Reviews tagging 'Mass/school shootings'

Wyspa kobiet morza by Lisa See

26 reviews

bwwilhelm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense 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

5.0

HEED THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. This book is emotionally engaging, but I cannot in good conscience recommend it to anyone. It deals with war from the viewpoint of a young woman on a small island. Things get gruesome, and graphic in parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

This book talks about the horrors of war, REPEATEDLY. Do with that information what you will. Specific trigger stuff in spoiler text.

About halfway into the book, Young-sook's entire village is herded into the local school by armed police. Some villagers are tortured, and Young-sook's husband, son, and sister-in-law are killed. It is GRAPHIC. Also, near the end of the book, Mi-ja goes into semi-specific detail about everything her husband did to her. Not incredibly graphic, but still made very clear. R*pe, police violence, colonization, etc, are mentioned throughout, pretty much from the beginning of the story, but it's generally very matter-of-fact with little to no details.

krisawesome's review against another edition

2.5

Pacing is odd, Young-sook isn’t an especially engaging protagonist, and some of the personal conflicts were super predictable and felt a little trope-y to me (and not in a good way).

Although I had been warned about some of the descriptions in this book, I was still not fully prepared for how brutal some of the instances were. I’m usually fine to read those if I’m aware of them ahead of time but the end of the “Life-Giving Air” chapter (and a bit of the following one) were too much even for me. Note that I don’t blame See for including them, and I wouldn’t have even been all that surprised if I’d read them without warning - it’s not like she’d pulled punches earlier in the book either. But they’re hard to get past, is what I’m saying.

The 2008 chapters feel like they’re a little phoned in, compared to the research and effort that See obviously put into the main timeline. 

Stars were earned mostly by the anthropological and historical elements, as difficult as the latter were to read about at times. It was especially fascinating to read about the haenyeo and their matrifocal society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cancer, Excrement, and Alcohol

Other warnings: drowning, mutilation

spinesinaline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Infertility, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Cancer

books_and_fairy_lights's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad medium-paced

• 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

4.75

I don't remember ever crying so much over a single book. It got me laughing and sobbing. It's tragic and very emotional, but hopeful, and beautifully written. It's also very instructive and I loved it from the first page to the last one. A wonderful book about love, friendship, survival, and the importance to forgive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Minor: Cancer

tripscurlies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love stories about women friendships and their complexities and this one was excellent. There are many tragedies in this book, and it had me weeping at the end, so be warned about that. It also takes place over several decades on Jeju, which is a part of the world that I hadn't looked into prior and found incredibly interesting. I really felt that the author put a lot of research into it and it makes me want to seek about more information. Overall, I would highly recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content

sarah984's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked this novel a lot. It was full of interesting historical and cultural details of a location and period that I didn't know much about beforehand but in an easily understandable way. It definitely felt like it was written with respect and love for the real people of Jeju.

The overarching story about forgiveness and seeing other people's perspectives was good but it was also very similar to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by the same author, which was kind of weird for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Grief, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Trafficking