Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

105 reviews

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Classism, Outing, Child death, Death of parent, Infertility, Infidelity, Ableism, Abortion, and Miscarriage

tinyjude's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

An emotional family saga set during and after Japan's colonisation of Korea and WWII up almost to the present. It deals with the difficulties experienced by Korean immigrants in Japan, the war, poverty, misogyny, classism and many more. Although fiction, it is still closely influenced by true events and provides an overview of the situation many Korean immigrants endured at that time. The amount of characters and the objective point of view sometimes made it a bit difficult to care deeply about them, but nonetheless I think it is a very important and insightful read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, War, Bullying, Classism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Ableism, Homophobia, Infertility, and Pedophilia

Minor: Abortion, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Addiction

nikolama's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Racism, Sexism, War, Xenophobia, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Bullying, Miscarriage, and Pedophilia

Minor: Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Cancer, Cursing, and Infertility

luciuh's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

losing my mind tbh, im writing this review like a week after finishing this book and it’s so good. it tore me apart in every way, and even though i’m not korean as a mixed (asian) person living in america it hit so hard….. reading this book i found myself feeling nostalgic for chapters i read like an hour ago and having to put the book down because i was so mad at characters (in like a fun way). I was glued to this book and it’s characters, they were so upsetting and so sad and so happy…!:$:$2$:: this book felt so true to how life happens, and how fast time passes…. it’s kind of wistful and kind of somber and absolutely perfect… definitely deserves 5 stars

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Suicide, Racism, Misogyny, and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Racism, Bullying, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Death, Classism, Misogyny, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Ableism, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual content, Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Child death, Stalking, and Medical content

Minor: Infertility, Addiction, Kidnapping, Abortion, Antisemitism, Vomit, Cancer, Car accident, and Child abuse

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Pachinko is a fascinating examination of the consequences of Japanese prejudice and xenophobia against Korean immigrants. For instance, prior to reading this, I had no idea that many Koreans born in Japan had to maintain Korean passports despite often never having seen their ancestors' homeland. Another enlightening aspect of this novel that I appreciated was the non-western perspective of World War II. There aren't enough popular English-language books that explore that perspective.

I feel like I must admit that I really struggled to get into this book and enjoy it at first. Everything seemed so abrupt and impersonal. Each early chapter felt almost like a list of facts. This happened, that happened, so and so was born, so and so died, the end. It honestly reminded me of the Old Testament in the Bible at times. Too much information with little chance to connect or digest. However, the longer that I stuck with Pachinko, the more I realized that the impersonal quality is effective; even realistic. Real-life family histories are told the way they are in this story. Here's who came first and a few of their qualities and here's what happened next. And the impersonal nature of the novel's beginning faded as Lee introduced more and more of the new generations.

Despite its length and the initial detached characterization, Pachinko is a very well-done historical narrative. I will be thinking about all the characters in this book for some time - especially Sunja.

Spoiler warning:

I really hated Hansu and was upset by how often he reappeared. He groomed Sunja! And then she spends her whole life blaming herself and being blamed by her family for what they view as her choices. I know victim-blaming is historically accurate. However, I have seen so many reviews that are sympathetic towards him and I just don't understand it! I know he helped the family at times but all of his motivations are purely selfish and sexist.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Infidelity, Colonisation, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infertility, Alcoholism, and Abortion

Minor: Trafficking

fairyribs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.5

4.5- my god this book was amazing. Knocked off 0.5 because the ending was a bit…meh. But the themes, history and the ramifications of cultural genocide were heartbreaking but very necessary to read about.

I went into this book expecting it to be a history of the Japanese colonial rule but instead I got an intimate portrait of a family and it’s fight for survival during and after colonialism. I never knew that people like the Zainichi existed and to see how many of them came to be was quite illuminating, along with the discrimination many Korean-Japanese people face today.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Mental illness, Police brutality, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Ableism, Body horror, Cancer, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, War, Abandonment, Child death, and Colonisation

nicolesorial's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Cancer, Child death, Classism, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, War, Ableism, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, and Sexism

saltycoffee's review against another edition

emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Grief, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Suicide, War, and Racial slurs

isadreamsof's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

I mentally put this book at the bottom of my TBR because I had an inkling it would make me cry, but I felt compelled to pick it up on a particularly slow day, and I'm so glad I did.

I gave this five stars because it was the book to really get me out of my  slump and make me love reading again. I personally found it hard to put down because I was so invested in the characters and what would happen to them. While there were things I wish had been done differently,

like having more time with Isak, or just the end of Noa's arc (oh god, not the unintentional biblical pun)

, I didn't dislike it too much to dock a star. 

I found the language easy to digest and the plot easy to follow despite its large cast. The characters felt so real to me too, and I would say this is one of those books I want to forget to experience for the first time all over again. 

Was this heartbreaking? Yes. Will I recommend it? Absolutely. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Homophobia

Fortunately, the book does not romanticize any of these things, but they're still very present elements in the story.