Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

54 reviews

ainadei's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Wow. It's hard to sum up what to say. There were times I felt sadness, but couldn't even cry because that was just life. This is truly a story about the world and family, and it has been a while since something has shook me like this.

"Go-saeng, a woman's lot is to suffer."

Oddly enough, though this is repeated in the book, there isn't much said about the determination and sheer willpower Sunja had carried within her, her entire life. I truly felt everything; the times I allowed myself to be vulnerable to this book, I found myself shedding a few tears.

A beautiful but harrowing experience.

If you want non-complex characters, a happy ending describing more than survival, or a lighthearted read, stay 50 yards from this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Death, Violence, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

andyourstruly's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

If you liked East of Eden, you will like this book a lot.  It has great symbolism, and the way the perspective bounces around feels very classic and manages to avoid overexplaining or getting distracted from the story the author intends to tell.  There are a number of really excellent and well-developed characters living through remarkable times, and the author does a marvellous job expressing the ideas and attitudes behind historical behaviors and ideals and the shift that has occurred over time.  Really well-researched, well-paced, and well-written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Torture, Police brutality, Trafficking, Alcohol, War, and Deportation

art_anthology's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved this story and in my head i will remembe it as an exploration of Sunja the matriarch.

Through this review you will see my very biased opinion of how the third book was definitely the weakest.... but the first parts make up for it.

Well the middle of the book (book2) was definitely the best in terms of events pacing and intrigue. It habdled topicsvthat were introduced in book1 while also becoming more complex. The introduction was also pretty solid and since a real bond was created between readers and characters. Sadly the 3rd book felt like it was doing a bit to many different things. And so the depth of themes an  events that the first part had was lost felt more like seperated vignettes rather than a collated history.

Positive: the characters relationships felt meaningful. 
When a new character was introduced to the central family there was an actual and tangible shift in the structure. This meant they all felt important and like they impacted each other.

Exception: why was Yoseb still alive for so long. Like the whole pointvwas that he was on the verge of death... why was he still alive and in bed after like 10 years? I understand that it was to give Kyunghee and Yanjin something to do. Away from Mozasu and his life story but i would have prefered to see the women enjoy their lives and each others company.

Negative: I was not reqlly interested in the later inclusion of other characters such as

Harakumi and Ayame's personal relationship. Additionally I felt like the park orgy was shoved in as an afterthought. Would have preferred an exploration into haruki and Mozasu's weekly? Monthly? Meet ups i feel a lot could be discussed further eg gambling compulsion.

Positive: the characters felt real. I loved the beginning within the boardinghouse the fishermens banter actually became quite comfting l could image their background chatter.

And OMG the way I hated Noa when he did that to Sunja. Honestly i kind of have had enough of characters like that cough cough Willy Lomam. Im not really interested readin about men who feel that they cant amount to anything because they've internalised other peoples ideals. Or that there is only one possible route to go in life and if 1 thing hoes wrong they can't cope and its all woe is me... yea not intrested.

Overall this is a great book to read like i did as a part of a book club. The character based narrayive allows you to dote on some and critique other characters. Or you could explore the nook through a historical lense 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

san_dra's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

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

lanid's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

whisper88's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War

jkunke's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

3.0

This book is beautifully written but it’s trauma porn. The author clearly did a lot of historical research but doesn’t write as if she has experience working with people who have experienced trauma. Instead many of her characters come off as two-dimensional stereotypes. And many people describe one of the main characters as a love interest but there is nothing romantic about him or about their relationship; he and their relationship are terrible, manipulative and abusive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

cyberhavok's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Suicide

_cararichardson's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

Wow. This book gutted me over and over again. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in to this, given what seemed like a familiar concept, family saga set during the 20th century, but Lee’s writing really helped set it apart. Her characters were great, all complicated in their own ways. The story explores nationalism, prejudice, love, loyalty, family, obligation and so much more. I personally didn’t know much about the Korean immigrant experience in Japan, and that was a major focus of the book. We got to see each characters relationships with these tough realities. I can go on and on but so much went down in this book that I can’t cover it all. Really really harrowing book and the authors obvious love for the characters and their stories really made this book a home run.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Racism, Suicide, Xenophobia, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail