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kearstenmh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
sarah_speaks'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
3.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Death, and Racism
Moderate: Trafficking and Miscarriage
Minor: Abortion, Animal death, and War
leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review
- 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
4.25
Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Hate crime, Racism, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Toxic relationship, Classism, and Suicidal thoughts
yetilibrary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
So. That ending. Spoiler-free thoughts: I hated, hated, HATED the ending. The ending was utterly infuriating. I thought through it, and while it can be justified on the basis of character (flaws?), I think there are arguments that justify an alternative ending, and perhaps more to the point: I HATE IT.
It's possible to argue that she would do this out of devotion to Akira, the great love of her life, and because deep down, she still doesn't believe she deserves happiness or love. That's true. But this choice also requires belief that this is what Akira wants (her vision of him never says this), AND that this is what he wants for HER. It also requires belief that she is willing to hurt the two people she loves most in the world, and (essentially) sacrifice her child, for the sake of fulfilling her grandmother's wishes. Let's be clear: this was always what her grandmother wanted.
My final reason for hating this ending is purely selfish: after so much pain in this book, I just wanted better for Nori. I wanted better for her than a return to the place that hurt her so much (she vomits when she gets to this house!), and a choice to take over the role that her wicked grandparents had held for so long, with no one she could trust at her side. And this was all due to a vision of her dead brother and a quixotic belief that she could stop her family's widespread evil, singlehandedly. (In fairness, I'm sure she can stop some of it. And it's a good and worthy goal. But I have my doubts that any one person can take down an operation that large, and that old.)
TL;DR I HATED THIS ENDING WITH ALL MY BEING.
Graphic: Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Rape
Minor: Rape
kktaylor11's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The story is unique, original, and well written. It follows the childhood and maturation of a young woman (Nori -- short for Noriko) who is the child of a disgraced Japanese princess (at least she's of royal blood) and an African American GI. As the book opens, Nori is abandoned by her mother at the gates of her Japanese grandparents' home -- and the story follows the next 17 years of her life as she fights for acknowledgement, love, belonging and identity. Her brother (same mother, Japanese father) comes to live with her at one point, she creates meaningful relationships with British expats, and she grows into her own identity - but...
There are moments that are truly beautiful - moments where Lemmie captures the beauty of Japan, the power of family, and her words have the spark of something literary -- but my biggest hiccup is that I felt some things were rushed and unclear. (Ironic to say about a book that runs 450 pages!) If you want to just experience the story - do...I certainly don't resent the time I spent reading it! If you want more details from me, here you go:
That said, I did enjoy the majority of the book, and don't resent my time reading it, so high 3 star, low 4 star?
Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Racism
briemont5's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Vomit, Miscarriage, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
_desreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- 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
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Car accident, and Miscarriage
ashlefevre's review
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
tembriann's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, War, Trafficking, and Sexual assault
martachbc's review
- 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
3.5
- A diverse main character in whom you could find both inspiration and sympathy
- A compelling epic spanning decades that made me not want to put it down
- Apparently the author began writing this as a teenager… and TBH the writing was showed that at times
- This could border on torture porn. Every bad thing possible happened to Nori.
- As a character, Nori’s development felt stunted, then jumpy. I don’t always think she stayed true to her character.
- The end.
Graphic: Abandonment, Bullying, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Racism, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Fatphobia, Self harm, and Suicide attempt