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emmatwetan's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Abandonment, Racism, and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault
Minor: Pregnancy and Car accident
kittycaserine's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.25
This was almost a 5 star book but I found the ending unsatisfying. Which, perhaps was the goal. But I wanted real justice for this poor girl and that was ember received.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Sexual violence, Grief, Rape, Suicide attempt, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Classism, Torture, Abandonment, Violence, Child abuse, Self harm, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Sexism, and Car accident
regans's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
1.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Domestic abuse, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Abandonment, Pedophilia, Racism, Car accident, and Classism
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: War
kearstenmh's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
I would’ve given a better review if the ending wasn’t as big of a disappointment as it was.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
sarah_speaks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
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
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
4.25
Content Warnings
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
briannad4's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Physical abuse
kktaylor11's review
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- 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
This book first caught my attention a couple of years ago when I came across the title and the first few pages in a book store. Recently, standing in B&N I saw it again and had to make a decision whether to buy it or save it for later - ultimately deciding to wait. Then I got home and discovered I had actually PURCHASED it the first time I saw it and it had been languishing in my TBR pile -- so obviously I needed to read it.
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:
After finishing the book I've been struck by how many loose ends it has, and the more I think about it, the more I feel like it's unraveling in my hands. For example - one of the most powerful scenes in the beginning of the book is the acid bath Nori has to take daily as her grandmother tries to lighten her skin. The scene is detailed and painful and powerful in establishing the intense dislike for her grandmother so pivotal to the story. Yet it's never really mentioned again. At one point Akira mentions the baths in his promise "the beatings and baths will stop..." but that's it. Are we just supposed to forget it? On a similar note, the brothel is a powerful moment that feels like the author wanted "something terrible" but it feels forced and forgotten. Nori's friendship with Miyuki is built too quickly into "like sisters" and then torn apart and never mentioned again. Nori ends up with plenty of money living with Akira for years and never even considers trying to find Miyuki? Even when she inherits everything she closes the brothel, but makes zero mention of her friend. Similarly, the relationship with Akira is too fast and too intense - almost uncomfortable. You can have hero worship without having overtones of incest, which I think unintentionally (or maybe it was intentional) develop here. Nori is too blindly and obsessively in love with Akira, almost to the point of it being uncomfortable. It was clear something was going to happen to him from the first pages - the more he became "the air she breathed" the more you knew he was going to die. Or how about Will....he essentially rapes and sexually abuses her for over a year and then she just says "no more or I'm telling" and never seems to have to deal with any residual effects of the trauma? And the part where she goes to watch him feels pointless -- she decides to go visit Alice on her own, so why did we need the moment of Will seeing her across the room or the suggestion that he had seen her in other places or the awkward scene where he throws himself at her again? It's just not realistic? That's the bottom line for me...there were so many moments that wrenched me out of the narrative with a "Wait, what??" for me to truly love the book. And the ending? Oh.So.No. After an entire lifetime of LITERALLY wanting to kill Nori, cutting her off and threatening to kill her if she doesn't leave...suddenly Yuko wants to leave everything to her and Nori is like "well.....OK." !?!? What the heck? I mean through it all Yuko and "absent threatening grandfather" have been flat background characters -- a cheap "threat of danger" to keep the story moving, but even from the little we do have about them they effectively think Nori is subhuman and would rather all their money go to the state than to her -- so to welcome her (pregnant out of wedlock) back and solve the issue by saying "she's Akira's long lost daughter even though no one actually believes it, they accept it" -- umm....if it's that easy, why couldn't you have said that back when she first arrived? So yeah, No. That's the biggest flaw in my mind. .
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?
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?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Death, Rape, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Racism
aimnorth's review
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
The book reads with lots of inconsistencies in storytelling. Things that happen at the beginning of the book like Alice and Nori reading the diaries together are forgotten later on like when it is said that Nori has never told anyone about the diaries before Noah . Beyond plot inconsistencies, there are lots of character inconsistencies. Nori is often described as stupid one minute and then smart the next, by multiple other characters, and it changes to fit the plot of the moment. Character motivations change often, having one goal or personality until it's convenient for the plot that that character have an opposite motivation or personality like when Akira is obscenely protective of Nori to the point of being constantly in her business, until it is convenient for him to ignore her with no explanation long enough for Nori to be raped by his best friend without him ever having the slightest notion it happened .
It doesn't seem as if the author had a great understanding of Japan in the 1930s-1950s, either, and the setting reads too modern sometimes while the character actions frequently read out of the 1800s, with all the woman constantly fainting or vomiting at the slightest inconvenience, and pregnancy being something nothing but the doctors, not even woman who have had children, can recognize or name. It's very odd and unrealistic.
Nori also reads as being fetishized sometimes. Despite everyone in her family being described as tall, Nori is described as the shortest, most petite person with "meager" strength that can still push people over. However, she is also often described as well-endowed starting when the character is 13. She is put through a lot of awful physical, verbal, and sexual abuse in the book and handles it with a sort of mild attitude. The pain is almost romanticized. It can come off quite gross, especially since this is happening to a minor for a majority of the book.
It doesn't seem as if the author had a great understanding of Japan in the 1930s-1950s, either, and the setting reads too modern sometimes while the character actions frequently read out of the 1800s, with all the woman constantly fainting or vomiting at the slightest inconvenience, and pregnancy being something nothing but the doctors, not even woman who have had children, can recognize or name. It's very odd and unrealistic.
Nori also reads as being fetishized sometimes. Despite everyone in her family being described as tall, Nori is described as the shortest, most petite person with "meager" strength that can still push people over. However, she is also often described as well-endowed starting when the character is 13. She is put through a lot of awful physical, verbal, and sexual abuse in the book and handles it with a sort of mild attitude. The pain is almost romanticized. It can come off quite gross, especially since this is happening to a minor for a majority of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Rape, Death, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Racism, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Car accident, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, and Blood
There is a graphic rape scene in the book. There are also extremely detailed incidents of skin bleaching, physical attacks, life threatening injuries, and suicide attempts. The main character, at one point, is part of a brothel. Lots of under age girls being mistreated often in the book. Read the whole thing will caution if any of the triggers are rough for you because they are continuous themes through the book.cc0906's review against another edition
challenging
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Grief
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, and Xenophobia
Minor: War