Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

6 reviews

vixenreader's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

Although it is a product of its time, it is still a pinnacle work in depicting the lives of Asian women, and it is a tender portrait of the deep pain and love that is shared among mothers and daughters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Pregnancy, War, Child death, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Ableism, Abortion, Antisemitism, Infertility, and Rape

Be warned that there is divorce, intergenerational trauma, unrealistic expectations for children, arranged marriage, polygamy, long lost sisters, and drowning of a child.

goodolnicole's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Infertility, Death of parent, Grief, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

jelen's review against another edition

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Infertility, Miscarriage, Suicide, War, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Car accident, Pregnancy, Classism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

toffishay's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

This was a fun, sad, emotional tour-de-force about the relationships between mothers and daughters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexism, Abandonment, and Misogyny

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Violence, Xenophobia, War, Death, Death of parent, and Racism

Minor: Rape, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Eating disorder, Abortion, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, and Suicide

hollymich's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

The Joy Luck Club contains beautiful, captivating, and heartwrenching stories about the early lives of four women in China. It is difficult to conceptualize the hardship they each faced at such young ages; their strength truly is inspiring. It felt so intimate being invited into the Joy Luck Club, observing the deep, familial bond that these women have nurtured in America. They each attempt to impart their wisdom and lessons to their daughters, but their meaning is lost in translation across cultural and language barriers. It was lovely to see how these mother-daughter duos eventually connected as the daughters became adults themselves. 

This book will certainly leave you with a warm feeling

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Eating disorder

Minor: Infidelity, Infertility, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, War, Racism, and Car accident

readerette's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.5

While this story and the characters are not always pleasant, they feel very real. I was touched by the weaving of the mothers' and daughters' stories, how American culture bled into the lives of all the characters, the struggles of being an immigrant and a parent (and how individual each set of struggles is). Relatable and also informative on aspects of a culture I'm not that familiar with.

That said, the weaving of the characters' stories did get muddy for me, I didn't get enough about the Joy Luck Club itself, and all of these people supposedly friendly with one another could be incredibly petty and cruel to their "friends". Perhaps I'm just leading with my white American eye on that last part though--friendship looks different to different people.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: War, Grief, Infidelity, Infertility, Eating disorder, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Child death, Death, and Abortion