend the audio book- the author narrates it himself, and I felt like he was just hanging out in the living room, telling stories.  Definitely a worth while read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, and Racism

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Blood, Drug use, and Fire/Fire injury

calicot's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Racism

Moderate: Racial slurs and Violence

Minor: Suicide, Murder, and Death

mandkips's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual content, Hate crime, Death, Animal death, and Violence