Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

41 reviews

elly29's review

challenging dark informative inspiring 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

4.0

A slow burn of a novel, that suddenly dissolves. I loved that it was about women divers (in Jeju, an island off of South Korea's coast). The best part of the book was the society of haenyeo -- as a woman, who works, (and who just got some scuba certification), it was a joy and delight to hear of classic gender roles turned on their head.

Junbu, Young-Sook's husband, seemed like a woman's fantasy of a husband. 

I also didn't know about the Bukchon Massacre, or anything about Jeju Island and the struggle between insurgent and anti-communist government forces. There is a brutal scene that involves lots of things like rape, torture, murder, and child murder. (Also makes me sick at the thought that these things are happening in Ukraine.)

In the end, this is a story about diving, survival, and forgiveness. I love that the sea is a constant, a grandmother who will never leave you even when everything else has changed. I like the phrase, "To understand everything is to forgive." Using Young-Sook and her life as an example of what we should not do: may we be patient, may we ask questions, may we never assume, may we be perceptive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: War, Gun violence, Police brutality, Rape, and Torture

Minor: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

friendofhayley's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I got this book as a gift from my partner, since I'm half-Korean and I have been trying to learn more about that side of my family.

It was so interesting (and heart-breaking) to find out the chaos and deaths American imperialists (not just the Japanese) subjected Korea too, which is something I never learned before.

It was so interesting learning about the hanyeo as well. 

However the historical context and events were my favorite parts of the book.

I disliked the main character and the actions she took, although I definitely understand that it was realistic because she acted just like my own estranged mother.

But this might just be a personal taste thing.

I also was waiting until the end to see if perhaps the relationship between Young-Sook and Mi-Ja had at least a one-sided romantic attraction, but alas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Death of parent, Suicide, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Colonisation, Rape, Sexism, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

elliedeg's review against another edition

emotional inspiring fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, and Hate crime

alayamorning's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Miscarriage, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism and Cancer

pavonini's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Really interesting book. I learned and felt a lot reading it. Would recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Gun violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Rape, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Animal death

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

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.

caribbeangirlreading's review against another edition

emotional informative 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

4.5

• “Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back. In this world, in the undersea world, we tow the burdens of a hard life. We are crossing between life and death every day.”

• “With arranged marriages, many wives fall in love with their husbands quickly. For some it can take years. And for others, decades of marriage will always be filled with loneliness and sadness . . . How different it is with friendship. No one picks a friend for us; we come together by choice. We are not tied together through ceremony or the responsibility to create a son; we tie ourselves together through moments. The spark when we first meet. Laughter and tears shared. Secrets packed away to be treasured, hoarded, and protected. The wonder that someone can be so different from you and yet still understand our heart in a way no one else ever will.”

• “We thought we were free, but so far the only difference in our lives here on Jeju was that the Japanese flag was lowered, and the American flag was raised. One colonizer had been replaced by another.”

The Island of Sea Women is a profoundly sad, but moving, and very well-researched, work of historical fiction. The sea women of Jeju Island will stay with me for a very long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, and Vomit

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

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

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Excrement

Other warnings: drowning, mutilation

purplelillyflower's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Police brutality

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

naturemamareads's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Hate crime, Gun violence, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse