Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Free Food for Millionaires

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

26 reviews

ramseystratton's review

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medium-paced

4.5

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cass_lit's review against another edition

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3.5

It’s hard to adequately put words to a book this long and dense. Free Food for Millionaires is longer than it needs to be in my opinion, but even still after putting so much time into reading it, I was *also* constantly thinking about it while not reading and after finishing it. I didn’t like or understand Casey at first, and I didn’t know how I was going to survive 20+ hours of listening to her whine but seemingly do nothing about it. But spend that much time with someone, and you do begin to understand and/or empathize. I was sad about the abrupt ending not for my own understanding of what happens, but because I thought Casey deserved closure for her story. I also started out not enjoying the multiple POVs but grew to love them and how much context they gave us about the characters, Casey included and the world at that time. It felt at times as though we were humanizing abusive, shitty people but now I see it more as getting context as to why they acted the way they did.

If you’ve read the popular Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, you know her writing. You know she’s not afraid of putting her characters through hell (understanding that these are historical books). Free Food for Millionaires is no exception. And if you, like me, are 75% in wondering where the “graphic” rape trigger warning comes in, know that just because you’re near the end of the novel doesn’t mean you’re safe.

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joymargot's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

While the slow pace coupled with the huge page count might ordinarily have put me off, I read this during the throes of covid and it was oddly comforting to spend so much time with the flawed and frustrating - but ultimately still likeable - Casey.

The story covers a relatively short time period in its 650 pages and feels more like a snapshot of Casey’s life than a structured story with a beginning, middle and satisfying end. It feels a little under-edited but the characters are well-developed and I found myself genuinely caring about (most of) them.

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