Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

59 reviews

corriespondent's review

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dark funny reflective sad 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

4.0

I felt pretty ambivalent about Yolk by Mary HK Choi as I was reading it, but after finishing the last couple chapters and closing the book, I think I… like it? Or appreciate it? Jayne is a Gen Z-ish Korean American living in New York, living a somewhat chaotic life and not really enjoying any of it, struggling with anxiety and an eating disorder (content warning). But she finds out that her kind of estranged older sister, June, has cancer, and this brings up all kinds of themes around immigrant families and the traumas that bind and divide them.

This book made me feel old; I mentally clucked my tongue at these younguns making terrible life choices in a Tinder world while feeling a kind of helpless compassion for them. I found almost all the characters rather unlikeable for most of the book, but they grew on me (and grew over the course of the book). And there is something kind of ironic or… freeing? to read Asian American characters who are not a model minority and a mere shiny sidekick. 

So - I’m glad I finished it, but I am not sure I would read it again.

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lauren_mansfield0201's review

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emotional funny hopeful sad tense slow-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

4.75


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iabsolutelydespisesoggytomatos's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense 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

3.75


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motz_stick's review against another edition

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emotional reflective 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

4.5

Perfectly Mundane

I was hesitant to continue this book after some mental health struggles caused me to read at such a slow pace, but I’m forever grateful I did. This book was so beautifully written that I feel like I lived another life. It’s pacing and content felt so realistic. It’s the perfect slice of life book because it’s messy and has ups and downs. I also found comfort in the writing, the descriptions of mental illness made me feel understood and less alone. Although this book may not be for everyone I adored it and would love to read more of Choi’s writing.

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abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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lunep's review against another edition

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

4.0


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amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

3.75


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booksandboba's review against another edition

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

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m4rtt4's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

So so good!!! It was really hard to put this book down once I had started reading it; I probably would have read it in one sitting had the non-book-related circumstances allowed me to do so. This one really read like a 5-star book, but I had to deduce the 0.25 stars for the communication issues. Even though pretty much all the conversations and relationships felt very realistic, down to the point of how stubborn the human nature is, it still didn't change the fact that for the reader it can be very frustrating to only read about conflicts that could have easily been resolved with some words — emotions, even. All in all, the aforementioned didn't really matter that much — in all its rawness and painfulness the story was also very beautiful, and most importantly, IT MADE ME CRY!! (which for some self-masochistic reason I consider a success.)

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talonsontypewriters's review

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emotional reflective 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

3.25


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