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emmaopaline'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? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
jkull_10'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? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
madzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unfortunately, about two-thirds through the book, the characters, plot, and themes fall apart. Lee moves too fast through time, not allowing time to develop the later generation of her characters or the themes she has set up. Instead of exploring the point she is trying to make about life and the world, Lee falls into the trap of focusing on spurts of drama that make the reader feel empty due to lack of time for character building. She relies on tropes that occasionally go directly against her themes and certainly never adds anything to them.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Alcohol
mysterymom40's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Infertility, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Minor: Miscarriage
mal_reads_books's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
(Side note: It took me a while to figure out Mozasu was named after
Overall, great story that demonstrates the discrimination and other hardships that Koreans experienced in 20th century Imperial Japan. I already had a surface level understanding of how the Japanese treated Koreans back then (“comfort women”, for example), and this book gave me an in-depth look of what the Koreans went through. I felt immersed in the story, settling, and culture. Would love to read more books like this.
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, and Abortion
Christian themes are prevalent, especially toward the beginning. Several characters have biblical names, such as Sunja’s pastor husband (Isak), brother-in-law (Yoseb), and children (Noa and Mozasu).rit's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Abortion, and Alcohol
madi22w'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
4.5
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Car accident, Death of parent, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
squidknees'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
4.75
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation
aexileigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
rieviolet'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? Yes
3.0
There were just too many characters, especially given that the book already covers a very long period of time and many generations of a family. I really think that some characters were just unnecessary additions and we could have done without their perspectives, so that more space could be given to the main ones. All the jumping between so many different points of view just made it hard to become invested.
Moreover, very big and even traumatic events are just briefly explored or worse just mentioned in passing. This character died, this one entered a relationship , and so-and-so did that, well good for them, am I supposed to care? There is no groundwork, how can a reader get attached to these people and their stories when you as an author have given them so little? Well there was time to go on and on about George Elliot's novels but no time to delve into a main character' emotions, I guess.
I was just not a fan of how the author portrayed the characters, if there isn't a good handling of their depictions then the story just turns into an over-the-top soap opera.
I found interesting the setting and the overall theme (exploring the lives of Korean people and their descendants living in Japan) but I was not that impressed with the execution itself.
For its length, the book is quite easy to get through, the chapters are not too long, the pace is quite fast and the narrative style is readable enough. Still, the writing style is nothing much to talk about, overall it's a bit too much dry and matter-of-fact for my taste.
All in all, the premise sounded good but the book was a disappointment for me and the three-star rating is basically only for the first section, the rest I'm wilfully choosing to ignore.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, and Colonisation
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Suicide, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism
Minor: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Antisemitism, Car accident, Abortion, Pregnancy, and Abandonment