Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

361 reviews

whomever_0's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0


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_mininbooks_'s review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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alwaysravensade's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0


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kestrel's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad slow-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


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babbieabbi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring 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

This book was a hard read for me, it hit very close to home at times. There are some beautiful family dynamics here, but I may not be in the best headspace right now for cancer stories. As TCP might say, cancer is quite the mindfuck, and I wasn’t ready 

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sadvegetableperson's review

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.0


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nataliexf's review

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emotional funny reflective 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? Yes

4.5

I can see why some people didn’t enjoy the book because yeah, the characters are not exactly likable people. but wow to me it was so emotionally raw and it made me both laugh and cry inside. there were some points where the dialogue felt a little cringe but other than that I really just surrendered myself to the characters’ rollercoaster of thoughts and let choi run with it. maybe it’s because I’ve known a young person get cancer and how that makes the people around them feel or that internal battle of loving and missing your family members even when they do all sorts of toxic things but from start to finish I couldn’t put this one down.

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classicpseudonym's review

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challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

this book depicts a raw, human experience so damn well. given i haven’t been through a fraction of what the protagonist - jayne - has, but i felt so much emotion reading choi’s narration of her thought processes alone. i especially related to jayne’s constant need for distractions - thus her relationship with the city - and her inherent belief that new environments and her appearance will give her a fresh start and make people treat her a certain way. and overall the untethered nature of jayne’s actions due to her never feeling grounded, in control, or present in her body is subtly expressed but adds tremendously to the scattered feeling readers get thanks to choi’s well written narration. it’s worth noting that i’m lucky to have never experienced mental illness to the extent to which jayne does, but this book truly made me realize the extent to which illness - both mental and physical - consumes the conscience of so many. choi perfectly encapsulates that feeling of having no control of what’s happening around you or your reaction - or lack thereof, and the overall numbness jayne experiences at points throughout the book. in combination with her vivid flashbacks to a slew of childhood memories and strained familial relationships as well as disturbing and heartwarming encounters, so many moments in this book were so palpable that they left me numb with emotion. and don’t get me started on jayne’s interactions and dynamics with other people because the push/pull there is so well done i could go on for days. basically, hats off to choi!!! i will say this book is pretty triggering and i did have to put it down at some points because of that, but it does a really good job representing a tumultuous yet heartwarming narrative. so if you want to feel big feelings, give it a read :))

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starbeans's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Jayne is a young Korean-American woman living in New York after moving out from her parents’ house in Texas. Her older sister, June, moved to the city a few years before her. While Jayne’s life consists of dealing with her faulty apartment, skipping college classes, fighting with her situationship, getting sloppy drunk with her friends, and a heavy case of binge-eating and bulimia, June’s world is seemingly perfect, with a high-paying job in hedge funds. The two sisters seem nothing alike and apparently can’t really stand each other. 
That is, until June discovers she has cancer. 

It’s a heartwarming, funny, and gut-wrenching story all at the same time. It’s written incredibly well, the characters are fleshed out, and I love how unreliable Jayne is as a narrator. The ending (tiny spoiler) doesn’t really give any closure to the reader plot-wise, but it ends at a really, really good point nonetheless. Nothing but love for this book, practically inhaled it.

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jada_banks's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad slow-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


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