Reviews with content warning for Rape - Beasts of a Little Land

Maybe 2 stars is a bit harsh, but I kind of feel that reading this book was a waste of my time.
I really like "saga" books that follow multiple characters (usually a family) over a long period of time. But I feel that this book didn't work. I didn't care about any of the characters or what they were up to.
This book is full of tired beliefs about het relationships and is obsessed with women's beauty, or the lack of it. This really feels like it was written in the 90s. It reminds me of the worst parts of Practical Magic (the book.)
This book takes place in early 20th Korea during the Japanese occupation. For me, the joy of reading historical fiction is learning about a different place/time and the people who lived there. I didn't really get that from this book. I didn't learn much about Korea. The occupation was too far in the background.

When one character was "suffering" from the Japanese caused food shortages, her friend always brought her food, or she was able to sell jewelry to get food. We never really *saw* her suffering, so we never really got a sense of the horror of that time period. It just sounds like an inconvenience.
I also thought it was very strange that there was no mention of "comfort women" (women sold into sexual slavery by the Japanese) maybe it wasn't as wide spread or I have the time period wrong???

It really doesn't help that I just finished Little by Edward Carey. Which is a a book where tons of tragic things happen to the characters, and there isn't really a happy ending, but it works. Everything felt heavy and meaningful where the events in this book are just meh.
I will say that I really liked the epilogue

I think because it was in 1st person, so I got the chance to connect with and care about a character for the first time in the book.

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tumbly_weed's review

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adventurous dark sad slow-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

3.75

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carrotchimera's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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analinea's review against another edition

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Too much tell not enough show, so I felt disconnected from the characters and their feelings and didn't get attached. Also, I could see where it was going, which is not a bad thing in itself but I don't really like this type of tragic romance story

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777elia's review

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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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pbsamitch's review

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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

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