Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

55 reviews

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

5.0

Yes, I truly love well-crafted historical fiction that spans generations and this one did not disappoint. 

The characters are complex and multidimensional, the prose is beautiful and careful in how it describes each event and each decision made by the characters. The historical context is given without it being overwhelming or dry and it makes it all feel urgent. 

I breezed through this book and I'll definitely pick up other works by Min Jin Lee. Highly recommend! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Homophobia, Infidelity, Suicide, War, Xenophobia, Abortion, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Body shaming, Car accident, Addiction, Child death, Racial slurs, Classism, Infertility, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

matcha_cat's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Bullying, Colonisation, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Death, War, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Miscarriage, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Alcohol, Child death, and Violence

kyrajade's review against another edition

informative sad 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? No

3.25

I think this is an important story to tell, but I think that it wasn't written very well. The first 250 pages I was wedded to the original cast of characters, but then for the sake of making the narrative multi-generational, the author began introducing characters very shallowly who you were for some reason supposed to care about, and then the stories of these characters and the widening time skips between chapters meant that characters from the first half who you liked and felt an attachment too were picked off in the background. The author made horrible and traumatic things happen in this book and yet you didn't get to experience any of the grief of the characters because she skimmed over it with a time skip. The whole thing felt very emotionally unsastisfying, but the actual context and history of the story is an interesting read. For a character driven story, the characters introduced in the second half are flat and semi-transparent. I really enjoy multi-generational stories (100 Years of Solitude or Do Not Say We Have Nothing) and one thing the authors in both books do is carefully manage the number of characters in the book to give the reader the experience of spending time on the page with each one. This book just became too ambitious and lost so much in the process.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Xenophobia, War, Sexism, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Police brutality, Death, and Colonisation

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Trafficking

thenoboshow's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, War, and Xenophobia

sha's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Racism, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, War, Grief, Infertility, and Pregnancy

magnolia_berry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, Bullying, Colonisation, Violence, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Abortion, Torture, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Genocide, Gun violence, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Child death and Trafficking

jazzsonnet's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, and Colonisation

Moderate: Infertility, War, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Racism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexism, Child death, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion

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

---

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

readingsponsoredbybts's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, War, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Violence, Classism, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Medical content, Deportation, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Rape

Minor: Drug use, Cancer, and Homophobia

mysterymom40's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Infidelity, Sexual content, Stalking, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Addiction, Violence, Torture, Infertility, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Suicide, Pregnancy, War, and Medical content

Minor: Miscarriage