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smart_girls_love_trashy_books's review
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicide
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent and Miscarriage
rieviolet's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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? No
4.0
All in all, I liked this book much more than I thought. I especially liked the discussion on such themes as orientalism, colonisation and cultural appropriation. There were also a lot of characters that really stood out and that I became quite fond of. The ending was quite a lot to take in, I wasn't really expecting anything else (given the time period and the setting), but still it was quite a lot to digest (Victor, you really were a piece of garbage till the end).
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
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