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jlworley's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Child death, Grief, and War
aurnia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: War, Death, Violence, Genocide, Child death, Grief, and Police brutality
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape
pbuzzard's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Abortion, Bullying, Child death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Gore, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Mental illness, Murder, Hate crime, Infertility, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Violence, Body shaming, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Medical trauma, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, Excrement, Physical abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Torture, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, and Gun violence
hannahfaith25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death, War, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Rape, Colonisation, and Child abuse
zoegg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
this story so beautifully depicts the ebbing of trauma not just on an individual level, but across a whole community. i was so heartbroken for jeju as a whole, and for young-sook and mi-ja — it felt like there was always too much time (for more hurt) and never enough (to learn to overcome it). watching young-sook grow from a teenager to eventually be a grandma was spectacular, and i felt so connected to her at the end that i could not believe that her story ended with this book.
if the pacing was a bit better, this would be an easy 4 (if not 4.5), but i am still so so glad to have finished this and highly recommend others give it a try :)
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death, Grief, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
kanderson246's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Death, Genocide, Grief, Death of parent, Gore, Toxic relationship, and War
smstevens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, War, Grief, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
entropyseeker's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, War, Child abuse, Murder, Colonisation, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Sexual violence, and Torture
chemicallykat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Death of parent, Classism, Alcoholism, Genocide, Child abuse, Misogyny, Violence, War, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
alisonw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Firstly a TW: It deals with extremely heavy subjects of loss, war, corruption, all kinds of abuse, murder including all ages, all very graphically so please be warned if you think you can’t handle that.
But if you’re unsure, don’t let that put you off. This book tells the true story of the people of Jeju and all they have gone through in the last century through a fictional narrative and the graphic elements are there because they happened, reading them feels similar to the sobering feeling of going to a concentration camp has, it’s horribly sad but feels like a necessity to be able to respect and remember - in my case as a European who was taught nothing about Korea’s history, it felt so important to acknowledge and learn about these events for the first time.
The author is masterful at weaving history and fiction together, none of the fictitious story line feels forced to bring in a historical event, while at the same time the story does not steal from the history, I would actually say it helps give it more blood and feel more tangible rather than cold facts on a page about somewhere far away.
Highly highly recommend.
Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, Grief, Pregnancy, Torture, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Child death, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, and Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Slavery