Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

112 reviews

hyperashley's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Miscarriage, War, Suicide, Child death, Racism, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, and Sexual assault

mikaylaslibrary's review against another edition

3.25

Unfortunately, this just fell flat for me. 

The writing style is gorgeous, and I loved the first part of the novel.  It just went downhill from there. 

I think that there were too many characters and not enough time to finish the novel.  I loved Sunja, Yumi and Isak, but the rest of the characters all felt very similar. 

The story is absorbing, and I did read it quite quickly, but I felt it should've been either longer, or two shorter books.  The beginning and ending were very sweet, and tied the whole story together which I loved. 

I think that this is a really interesting novel, and will definitely be someone's favourite.  However, it just didn't work for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Abortion, Cursing, Violence, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Suicide, Racism, Police brutality, and Classism

kathmulderry's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

I think this was my favorite book of the year. Generations of strong women, no sugarcoating. You feel all of the hardship, small glimmers of hope, loss. I wish I could speak more eloquently about this book and do it the justice it deserves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Suicide, and War

lipliplip's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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? No

5.0

A beautifully written intergenerational family saga that covers the passage of time and distance in place incredibly well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Medical content, Toxic relationship, Classism, Terminal illness, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism, Infertility, Abandonment, Cancer, and Alcoholism

janicew9's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

The first 100 pages was difficult,  the last 100 pages felt half lit, like the closing scene of a movie where sunlight filters through the curtains and the music swells over the voices of the characters. The middle was a fantastic novel. Was inspired to read this after listening to a Planet Money episode that featured an interview with the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Racism, Racial slurs, and Suicide

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Mental illness, Abortion, Alcoholism, Cancer, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Classism, Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

jenrazzle's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, Incest, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Medical trauma, Death, Alcohol, Trafficking, Cancer, Car accident, Abortion, and Emotional abuse

feainnewedd's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

I've had Pachinko on my TBR for quite some time and I'm glad I finally got to read it. What a fascinating, heartwarming (but also heartbreaking) novel about four generations of a Korean family. I knew next to nothing about the dynamic between Koreans and Japanese during the period covered in this family saga (1910-1989), but this work of historical fiction taught me a lot.

Also, no spoilers, but one character's death shocked me so much I kept reading the paragraph over and over, and I think it will stay with me for a long time.

Rating it 4 out of 5 stars because

I feel like the last 1/3 or 1/4 of the book focused too much on side characters to the detriment of the others. For example, I wish the author had spent more time exploring the impact of Noa's disappearance and, eventually, his death on his family members, particularly his brother Mozasu.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Death, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

franzi_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

Moderate: Misogyny, Infertility, Police brutality, Terminal illness, War, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion and Alcoholism

jkull_10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Violence, Stalking, Alcoholism, Grief, Classism, War, Medical content, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Hate crime, and Death

dee_dreams's review against another edition

informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

1.5

Pachinko started out with an interesting premise. I felt invested in this family drama. But about halfway in, I felt like I was tricked into reading a cheap, emotionally-manipulative soap opera.

Instead of whining about what I disliked, which is a lot, I wanted to be constructive and offer some lessons I took away instead.

When characters die or disappear, it should matter. The characters who knew the dead person should care on some level (even if it's shallow or self-serving.)

The more characters you kill off, the less empathy the reader will feel for random new characters that are introduced.

Misery is not the same as depth. Trauma is not the end of the story. Focus on the characters' humanity rather than their victimization.

Use writing for good. We already know that evils like misogyny, racism, ableism, and grooming exist. Don't simply portray them for trauma porn. Use your writing to challenge them and provide a different perspective. Nudge the reader towards empathy and a belief that change is possible. Nobody needs more despair.

Stop introducing random, dehumanized sex workers and then portraying graphic violence against them. It's been done to death.

If you've already described a character as "plain, unattractive, never lovely," you don't have to do it three more times. You especially don't have to make the sexist, male-gazey descriptions more disparaging as she ages.

Don't try to take on a huge amount of unrelated themes. Or, do - just decide to make it a collection of short stories, rather than a novel. And follow up on those themes.

Last but not least, think about whether or not a "family saga" spanning 4 generations really needs a chapter about a minor character, unrelated to any members of said family, discovering pansexual orgies in the forest during the Summer of Love. And if you decide, yes, it does, make it hot. Please.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Misogyny

Moderate: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, War, and Death of parent