Reviews with content warning for Racism - The Leavers

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Leavers by Lisa Ko

14 reviews

julalbert56's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-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

3.5

The Leavers was a moving story of survival when the world keeps throwing challenge after challenge at you. I really sympathized with Polly and appreciated that we got to see from her point of view. I understand Deming’s challenging, unjust upbringing, but I was really frustrated with some of his actions. Overall, a very powerful read.

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normandie77's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Intriguing story of a Chinese American boy who's mom returns to China under vague circumstances and he is adopted by a white American family.

My heart broke for this young boy who was expected to give up his Chinese identity, name, language, and food and assimilate into a different culture. Watching him struggle with feelings of abandonment, racism, people-pleasing behaviors, and apathy was so sad. As he learns the circumstances under which his mother left and returned to China he comes to forgive her. Through it all, he realizes he can't live for his adoptive parents or his mother but must carve out a life of his own.

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grboph's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

This was simply a great book. I loved all of the characters, the story was captivating and emotional, and Ko is a wonderful writer - I'd definitely seek out other books of hers. It also sheds light on an important societal issue, and I think it's a very important thing to be aware of. I'd recommend this book to anyone who lives in the United States or anyone who likes good stories about families.

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ellastimpson's review

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challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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sakisreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

I was looking for books that centred around joy for people of colour and found this on someone’s ‘Must Read’ list. I absolutely cannot wait to put it on mine either! 👏🏼 I only put it down to laugh (at some of the pure audacity of some of the characters) or cry (about Peilan and Deming and the adversities they faced).

Ko including Peilan’s deportation after 2 years in ICE immigration camps made me want to throw my Kindle across the room! I was livid. It is atrocious that America still allows this to happen.

I wasn’t sure if there was actually going to be any joy but it was definitely scattered throughout. If anyone is looking for a beautiful book, this one is it. I am so excited to ask friends to read this one to discuss with me! ✨

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hearth_hobbit's review

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adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

This book is about a mother and son who are separated by deportation eventually are reunited again .

This book focuses on subjects such as transracial adoption, poverty, addiction, the inhumane treatment of people during deportation in the U.S., and family (found or otherwise). The story is beautifully crafted but extremely heavy emotionally.

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mayab1226's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I think everyone should read this book. It paints a beautiful, multifaceted, and realistic picture of topics such as the mother-son relationship, the Fuzhounese diaspora, and the struggle to fit in and find a home, a place where you belong. The book gave me a new perspective on issues like trans-racial adoption that I hadn’t previously considered, and its depiction of

ICE detention camps and deportation

was absolutely harrowing to read.

The characterization of Peilan/Polly and Deming/Daniel, in my opinion, was fascinating and three-dimensional. I thought the narrative device of Deming/Daniel’s parts being written in third person, then Peilan/Polly’s being written in first person with her son as the narratee (“you”), was interesting and well-executed, if a bit surprising at first; it ultimately fit their characters well. I especially liked the unspoken similarities and parallels between them, the things that really make them mother and son—for instance, they both hate silence and find it oppressive (side note: I loved reading about Daniel’s synesthesia, since I have the same type—I see colors when I hear music), they both chafe at the idea of doing exactly what is expected of them, and ultimately

their idea of home and a place of belonging is transient, temporary, for both of them; both of them choose to be the titular leavers

. Ko has created characters that fit this conclusion well and serve it perfectly: Polly craves the unknown, endless possibility, being in motion, and often chooses to leaves her fate up to chance; similarly, while Daniel doesn’t like to be physically adrift, his gambling habit in which he gets himself “lost” evokes the same tendencies. Speaking of Polly’s characterization, it brings up interesting questions about her life story after

Daniel finds her

. From the beginning, she’s ambivalent about motherhood—domestic life is the exact opposite of the freedom and possibility she craves—but she obviously loves her son. At the same time, though

could she have tried harder to find him after being deported to China, or did she just really want to start a new life of her own?

It’s probable that both are true at the same time; both are consistent with her multifaceted characterization; it’s what made my professor call this “a very brave novel”.

Which leads me to a disclaimer — I read this for a college class on Asian American Fiction. This review might also be influenced by my friend in that same class, who loved this novel and cited it as her favorite assigned book of the whole semester. But I genuinely think this was a well-written book that brings up very important issues. And in the end, it made me Feel Emotions—and isn’t that all you can truly ask of a novel?

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claudiamacpherson's review

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challenging emotional sad medium-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

I read this book for my university’s alumni virtual book club, and let me tell you, there is no other reason I finished it. I ended up liking the ending better than the first two-thirds of the book, but there’s no way I would have made it that far if I didn’t have a reason to be reading it. I found Deming/Daniel an annoying and frustrating character. I tend to have difficulty reading stories about addiction, so his gambling problem quickly became too much for me. I did, however, really like the details about his synesthesia (and how it connected to his mother), and Peilan/Polly’s struggles with her relationship to motherhood. Also, as difficult as it was to read, Peilan/Polly’s experience in a detention camp felt important and informative to read, as well as very timely given the current problems with immigration and abuse of immigrants on the US border.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe):

Actually not too bad. Not completely happy, and definitely not neatly wrapper up, but the ending was more on the positive side than I was expecting.

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rebriley95's review

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emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

A really good interesting read. Was so interesting to see how Deming/Daniel grew and learned from his past, and how he was part of so many communities. I was surprised by the ending but happy with the growth of the characters. I found the book a bit slow but enjoyable and would recommend.

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atamano's review against another edition

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dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

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