Reviews tagging 'War'

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

50 reviews

samone2'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder, Rape, and Racism

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, and War

const_elle_ations's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Rape, Abortion, Eating disorder, and Miscarriage

Minor: Infidelity, Homophobia, and War

kaitlyncookies's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

A beautiful book about mothers and daughters. Tan’s novel, which reads like a short story collection, sounded very similar in tone to Alice Munro’s work, so if you like Munro’s stories you will enjoy these as well. While the pace felt slower the second half of the novel, I still deeply enjoyed Tan’s prose. The stories are all captivating and heartbreaking, and all of the characters feel completely real. I wouldn’t exactly call it a fun read, but would be great if you’re in the mood for a reflective multigenerational story. It really made me reflect on the relationship I have with my parents.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Death of parent, Rape, and War

machenn's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, War, Child death, Abortion, Death of parent, and Miscarriage

cassreading's review against another edition

medium-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

5.0

Little vignettes that trace the lives and connections of Chinese immigrant mothers and their Chinese-American daughters. Beautifully written, complex women in even more complicated relationships, exactly my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide, Racism, Rape, and War

yinflower's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Child abuse, Classism, War, and Grief

kaneebli's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Rape and War

lida_magg's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Pregnancy, Violence, Animal death, Death of parent, War, and Miscarriage

kappafrog's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Grief, War, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Car accident, Cannibalism, Gore, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Death, Eating disorder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Homophobia, Trafficking, and Murder

marissasa's review against another edition

emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

This book tells the stories of 4 immigrant Chinese women and each of their Chinese-American daughters. Although I like multiple POVs for the fact that they never get monotonous, they almost always end up with some characters being less developed or having less time focused on their stories, and that is definitely the case with this one. I enjoyed all the mothers' POVs and the look into their lives before they came to America, but honestly didn't think the daughters' stories matched them at all in how interesting and nuanced it made their situations. All the mothers had trauma relating to the loss of their children and families, marriage issues, being displaced from their homes, and their daughters' not understanding them. All of the daughters then had generational trauma, mommy issues, and a disconnect from their Chinese identities. The thing that made me dislike almost all of the daughters' stories was that except for Jing-mei, all of their POVs revolved around their troubles with their white husbands or boyfriends. The whole time I'm reading about them just thinking "free my sisters from the shackles of white men lmao". I wish they were given more depth and character development that was unrelated to their relationships with white men, or at least having just one character go through that so that the daughters' stories weren't so similar and forgettable. Jing-mei is the exception to this and I definitely thought her and her mother Suyuan's stories were the most memorable, and I do wish they had more time for their stories than they got. I did love the ending and how the story came full circle with the first and last chapter being Jing-mei's though, and the emotional conclusion felt satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Abortion, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Terminal illness, War, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Grief