Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

211 reviews

kyrajade's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

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

3.25

I think this is an important story to tell, but I think that it wasn't written very well. The first 250 pages I was wedded to the original cast of characters, but then for the sake of making the narrative multi-generational, the author began introducing characters very shallowly who you were for some reason supposed to care about, and then the stories of these characters and the widening time skips between chapters meant that characters from the first half who you liked and felt an attachment too were picked off in the background. The author made horrible and traumatic things happen in this book and yet you didn't get to experience any of the grief of the characters because she skimmed over it with a time skip. The whole thing felt very emotionally unsastisfying, but the actual context and history of the story is an interesting read. For a character driven story, the characters introduced in the second half are flat and semi-transparent. I really enjoy multi-generational stories (100 Years of Solitude or Do Not Say We Have Nothing) and one thing the authors in both books do is carefully manage the number of characters in the book to give the reader the experience of spending time on the page with each one. This book just became too ambitious and lost so much in the process.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Abortion, Suicide, and Trafficking

thenoboshow's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, War, and Xenophobia

hannahyorkey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

Pachinko is beautiful tale that spans 4 generations of a Korean family facing the burdens of war, poverty and discrimination when they move to Japan and are unable to return home. The omniscient pov allows you to connect with all of the characters and unobjectively understand and view their individual plights. The story was compelling and realistic and the characters were lovable in their own ways. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Miscarriage

drkng31's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, War, Cancer, Terminal illness, Abortion, Addiction, Colonisation, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Bullying, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

spenceee_14's review

emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, War, and Xenophobia

sas_lk's review

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This was the type of novel I had to digest slowly, and take the time to enjoy every chapter. I really liked the first two thirds, they felt like 4.5-5 stars at parts. 
The last third is unfortunately what lost me a little, and it is also why I am giving it 4 stars instead of something higher. At the end it started feeling a little disjointed, like the author lost track of the story a little bit. We were following the POVs of way more characters all of a sudden and quite a few felt pointless - atleast the depth that the author went into. And then it felt like the author added a couple traumatic things to keep the book sad and shocking without delving into these traumatic events. It felt like at the end she was speeding through her writing instead of taking her time with the events and happenings like she did in the first 2 thirds - this made me lose touch with the characters, and I almost felt like I stopped knowing them; like they were different characters than the ones I had been following throughout the whole book.
Overall, a great book, and I would definitely recommend it, I just wish the author had sat with the last third a little longer and not tried to do too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Death, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, War, Sexism, Death of parent, Grief, Colonisation, Car accident, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Hate crime, Bullying, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

ainadei's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow. It's hard to sum up what to say. There were times I felt sadness, but couldn't even cry because that was just life. This is truly a story about the world and family, and it has been a while since something has shook me like this.

"Go-saeng, a woman's lot is to suffer."

Oddly enough, though this is repeated in the book, there isn't much said about the determination and sheer willpower Sunja had carried within her, her entire life. I truly felt everything; the times I allowed myself to be vulnerable to this book, I found myself shedding a few tears.

A beautiful but harrowing experience.

If you want non-complex characters, a happy ending describing more than survival, or a lighthearted read, stay 50 yards from this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Xenophobia, Child death, War, Suicide, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Violence, Death, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Homophobia

gilmargirl's review against another edition

It was hitting a little too close to home for me emotionally and it was starting to be not enjoyable

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

malushington's review

challenging emotional sad medium-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? It's complicated

2.0

this was a really hard book to read. rife with tragedy and very little respite or peace. Compelling stories and important stories to tell, but it is gutting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual harassment, War, Xenophobia, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

magnolia_berry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, Bullying, Colonisation, Violence, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Abortion, Torture, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Genocide, Gun violence, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Child death and Trafficking