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smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-
I really wanted to like this book. It has a lot going for it, such as being about time periods and countries not really explored in books. I was a bit cautious when I learned this was a translation, but still tried my best to get into it. My best was not enough.
The biggest issue was the fact that everything felt detached, distant and rushed. Much like when I read Kiku's Prayer, I don't know if this is from the original text, the translator, or a little bit of both, but it's why I can't really trust many translated books. Everything was just told, so it made the few character moments that I did like, that should've meant something, feel more like they came out of nowhere. Like the scene where she sees herself like the stolen artwork at the museum. That should've amounted to something, but it didn't. We're told she lost a child but it's just said and never mentioned again. And later on, when she miscarries at a ball and is traumatized over it, it completely skips over all of her trauma, saying 'it has been six months later'
The whole book is written in that very dry style so even though I should've liked this story about finding identity and love among a turbulent time, I couldn't. The characters feel very bland and one-note, many events are written like a textbook of the time, with major events spelled out as background information even though they don't have anything to do with the main story, and things just happen. The characters don't really develop or grow or feel any different. Even the huge event that the synopsis says happens, does happen....at the very end of the book. It's barely a climax in my opinion.
I wanted to like this book so much. It's a unique setting with good themes and the potential for good characters, but the style kills it. It's dull, dry, tells everything instead of showing it, and for half of it feels more like a textbook of the period. I keep giving translated books a chance because they write about interesting things you don't often see here in the West, but I have to also hope they are written in engaging ways, and so far that track record is terrible.
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent and Miscarriage
magnolia_berry's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide, Death, Abandonment, and Racism
Moderate: Colonisation
singalana's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Kirja sijoittuu 1880-luvun loppupuolelle, ja kertoo Korealaisesta naisesta nimeltä Yi Jin. Jin on keisarillisen palatsin hovitanssija, johon ranskalainen diplomaatti rakastuu silmittömästi ja haluaa viedä tämän mukanaan Ranskaan.
Kirjassa on lumoavaa kuvausta koreasta, ja hyvin kaunista, soljuvaa kieltä. Kirjan hahmot tuntuvat aluksi ehkä hieman etäisiltä, ennen kun heitä oppii tuntemaan paremmin. Etenkin korealaiset hahmot ovat pinnalta tyyniä, mutta sisimmältään syviä. Kirjassa kuvataan Korean historian kannalta merkittäviä tapahtumia hahmojen näkökulmasta.
Juonipaljastuksia!
Moderate: Colonisation
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Murder, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Violence
rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I liked the historical segments (I'm always interested in learing more about Korean history) but sometimes they felt a bit too much disconnected, not very well intergrated into the story. But, above all, there were a lot of general comments/reflections just placed in the middle of the narration that stood out a bit too much to me, they kind of disrupted the narrative flow.
Also, I'd have done without some of the more gruesome details, for example do I really need to know about Korean execution practices?
I quite appreciated the author's note at the end in which she shared the intentions and emotions throughout her writing process. I think that it helped me to contextualize the novel and expand its meaning and scope.
Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Murder, Violence, Grief, Suicide, Cultural appropriation, War, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Torture, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Genocide, and Sexism
Minor: Cannibalism, Ableism, Death of parent, Vomit, Infertility, Infidelity, Child death, Miscarriage, and Suicide attempt
kcelena's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Miscarriage, Racism, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, War, and Religious bigotry
lenaricharz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
Moderate: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Violence, Racism, and Miscarriage
kaneebli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Racism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual content and Cultural appropriation
katiedatie21's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Another aspect of this novel that I personally liked has its roots in Jin's unique educational background. Her ability to speak French, which eventually takes her to France, allows her to comment on and criticize the colonization of Asia and the plundering of artifacts and culture for European gain.
I found the book very fascinating, even though it did progress very slowly.
Graphic: Murder
internationalreads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Murder, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia