Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

96 reviews

rametta's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Grief, Drug use, Hate crime, Death of parent, Classism, Cancer, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Colonisation, Bullying, Abortion, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Chronic illness, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Infertility

c_dmckinney's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Ableism, Addiction, Death of parent, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Bullying, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Sexism

lauravreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

Pachinko follows a family through 4 generations. Starting in 1901 with Hoonie and ending in 1989 with Hooneis great grand son Solomon 

Honestly, I feel that this might be my favorite type of novel. I love watching a family through generations. I love how it starts as historical fiction and it kind of works its way to more contemporary fiction. I also enjoy reading about the family dynamic and the relationships within a family and how they evolve through time and age. 

This book was such a good read. I enjoyed it so much. I learned so much about Korea and how the Great Depression and World War II affected so many people and particularly the Koreans, who lived in Japan throughout that time. I loved watching the advocacy for civil rights in Japan as the years continued. Each family member has such a profound and interesting story. I loved how easily the book transitioned from each member, and even though we might focus on one member, we can easily go back to another without deterring from the narration.

What was overall great read was a bit of a slow book and it took me about two weeks to read  Which is okay, but sometimes I wish things kind of picked up a little faster.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Hate crime, Grief, Classism, Chronic illness, Ableism, War, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Alcoholism, Violence, Terminal illness, Suicide, Police brutality, and Homophobia

storykath's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.5

One of those books where every time things start going okay you know it's about to get much much worse, but so compellingly written that I was engaged throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, and Death

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Addiction, Misogyny, and War

Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Car accident, Deportation, Miscarriage, Sexual harassment, Grief, Sexual content, and Cancer

feathers4bookmarks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

Best family-saga/ multigenerational-saga I have read. This novel drew me in the way that a grandparent telling a family story does. I wasn’t reading it to find out what the ending was, but more just because I was so interested in their lives and the domestic struggles of the time/place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Misogyny, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Chronic illness, Infertility, Hate crime, Medical trauma, and Car accident

maiaquinn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.25

this book was well written and I learned a lot about Korean and Japanese tensions during the late 1800s to late 1900s that were artfully embedded into the story. I didn’t feel like I was dropped into the story but more like I was watching from a distance. The end felt abrupt but maybe it was supposed to be kind of jarring? Would not read again just because of how long it is and how depressing some of the themes are. Very sad but believable story

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual violence, and War

erenreads12's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

I know I love a book when the actions of its characters give me visceral responses. At one point I actually had to put the book down to stop reading because I was in so much shock.

Absolutely exquisite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Suicide, and Violence

rachelsbookishlife's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child death, Death of parent, Classism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Death, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, War, Violence, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Car accident, and Grief

Moderate: Infertility, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, and Police brutality

Minor: Cancer, Abortion, and Body shaming

ruthmoog's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad slow-paced

2.25

I don't know what I expected from this book, but I didn't expect dogging.
I didn't know much about the relationship between Korea and Japan and this story made me realise I should learn more about their history. 
My favourite part of this book, was about the kimchi ajumma (mid-aged woman). But tbh I was glad to put the book down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Suicide

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Bullying

Minor: War, Classism, and Sexism

abigailjblay's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective medium-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

2.0

Well written, just not for me but I'm sure many will enjoy this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Death of parent, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, and Terminal illness