Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

453 reviews

hannahyorkey's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

Pachinko is beautiful tale that spans 4 generations of a Korean family facing the burdens of war, poverty and discrimination when they move to Japan and are unable to return home. The omniscient pov allows you to connect with all of the characters and unobjectively understand and view their individual plights. The story was compelling and realistic and the characters were lovable in their own ways. 

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aidareads's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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sha's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0


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drkng31's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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spenceee_14's review against another edition

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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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aubsbooks's review against another edition

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

3.5


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sas_lk's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was the type of novel I had to digest slowly, and take the time to enjoy every chapter. I really liked the first two thirds, they felt like 4.5-5 stars at parts. 
The last third is unfortunately what lost me a little, and it is also why I am giving it 4 stars instead of something higher. At the end it started feeling a little disjointed, like the author lost track of the story a little bit. We were following the POVs of way more characters all of a sudden and quite a few felt pointless - atleast the depth that the author went into. And then it felt like the author added a couple traumatic things to keep the book sad and shocking without delving into these traumatic events. It felt like at the end she was speeding through her writing instead of taking her time with the events and happenings like she did in the first 2 thirds - this made me lose touch with the characters, and I almost felt like I stopped knowing them; like they were different characters than the ones I had been following throughout the whole book.
Overall, a great book, and I would definitely recommend it, I just wish the author had sat with the last third a little longer and not tried to do too much.

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ryan4092's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.0


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zhavens's review against another edition

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challenging 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? Yes

4.25


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rae29's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0

This is the first time I’ve ever written a review for a book, so it’s most likely my own ramblings rather than a comprehensive review but oh well.

Wow. When I first picked up this book, I didn’t know what to expect. I certainly wasn’t expecting the interplay between sadness, despondency, and hope. And I wasn’t expecting the myriad of characters, particularly the ones that were fleeting in the other arching narrative. But this book is both culture, history, and character driven, and I think the characters are what appealed to me the most.

 Things that stood out to me the most: Sunja’s characterization, and the depiction of female characters throughout. This book takes on quite a lot in this regard, works through cultural nuances, prejudices, and power dynamics quite well. It does get a bit dark in its depictions.
 
The middle was difficult for me, as I gradually came to the realization of what this book is, more of a quiet narrative, where everything does not always get better, and there is no heroic twist that saves this family from their circumstances. They just exist, same as the characters, and the narrative depicts these fleeting moments in time. It does get slow, but it’s worth it. 

Honestly at the heart of this book is the interplay between suffering and hope, but there is a lot of suffering. And that is never fully resolved. The book itself, even, does not quite resolve. 

Overall, this book has a quiet strength to it that keeps the story in your mind far beyond the last page. Absolutely worth reading.

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