Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

158 reviews

lakinlindsey's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

I definitely understand why this was a National Book Award finalist; it's a totally sweeping experience of generations and history. I learned much more about the experience of Korean people in Japan than I had ever learned in school. It's important to know how severe and also where my knowledge gaps are. I did see some criticism online about anachronistic like foods and things and confusion about the style of Japanese bits that are were included in dialogue, and I look forward to reading more about that. This is one of those books where a family tree would be really helpful, but it would also be a spoiler, so I definitely understand not including it. But whew, there were a lot of characters in here. The book felt really long, but it was, and the ending seemed a bit abrupt. But I'm not sure that there's a good way to end such a saga that has moved through decades.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Rape, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Confinement, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

hilariescudero's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cancer, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Torture, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Classism

maureenlessreen's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely beautiful, but oh my god, so devastating. Like with Still Life, which I read earlier this year, it’s hard not to believe these characters are flesh and blood, living human beings. A tale spanning 5 generations and I cared for every member of the family and almost every side character. I loved learning about a POV I’ve never considered — colonized Koreans who end up being expatriates in Japan.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, and Grief

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Abortion

ivana's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion

domivatangelo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

maxerine's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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: Death, Racism, Suicide, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Grief

Minor: Sexism, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

flamesocks's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Deportation

figsofpeach's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Yes, I truly love well-crafted historical fiction that spans generations and this one did not disappoint. 

The characters are complex and multidimensional, the prose is beautiful and careful in how it describes each event and each decision made by the characters. The historical context is given without it being overwhelming or dry and it makes it all feel urgent. 

I breezed through this book and I'll definitely pick up other works by Min Jin Lee. Highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation