Reviews tagging 'Death'

Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim

36 reviews

sarahb919's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book stabs you in the chest repeatedly. It’s very good and I recommend it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Misogyny, Addiction, Domestic abuse, War, Sexual violence, Classism, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mass/school shootings, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Ableism, Terminal illness, Violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Colonisation, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts

777elia's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

This book was beautifully written. The story and characters were captivating and it really tugged at my heart strings. However, there is a lot of detail and introduction of characters who simply aren’t relevant to the plot. I wish it followed only 2-3 characters and stayed more focus. It really differed from the synopsis, but not entirely in a bad way. I think the historical aspects were much much stronger than the romance or relationships, but nonetheless I highly recommend this book. One of my top reads so far. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, War, Death, Incest, Infertility, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Self harm, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Animal death

pbsamitch's review

emotional reflective slow-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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abortion, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexism, Violence, and War

trailmixraisins's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is a lot to digest - it'll take me a few more reads to fully understand. Regardless, it's a beautifully written story that follows a young girl and her found family, first love, and best friend as they all grow up and survive under colonial Japanese rule. The romantic subplots were a little hard to follow, mostly because humans are so complicated and emotions are so subjective.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Misogyny, and Blood

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Violence, Classism, Drug use, Rape, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Genocide

jessicareynolds20's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Violence, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Death, Grief, Racism, Misogyny, and Abortion

Minor: Infertility and Addiction

applezing's review

dark emotional 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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking

mahaofhyrule's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, War, Rape, Sexual assault, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexism and Death

Minor: Infidelity and Adult/minor relationship

maecave15's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed this book but it didn't enthrall me. The historical setting of the Korean Independence Movement was unique and a large part of why I picked up this book, as I really enjoy historical fiction novels from all cultures and time period. The story, with its many side characters, was a little hard to keep track of at times but it still captured my attention through to the end.

The lives of Jade and Jungho were  interesting and the friendship they had through the years was a deep bond. This is the Korean concept of inyeon - ties that bind people throughout their lives, with the strongest being husband/wife and parent/child. Although most marriages in this book are purely for the purpose of making children and going with the idea that one has to make a "good" marriage, which may be due to the culture and time period. Some of the parents seemed to love their children at least, but a lot of the romantic relationships in this story are superficial. 
I think my favorite character was Luna though, and I wish she got more page time. I would definitely read a book that was just about her life story.

The format and writing style of this story reminds me a little bit of Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Grief and Classism

Minor: Death, Infertility, Racism, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Sexual content, War, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Violence

momoreading's review

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Death

Minor: Abortion and Rape

oh_neens's review

dark emotional informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Rape, Sexism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Grief, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia