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madzie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unfortunately, about two-thirds through the book, the characters, plot, and themes fall apart. Lee moves too fast through time, not allowing time to develop the later generation of her characters or the themes she has set up. Instead of exploring the point she is trying to make about life and the world, Lee falls into the trap of focusing on spurts of drama that make the reader feel empty due to lack of time for character building. She relies on tropes that occasionally go directly against her themes and certainly never adds anything to them.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Sexism, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Car accident, Sexual content, Suicide, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Minor: Infertility, Drug use, Fatphobia, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Addiction
ackee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, War, Pregnancy, Death, Bullying, Colonisation, and Misogyny
mysterymom40's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Infidelity, Sexual content, Stalking, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Addiction, Violence, Torture, Infertility, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Suicide, Pregnancy, War, and Medical content
Minor: Miscarriage
sakisreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Although the trauma for Koreans living in Japan is evident, and what many of the characters went through was undeniably terrible, there were a lot of words for not much being said. I felt like I would be getting excited about one character’s journey then we’d go back to the same old pattern their parent felt about something going on in their life (e.g. I got more intrigued when Mozasu’s character was being shown to us, but we’d often go back to Sunja’s feelings towards Hansu time and time again). I felt myself having to put the book down quite often because I felt a bit bored 🙈
I’ll include the content warnings below because there are quite a few needed.
All in all I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars. I thought some of the imagery and the love portrayed between Sunja and Isak, or even Sunja and Kyunghee, were stunning 🥰 But I felt that the storylines dragged on for so long and it could get tricky to keep up.
Thank you ✨
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Violence, War, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Classism, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Colonisation, Death, Misogyny, and Suicide
racerreads'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
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Grief
Moderate: Xenophobia, Violence, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content
lisamsalgado'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
4.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Genocide, Racism, Classism, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Alcoholism
Minor: Torture, Ableism, Cancer, Colonisation, and Abortion
carlyjean's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: War, Suicide, Violence, and Toxic relationship
zarlynsnook'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
this books reminds me of the frist time i read the kite runner and another korean historical novel, year of a thousand goodbyes.
at some point,reading these books makes me feel guilty of being oblivious to the parts of our history these books have told.
Pachinko.
i've been meaning to read this book since 2019.i even posted about it being the book i'm currently reading but just like some other books on my then tbr, it was one of those books where i have to find the perfect time and mood to read.
writing this review, my thoughtswhile always circles back to the time i first learned about the division of the Korean Peninsula. it wasn't from my history class in highschool but from a 20-peso book i found from booksale, year of a thousand goodbyes by sook-nyul choi. that book was an eye-opener for me. my knowledge about Korea back then was limited to Korean dramas and k-pop groups that started to become popular here in the 🇵🇭. for some reason, i got a bit sense of maturity having to read that book and knowing about what the 38º parallel meant.(again, i remembered that book when i saw the k-drama, Crash Landing on You).
Having to read Pachinko now was somehow, a continuation of the history class i've had from that book many years ago.
while YoTG tells the story of a family left in Korea during its tumultous years of oppression, Pachinko told the story of many who was left with no choice but to leave and brave the challenges of finding safety in the country of their oppressors.
Sunja is like Korea itself. she was divided, at first by her past and her present – Hansu and Isak. Then again with her two sons, Noa and Mozasu whom in my opinion,suffered the same but different fate.
History has failed us,but no matter.
it indeed, failed Sunja and her family in a lot of ways. the decisions Sunja was forced to make throughout her life has affected the rest of her family and somehow, would also dictate the decisions of the generations to come.
this book left me half in awe and half in tears. i did not expect the book to end that way,and i also did not expect to be this hurt with that ending. i thought it would be a bittersweet ending but that is so naive of me to think because the opening line has already said it 'history failed us'. the 'no matter' part i guess,simply implies that despite everything, as human beings, we are initially inclined to keep going in life even if it fucked us over many times.
to sum up my review, this book broke me.
5⭐
Graphic: Sexism, War, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Violence, Suicide, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Deportation
squidknees'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
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Sexual violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Racism, Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Misogyny, Xenophobia, War, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicide, Slavery, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Abortion, Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Deportation, Trafficking, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, and Racial slurs
niaaaaa'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
4.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Xenophobia, Suicide, Terminal illness, Trafficking, War, Sexual content, Violence, Classism, Abortion, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Colonisation, and Death