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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 killingshannahfaith25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death, War, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Torture
Moderate: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Rape, Colonisation, and Child abuse
zoegg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
this story so beautifully depicts the ebbing of trauma not just on an individual level, but across a whole community. i was so heartbroken for jeju as a whole, and for young-sook and mi-ja — it felt like there was always too much time (for more hurt) and never enough (to learn to overcome it). watching young-sook grow from a teenager to eventually be a grandma was spectacular, and i felt so connected to her at the end that i could not believe that her story ended with this book.
if the pacing was a bit better, this would be an easy 4 (if not 4.5), but i am still so so glad to have finished this and highly recommend others give it a try :)
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Death, Grief, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, and Death of parent
smstevens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, War, Grief, Child death, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
entropyseeker's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual content, War, Child abuse, Murder, Colonisation, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Alcoholism, Police brutality, Sexual violence, and Torture
caitlinriach's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Mass/school shootings
Moderate: Colonisation, Rape, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Emotional abuse
chemicallykat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Death of parent, Classism, Alcoholism, Genocide, Child abuse, Misogyny, Violence, War, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
barmatron's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Colonisation
alisonw'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