Scan barcode
mmorice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, War, Body horror, Colonisation, Genocide, Physical abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, and Racism
katyps78's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Vomit, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Racism, War, Violence, Sexual violence, and Police brutality
Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
pbuzzard'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Abortion, Bullying, Child death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Gore, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Mental illness, Murder, Hate crime, Infertility, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Violence, Body shaming, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Medical trauma, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, Excrement, Physical abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Torture, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, and Gun violence
brogan7's review against another edition
4.0
Also, I couldn't quite relate to the perfect friendship/turned so completely to trauma of a level so deep...I couldn't relate to either of them by then, Mi-ja and her seeming instantaneous change of heart, Young-Sook and her complete unwillingness to listen or interact with her, even if she felt betrayed.
The book explicitly and implicitly favoured a "forgiveness" pathway that felt more like passivity than forgiveness. The ending really pushed toward a particular interpretation, which felt imposed by non-survivors (the author? Or the cultural stereotype of the passive Asian woman?). The character of Young-Sook felt like she wanted to shatter those expectations, and for the better, but she wasn't allowed her free reign.
When Shaman Kim reinterprets this at the end of the book, she chastises Young-Sook, she pushes her to forgive Mi-ja, and by extension their Korean attackers, but that is not what was necessarily meant by the family's statements or by Shaman Kim's words to a community member. I thought Shaman Kim was originally enjoining Young-Sook to forgive herself, as a survivor. This was much more interesting to me than anything about Mi-ja at that point... Mi-ja's husband could not help them, even if he wanted to, that kind of heroics is for Hollywood...he had chosen his side and Jun-Bu wasn't on it, even had they been friends, which they weren't. Massacres don't tend well to exceptions, it's unlikely he could have saved his wife, at that point.
Graphic: War
Moderate: Colonisation, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual violence
TW: mass killingsalisonw'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? It's complicated
4.5
Firstly a TW: It deals with extremely heavy subjects of loss, war, corruption, all kinds of abuse, murder including all ages, all very graphically so please be warned if you think you can’t handle that.
But if you’re unsure, don’t let that put you off. This book tells the true story of the people of Jeju and all they have gone through in the last century through a fictional narrative and the graphic elements are there because they happened, reading them feels similar to the sobering feeling of going to a concentration camp has, it’s horribly sad but feels like a necessity to be able to respect and remember - in my case as a European who was taught nothing about Korea’s history, it felt so important to acknowledge and learn about these events for the first time.
The author is masterful at weaving history and fiction together, none of the fictitious story line feels forced to bring in a historical event, while at the same time the story does not steal from the history, I would actually say it helps give it more blood and feel more tangible rather than cold facts on a page about somewhere far away.
Highly highly recommend.
Graphic: Genocide, Colonisation, Grief, Pregnancy, Torture, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Child death, Death, Murder, Sexual violence, Mass/school shootings, and Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Racism, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Slavery
alexis_baldwin92's review against another edition
Graphic: Xenophobia, Suicide, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Genocide, War, Sexual violence, Death, Colonisation, Child death, Rape, Violence, Racism, and Domestic abuse
annaclaire18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
The characters are convincing and complex, and the plot drags you under and doesn’t let you up for air.
I was less fond of the modern timeline that wove in and out of the story, but it did serve to help break up the heavy topic of the novel.
Warning: this is not a light read. Prepare for graphic descriptions of violence.
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, War, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape
abrdoodle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Child abuse, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Racism, Sexism, Torture, and War
Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Sexual violence, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
raaahella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It was a good book at understanding our expectations of others and how we expect or think they will view us. It also showed why holding onto hate just leaves you with regret. Great life lesson book. And a beautiful historical story about a matriarchal society.
I would highly recommend anyone to read, if only for the Korean historical part.
Graphic: Rape, Genocide, War, and Racism
The length of the story was a bit too much. I began to loose interest until they spoke about the book Heidi. Then the story picked up again with Chun Lee's character. Would have like to have read what the letters they sent to her mother actually said. And curious if they understood the blocking out of information from America.biblioghoul'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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, War, Child death, and Grief
Moderate: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, and Racism