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imogenrose97's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Child death, Police brutality, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, War, Death, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Genocide
Moderate: Rape
bookben40's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Violence and Torture
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and War
kibbles15'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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Child death, Violence, and Genocide
Moderate: War, Domestic abuse, Rape, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Sexual content, Medical content, and Sexual violence
katherine_alexis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, War, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape
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.thesapphiccelticbookworm'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
4.5
Graphic: Sexism, War, Violence, Death, and Misogyny
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Rape, Pregnancy, Vomit, Colonisation, and Death of parent
Minor: Medical content and Alcohol
azilisssss'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
4.75
Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Domestic abuse, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, War, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Colonisation
Moderate: Vomit and Pregnancy
julesmcf's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
However, it is not a light read as it deals in detail with the cruelties that were committed in the end of the 1940s and 50s on Jeju.
Graphic: Sexual assault and War
Moderate: Murder, Rape, Domestic abuse, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Fire/Fire injury
camillemelaleuca's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Grief
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: War, Torture, Sexual assault, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts
rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The sections with historical, social and cultural informations were very interesting (at least for me) but I don't think that they were very well integrated into the narration and I can see how someone might find them a bit too much didactic and dry.
The historical events that are the basis for this story were brutal and certainly they cannot be brushed aside, but I still think that an author can approach the portraying of violence in a way that does not feel gratuitous (as it did for me in this case). I don't think that such a violence was well transposed on the page, at times it just felt like a list of atrocities, just for shock value.
In general, I just didn't get along much with the writing style, I found it eithera bit plain or a bit too much overdone, without much subtlety in terms of both narration and characterization.
Speaking of characters, I have to say that I struggled to connect with them, even when it came to the main character, Youngsook, there were very few moments when I felt really engrossed in her story and her feelings. I think that the characters' emotions were not so well portrayed, they were either too much melodramatic for my taste or kept hidden or just vaguely hinted at, so that I struggled as a reader to actually understand their depth and to be interested in the unfolding of the various relationships.
I wasn't so keen on the big final reveal, the events of the last chapters
just felt like too much for me, too over dramatic, too out of nowhere, just too much. The ending itself was also very abrupt.
I really liked the setting and the historical/cultural background but the story, the characters and the writing style quite dampened my enjoyment of the book.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Gun violence, War, Colonisation, Police brutality, Torture, Death, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Grief
Moderate: Rape, Ableism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Excrement, Vomit, Blood, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse
Minor: Cancer, Body shaming, and Alcoholism