BOOK REVIEW: PEOPLE WHO TALK TO STUFFED ANIMALS ARE NICE (JUNE 2023) BY AO OMAE – SHARED EXPERIENCES OF ESTRANGED MODERN YOUTH

SASHA SENGELMANN WRITES – It is no secret that opening up to others may often be a daunting task, for there is no telling whether one’s display of vulnerability will be met with compassion or criticism. Such an idea is apparent in Ao Omae’s People Who Talk to Stuffed Animals…

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BOOK REVIEW: VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS (2023) BY JESSE SUTANTO – A WHOLESOME INVESTIGATION OF THE UNCONVENTIONAL

SARAH LOHMANN WRITES — Vera Wong’s days are often uneventful. Despite owning her own business, she finds that her once vibrant neighborhood and community have become monotonous—until a dead man turns up in her teahouse. When the police, however, don’t seem to take it as seriously as she expects, Vera…

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JAPAN: RECENT LEGAL REVISIONS ELIMINATE “FORCIBLE” FROM THE DEFINITION OF RAPE

ALI ZANE WRITES – Long criticized for its sex crime laws, Japan has revised the Penal Code, redefining rape as non-consensual sexual intercourse. Previously, rape was classified as forcible sexual intercourse, meaning that the assailant had to have used physical violence to qualify for prosecution. This century-old law has created…

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HAS THE INDIVIDUAL FALLEN?

ARMAAN JHANGIANI writes – Societies with law and order, power and stability, and virtues of morality and love have always been epitomized as the peak of human community and self-restraint. While the beginnings of America would encapsulate this, the industrial rise following America’s success in World War II would introduce…

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BOOK REVIEW: GREEK LESSONS (2023) BY HAN KANG — A MEDITATION ON SILENCE AND SELFHOOD

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES — What if talking were like reaching into a vast abyss with no hope of a response? That’s how it is for South Korean author Han Kang’s mute protagonist in her latest English language release, Greek Lessons (2023). Kang’s novel, both riveting and entirely…

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BOOK REVIEW: HAPPY STORIES, MOSTLY (2023) BY NORMAN ERIKSON PASARIBU — ALWAYS ALMOST, NEVER QUITE

GABY RUSLI WRITES— To be or not to be happy? That is certainly not the question. The soon-to-be-published in America short story collection Happy Stories, Mostly (2021) expresses an LGBTQ+ person’s limited accessibility to happiness in a world plagued with acute heteronormativity. Happy Stories, Mostly (2023) by Indonesian-born Norman Erikson Pasaribu is a collection…

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BOOK REVIEW: SHE IS A HAUNTING (2023) BY TRANG THANH TRAN – A BLEAK HOUSE WITH SPECTRAL VISION

BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – There’s nothing quite like finding out your house is very much alive and wants to consume you. Vietnamese American teenager, Jade Nguyen, lands in Vietnam with her younger sister Lily for the heroic purpose of surviving five weeks with her estranged father, with…

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BOOK REVIEW: SIREN QUEEN (2022) BY NGHI VO — IN THE LAND OF STARLETS AND MONSTERS

GABY RUSLI WRITES— Do you have what it takes to become the next big thing? If so, would you do anything to have your shot at stardom? Translated into English, Siren Queen (2022) by Nghi Vo chronicles Luli Wei – a girl born and raised in a stereotypical traditional Chinese laundromat family in the pre-Code…

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