Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

83 reviews

tinyjude's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

An emotional family saga set during and after Japan's colonisation of Korea and WWII up almost to the present. It deals with the difficulties experienced by Korean immigrants in Japan, the war, poverty, misogyny, classism and many more. Although fiction, it is still closely influenced by true events and provides an overview of the situation many Korean immigrants endured at that time. The amount of characters and the objective point of view sometimes made it a bit difficult to care deeply about them, but nonetheless I think it is a very important and insightful read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Abortion

elly29's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

There are like three basic plots in this book:

1. Sugar daddy pays for everything
2. The wrong people have principles
3. Sexytimes
4. Bonus fourth point: so many kids and raising kids, and having the kids take over the plot

It's a wandering, generational tale that was 3x too long. Starts in 1912 and ends in 1989. The word "pachinko" didn't even appear until halfway through the book. The most compelling part was the context of racism and racial tension between Koreans and Japanese, and often it was only pachinko that allowed Koreans to be wealthy in Japan. (Honestly, the plot was interesting until the focus shifted from Sunja to Noah. The second half of the book was just.... writing.)

Interesting to read "Pachinko" on the heels of "Crying in H Mart" and "Island of Sea Women," all of which are about Korea, Koreans, and expat Koreans.

Also, 18 hours of audiobook at 1.2 speed, for 14 hours of listening time. That's like the length of a flight to Korea from the US.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Xenophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction and Abortion

cedardleland's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Colonisation

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Infertility, Vomit, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Abortion

fairyribs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5- my god this book was amazing. Knocked off 0.5 because the ending was a bit…meh. But the themes, history and the ramifications of cultural genocide were heartbreaking but very necessary to read about.

I went into this book expecting it to be a history of the Japanese colonial rule but instead I got an intimate portrait of a family and it’s fight for survival during and after colonialism. I never knew that people like the Zainichi existed and to see how many of them came to be was quite illuminating, along with the discrimination many Korean-Japanese people face today.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

alisonannk's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Gun violence, Murder, Outing, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol

goldensun's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

fantastic historical fiction epic novel. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Hate crime, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Religious bigotry, and War

erica_palmisano's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

For a familial saga with war and other intense themes, this book was not as heavy and sad as I expected. There were undoubtedly elements of struggle, emotional trauma, and familial pain, but there were also fascinating moments of joy and delight and triumph, or at least reprieves regularly. The author did pacing quite well, and the narrator's style in the audiobook complemented the writing well. Listening really only got tricky when multiple characters were be conversing. Otherwise, it was a great listening experience and I'm glad I chose the format. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Xenophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Cancer, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, and War

Minor: Drug use, Genocide, Racism, and Sexism

gracer0sew's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, Car accident, and Abortion

isgbv's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, and War