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caribbeangirlreading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
• “With arranged marriages, many wives fall in love with their husbands quickly. For some it can take years. And for others, decades of marriage will always be filled with loneliness and sadness . . . How different it is with friendship. No one picks a friend for us; we come together by choice. We are not tied together through ceremony or the responsibility to create a son; we tie ourselves together through moments. The spark when we first meet. Laughter and tears shared. Secrets packed away to be treasured, hoarded, and protected. The wonder that someone can be so different from you and yet still understand our heart in a way no one else ever will.”
• “We thought we were free, but so far the only difference in our lives here on Jeju was that the Japanese flag was lowered, and the American flag was raised. One colonizer had been replaced by another.”
The Island of Sea Women is a profoundly sad, but moving, and very well-researched, work of historical fiction. The sea women of Jeju Island will stay with me for a very long time.
Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Police brutality
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, and Vomit
krisawesome's review against another edition
2.5
Although I had been warned about some of the descriptions in this book, I was still not fully prepared for how brutal some of the instances were. I’m usually fine to read those if I’m aware of them ahead of time but the end of the “Life-Giving Air” chapter (and a bit of the following one) were too much even for me. Note that I don’t blame See for including them, and I wouldn’t have even been all that surprised if I’d read them without warning - it’s not like she’d pulled punches earlier in the book either. But they’re hard to get past, is what I’m saying.
The 2008 chapters feel like they’re a little phoned in, compared to the research and effort that See obviously put into the main timeline.
Stars were earned mostly by the anthropological and historical elements, as difficult as the latter were to read about at times. It was especially fascinating to read about the haenyeo and their matrifocal society.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Excrement
Other warnings: drowning, mutilationkellee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence
purplelillyflower's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent and Police brutality
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
janinab'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder
addie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Violence, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Torture
Minor: Vomit, Rape, Sexual violence, and Child abuse
spinesinaline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Violence
Moderate: Excrement, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Cancer
naturemamareads'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
mvvelde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Death
Moderate: Police brutality, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Murder
dieerlesene's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, Torture, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Sexism
Minor: Miscarriage