Reviews tagging 'War'

The Starlet and the Spy by Ji-Min Lee

9 reviews

justreads93's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I feel like I got click baited with this book. I thought I was getting a book about Marilyn’s time in Korea during her USO tour told through the perspective of her translator. Instead Marilyn is a side character and really more of a framing device for the main character to tell her harrowing story. 

I really don’t know how I feel about the book itself; I think if I had known what I was getting into I would have liked it more. This is a story that is worth telling and worth reading. I feel like I rarely see stories set during the Korean War and this short book was a fascinating character study. But it’s not the book I had wanted to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Self harm, Infidelity, Death, War, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death

kmsander4's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

A quick read but a story that draws you in nonetheless. I felt for all of the characters in this story from Alice to Marilyn to Min-hwan to Joseph and everyone in between. 

War is messy. It leaves people destroyed for years and generations to come. And the ripple effect is never ending. 

A heartfelt story of grief and pain and reaching a point of acceptance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, and Suicide

Minor: Child death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

dhughes10's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and War

twin1's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and War

ceedy's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: War

gollibee's review

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

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

3.5

The writing was effective and in many areas, unique and even breath-taking, but the plot left me wanting something different. Also, content warning galore! Be sure to check before starting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Suicide

Moderate: Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion and Incest

bilitis's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

i thought the author's intent to give a voice to the stories that were lost to the war really came through because there was clearly a lot of love in all of those bits. the actual title has very little relevance to the story as marilyn does come across as an afterthought, but i still thought the idea of drawing a parallel between alice and marilyn, both in appearance and personality, was really interesting even if it came a little short. the book felt really fragmented at times so im not sure if being longer would've helped fix it's shortcomings, but i enjoyed it anyway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Child death, Blood, Abandonment, War, Violence, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death, and Torture

tinstae's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Death, Child death, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

tiwwy's review against another edition

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Death

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Blood, Child death, and Rape