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krisawesome's review against another edition
2.5
Although I had been warned about some of the descriptions in this book, I was still not fully prepared for how brutal some of the instances were. I’m usually fine to read those if I’m aware of them ahead of time but the end of the “Life-Giving Air” chapter (and a bit of the following one) were too much even for me. Note that I don’t blame See for including them, and I wouldn’t have even been all that surprised if I’d read them without warning - it’s not like she’d pulled punches earlier in the book either. But they’re hard to get past, is what I’m saying.
The 2008 chapters feel like they’re a little phoned in, compared to the research and effort that See obviously put into the main timeline.
Stars were earned mostly by the anthropological and historical elements, as difficult as the latter were to read about at times. It was especially fascinating to read about the haenyeo and their matrifocal society.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer, Excrement, and Alcohol
Other warnings: drowning, mutilationsunpuddles's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ insightfulness
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ readability
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ plot development
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ character
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ pace
This book was both well-written and difficult to read. The story of family love and friendship were beautiful, but also heart-wrenching and the scenes of death and torture during the Korean War were horrendous. I had to stop reading and read a few other, more light-hearted books in the middle. I’m glad I finished it though. The story of the haenyeo was so interesting and I loved the theme of strong women looking after their families and controlling their destiny.
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, and Grief
sarah984's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The overarching story about forgiveness and seeing other people's perspectives was good but it was also very similar to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by the same author, which was kind of weird for me.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Trafficking