Reviews

In 1918, three Korean young women set off as picture brides to Hawaii. They’ve been promised all the things one could dream about life in the U.S., plus handsome and rich land-owning husbands. When they arrive, they soon learn that they were lied to.

The novel covers a few decades and shares a lot of information about Korean immigration to Hawaii, Hawaiian history, and Korean/Japanese relations, plus the Korean Revolution.

However, I was hoping for a more immersive read. The sense of place was lacking, and there’s a distance between the reader and the prose. There was a lot of “telling” Vs, “showing,” causing it to read more like a summary of the novel. It was still nice to contrast the Korean experience with the more popular stories of Japanese picture brides.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the access to this book.

qomareads's review against another edition

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4.0

Borrowed from Libby, this is perfect for a fan of historical fiction. It reads like a memoir to me. It’s more about telling than showing. I read mixed reviews here and there, and I get why people went from 4-5 to 2-3.5 stars for this book. There is no in-depth exploration of the characters, so it felt a bit dry in that part. There’s a huge jump in the timeline to the future, and some with no proper explanation. But overall, this one was really good for me since I’ve never heard about picture brides before and this was thoroughly fascinating and intriguing enough for me to read till the end.

A heart-rending multi-generational story about Korean migrants living in Hawaii with their struggles for a better future and fighting alongside their people for their former country's independence. A picture bride is a term used to refer to a practise in the early twentieth century by immigrant workers who married women based on the recommendation of a matchmaker who exchanged photographs between the prospective bride and groom.

rum2j's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

akemi_sato's review against another edition

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3.0

The third part was extremely disappointing. Why the time skip? Why the change of character pov in the last 50 pages of the book? Why the insane plot twist in the last 30 pages with no context, no discussion, no resolution, no nothing. Would've easily gave it a 4 if the third part was just Willow continuing to tell her life story to the day she passed or her first kid graduated school or achieved their dreams or smth. I'm so annoyed by that.

hello_neko's review

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informative 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? No

3.5

zinelib's review against another edition

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reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

The Picture Bride--about early 20th century Korean immigrants in Hawai'i. The author is Korean (not Korean-American), so an interesting perspective. Like a lot of good historical fiction, it gives you that wrong-end-of-a-telescope feeling.

bookstoplaces's review against another edition

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inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Loved it but the end felt rushed to me. I could have kept reading further, I got very attached to the family.

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