Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim

12 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. 

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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. 

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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

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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexism and Death

Minor: Infidelity and Adult/minor relationship

maidinnah's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

4.0

Epic yet intimate, Beasts of a Little Land beautifully captures a very specific type of melancholy, one that comes from the passage of time and the tides of change, doing so with a vivid cast of characters surviving through tumultuous early 1900s Korea. Fates intertwine across socio-political divides and relationships ebb, flow, fall apart, and come back together in ways that both devastated and moved me to tears. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, War, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Pregnancy, Addiction, and Confinement

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

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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

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

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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

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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? Yes

3.0

The historical context was the most interesting aspect of the novel for me.  
I did not feel particularly connected to the characters and that made it difficult to be really invested in their storylines (even more so their romantic plots). I actually liked the portrayal of some of the side characters (Luna and Lee Myung-bo for example) much more than the two main ones. 

The writing style wasn't bad but it never particularly struck me. The constantly switching POV was a bit frustrating, especially because we got a lot of scenes from characters that I did not care one bit about as a narrator and many other more interesting perspectives were barely explored.

Overall, I was never really completely absorbed in the narration. The ending was quite bleak but I guess it is quite realistic in showing how the more opportunistic people are the ones that will get ahead in life and never get their comeuppance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Police brutality, War, Violence, Death, Mass/school shootings, Genocide, Sexual content, and Rape

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Confinement, Addiction, Abortion, Sexism, Racial slurs, Murder, Torture, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, and Infidelity

Minor: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Ableism, Cursing, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Infertility

kikiareyoureading's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

doodeedoda's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Infidelity, and Suicide

nini23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional

3.75

Beasts of a Little Land is a sweeping Korean historical fiction saga by debut author Juhea Kim. Covering the period of 1917 to 1965, those acquainted with Korean history will know these were turbulent chaotic times under Japanese occupation and imperialism (Japan annexed Korea in 1910), the Korean Independence movement and later the breakup of the country by American and Russian forces. The novel opens in 1917 in PyongAhn where an experienced hunter is tracking a leopard which turns out to be a tigerling instead. This hunter (later his name is revealed - Nam KyungSoo) is known by the moniker PyongAhn Tiger and was a soldier in the Korean Imperial Army. He saves a group of Japanese soldiers from a tiger attack which has repercussions for many of the characters years later. One of the Japanese soldiers Yamada Genzo gives the hunter a cigarette case as a gesture of gratitude for saving their lives.

The title of the book refers to something Yamada says later  We don't have such ferocious beasts in Japan, and we're a far bigger country.  How such beasts have flourished in such a little land is incomprehensible. At the time, large wild animals like tigers, leopards, bears and elephants roamed throughout the Korean peninsula; sadly they've been hunted/killed to near extinction and the book notes that the Siberian tiger is marked as officially extinct in Korea.  Currently, in one of those unintended ironic effects of human activity, wild animal life is making a surprising comeback in the DMZ.  Juhea Kim is donating part of the proceeds of her book to conservation efforts of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards in the Russian Far East.  The tiger is an important recurring symbol of resilience and resistance in the story and features prominently on the book cover.  Later, the only time these rare wild animals can be seen is at the ChangGeong Palace Zoo in Seoul (other than as animal pelts), the zoo animals are poisoned by the Japanese when it's obvious their side is losing to prevent them from rampaging the city when the bombs fall.  Their loss is keenly felt.

Jade remembered the long-ago nights in her village.  The darkness had resounded with the cries of hungry animals, and on some snowy mornings she'd woken up to paw prints circling their cottage. But wild beasts had never frightened her - it was the humans who terrified her with their savegery.

Jade is a young girl sold by her family to a giseang house initially as a maid but through circumstance as a courtesan apprentice under Madame Silver in 1918. She grows up training with Silver's two daughters Lotus and Luna. I was initially wary when reading 'courtesan school' but this part, like the whole book, is well-reseached and respectful. I liked the details like the plays they performed in (The Story of ChunYang, The Story of ShimChung) and the traditional Korean instruments (gayageum, dageum, drums), recitation of poetry by Huang Jini (famed Josean era courtesan), traditional songs they learn in their training as part of the five arts. As with most courtesans of that time, they still need powerful wealthy patrons and backers so Madame Silver has one, as does Dani, the other famous courtesan that the girls are sent to later in Seoul to continue their training with.

The concept that twines throughout the book linking the fate of the characters is 인연 in-yeon. In-yeon is the thread of destiny and connection between people; be it between spouses, siblings, friends even people with enmity. Jade, Dani, Silver, Lotus, Luna are linked by in-yeon but also entangled with that of Nam JungHo (son of the hunter) who comes to Seoul to make a living. Initially living as a street urchin, he later becomes a protection money thug and then gets heavily involved with the Korean Resistance movement. JungHo falls in love with Jade during a courtesan parade. The other parties to this tangled skein of in-yeon are Kim SungSoo (past flame of Dani's, capitalist, future employer of Jung-ho), Lee Myungbo (one of the leaders of the Korean resistance movement), two Japanese army officers Yamada Genzo and Ito.  Both the cigarette case and silver ring (that Silver gave to the hunter) passed down to JungHo are the physical manifestations of the in-yeon interconnection.

I liked the first half of the novel more than the later half. Lee Myungbo's appearance heralded a lot of interesting historical facts such as the provisional Korean government and Koryo Communist Party germinating in Shanghai, the involvement of Primorski and Manchuria in resistance efforts and going even further back "Primorski was just the Russian word for Yuenhaejoo, a frosty northern land that horse-riding Koreans conquered two thousand years ago."  Within Korea, the independence movement involved uniting factions of Nationalists, Communists, Cheondists, Buddhists, Christians for a unanimous declaration of independence - fascinating. I'm puzzled by the absence of any mention of Korean comfort women, since this is a major part of the damage inflicted on the Korean psyche and a point of contention between the two countries even today.

In the later half of the novel, it felt like the characters were molded to fit historical events, they seemed to lose both personality and agency, the rest was detracted by The Great War Love Story, love unrequited, cinematic grand love.  I can just see the billing - love between a rickshaw driver in a rags to riches story, supported by a courtesan that his family will never accept while the resistance fighter waits for her faithfully .... Also, General Ito tells Jade "I'm leaving on Friday so this is the last time we're seeing each other...Fuck war and fuck loneliness. Stay alive." Huh?! This is such a jarring anachronism - it is simply inconceivable and inconsistent given Ito's past disdain and cruelty toward Koreans to give Jade food and money at this crucial period but as a Japanese Imperial army member in 1944 to utter such American modern speech in Japanese just sticks out so incongruously.  Likewise, I find that the author's depiction of the 'villains' ' motivations and inner thoughts to be weak, that of SungSoo, Ito and Yamada. Lastly, it's not easy to cover such a wide area of important national events within characters' lives through forty plus years, I did find some of the time skips and chronological transitions not quite smooth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Colonisation, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, and War

Moderate: Rape