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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My heart has been wrenched from my chest. This was enlightening, truly opened my eyes. We see our mothers as that, our mums, and its so easy to forget they are whole people. They have feelings, childhood, siblings, their own mothers and dreams and hardships. Its so easy to forget that, forget our role in our relationships with each other. I am sobbing and i feel like theres a small piece of me forever changed. As someone that still has their mother and as someone that is a mother, this book was eye opening.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5 rounded up to 4.
I hate having to come to terms with the reality of aging and especially seeing your parents go through it. They change and you change and your outlook on them changes too.
The story is about a mother, like many mothers who give so much of their life for their family and it's not always appreciated until it's sometimes too late. it was so painful. i loved that Chihon got the rosary at the end. I wished they could have found her at the end but life does not always have happy endings so i understand.
This was a hard read. I feel like had I known the original language, it would have been more moving but the English translation was still good for the most part. It was repetitive and boring in some parts. The flow was confusing too at times because of the switch between characters and who is narrating the chapter.
I hate having to come to terms with the reality of aging and especially seeing your parents go through it. They change and you change and your outlook on them changes too.
The story is about a mother, like many mothers who give so much of their life for their family and it's not always appreciated until it's sometimes too late. it was so painful. i loved that Chihon got the rosary at the end. I wished they could have found her at the end but life does not always have happy endings so i understand.
This was a hard read. I feel like had I known the original language, it would have been more moving but the English translation was still good for the most part. It was repetitive and boring in some parts. The flow was confusing too at times because of the switch between characters and who is narrating the chapter.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the story of So-Nyo, an elderly married mother of five now grown children who gets separated from her husband of many years in Seoul. Her husband gets on the subway without checking to see that she did as well and they became separated, which of course creates pandemonium within the family as they try to find Mom. They spend countless hours tracking down people who may have seen her and passing out flyers in a never-ending search for Mom.
This is an interesting concept for a book in that the main character, Mom, is created from the memories of those closest to her: her children, her husband, friends, her mother. Mom is brought to life through the snippets and anecdotes relayed by various family members. She is never actually alive on the page as her own character. The family members and friends are all rather shallow characters who often can't recall certain things about Mom correctly, an interesting detail which the author added that shows how little they know of Mom. The story is set almost entirely in Korea during Mom's lifetime, so the most recent 70 years. There are four sections, and each section is told from one family member's point of view regarding Mom and her disappearance. The last section was somewhat confusing and seemed to jump around in time and space; I was not entirely certain what was going on and had to go back and re-read things. The epilogue I was able to figure out with an educated guess based on major artistic locations. I was satisfied with the ending though; I think it was rather a sweet way of wrapping up the story even if some of it was left unknown.
This is more of a chick-lit book than anything else, but people who like reading books about Far Eastern Asia may enjoy this as well. There is no violence. There is some implied sex in one place but it is very much "reading between the lines" and not super apparent. There is no alcohol or drug use. Just a good story about a Korean family disrupted by fate. I am giving this book four stars because of the very confusing last section.
This is an interesting concept for a book in that the main character, Mom, is created from the memories of those closest to her: her children, her husband, friends, her mother. Mom is brought to life through the snippets and anecdotes relayed by various family members. She is never actually alive on the page as her own character. The family members and friends are all rather shallow characters who often can't recall certain things about Mom correctly, an interesting detail which the author added that shows how little they know of Mom. The story is set almost entirely in Korea during Mom's lifetime, so the most recent 70 years. There are four sections, and each section is told from one family member's point of view regarding Mom and her disappearance. The last section was somewhat confusing and seemed to jump around in time and space; I was not entirely certain what was going on and had to go back and re-read things. The epilogue I was able to figure out with an educated guess based on major artistic locations. I was satisfied with the ending though; I think it was rather a sweet way of wrapping up the story even if some of it was left unknown.
This is more of a chick-lit book than anything else, but people who like reading books about Far Eastern Asia may enjoy this as well. There is no violence. There is some implied sex in one place but it is very much "reading between the lines" and not super apparent. There is no alcohol or drug use. Just a good story about a Korean family disrupted by fate. I am giving this book four stars because of the very confusing last section.
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a realistic and moving portrayal of intergenerational guilt, regret, and love.
I found it a bit slow and repetitive at times, but it's still worth 5 stars because of how much it resonated with me.
I found it a bit slow and repetitive at times, but it's still worth 5 stars because of how much it resonated with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Physical abuse
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Wow, I can't believe I waited this long for this book. The story was cute. Really, that's it: cute. Mom goes missing and the various characters reflect on their relationships with her and how she was a force to be reckoned with, one which they didn't know deeply, and really took for granted.
The biggest 'flaw' of the book, or what took me out of the story time and again was the use of the second person. Getting used to the trend of the first person narrator trend has been tough and should only be used by really good storytellers. The second person here was very awkward. Whether that was due to the translation or author's intention, I don't know, but it's one of two things that ruined the book for me. The other was the unresolved nature of the story.
The biggest 'flaw' of the book, or what took me out of the story time and again was the use of the second person. Getting used to the trend of the first person narrator trend has been tough and should only be used by really good storytellers. The second person here was very awkward. Whether that was due to the translation or author's intention, I don't know, but it's one of two things that ruined the book for me. The other was the unresolved nature of the story.
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot