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notsowellread's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Body shaming, and Cancer
Moderate: Alcoholism and Racism
Minor: Child death
caseythereader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.75
- Choi has the most incredible ability to write flawed people in complicated relationships. YOLK moves a bit slower than her other books, but it's worth it for the excavation of Jayne and June's relationships to themselves and to each other.
- So much is covered in this book, and it really gets at the way different pressures in your life get all tangled up together until it's nearly impossible to separate out all the experiences and feelings that make you who you are.
- I know this book won't be for everyone, especially if you don't like being in the point of view of someone who doesn't like themselves and/or purposefully sabotages themselves. But if you're up for it, YOLK is an incredible exploration of two sisters trying to find themselves through each other.
- So much is covered in this book, and it really gets at the way different pressures in your life get all tangled up together until it's nearly impossible to separate out all the experiences and feelings that make you who you are.
- I know this book won't be for everyone, especially if you don't like being in the point of view of someone who doesn't like themselves and/or purposefully sabotages themselves. But if you're up for it, YOLK is an incredible exploration of two sisters trying to find themselves through each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
astrid_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Mental illness
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, and Panic attacks/disorders
nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Jayne Baek is a college student in New York with a long-term eating disorder and an estranged older sister who lives just a few miles away. When June shows up at a bar in Jayne's part of town--according to the unspoken rules they've established--Jayne is furious, embarrassed to see her sister while simultaneously trying not to feel too awkward about third-wheeling her roommate (who she sleeps with intermittently) and his date. June, after all, seems to have everything--the confidence, the high-paying job, and the beautiful apartment; however, when Jayne takes her up on the invitation to have a drink together, she discovers that June has only one wine glass...and a uterine cancer diagnosis.
Thrust back together under the weight of this news and June's insistence on keeping it secret from their parents, the sisters realize how much they've missed each other and how much they rely on their relationship. Choi manages to portray their interactions and reactions in such a wonderful, honest, not cheesy way. June and Jayne apologize for past infractions, but the way that siblings do, honestly, but without overdoing it and with more of a focus on just moving on. As they attempt to take care of each other, dancing around the severity of both June's cancer and Jayne's bulimia, they continue to nag and argue about little things. They want to gossip about crushes and sex, complain about their parents and the restaurant they own, avoid church and painful memories of high school, and smoke in the car without getting caught. Choi navigates this balance of serious and every day so well, and Jayne and June come to life as truly human characters.
That said, I just didn't care that much about them. I appreciated the story and the important conversations that Choi began by telling it, including discussions of disordered eating, sibling relationships, and anti-Asian racism. I greatly admire Choi's skill as a writer and her ability to establish complex characters, but it still fell flat for me. As much as I sympathized with Jayne's insecurity and June's reckoning with her illness, I wasn't particularly compelled by either sister.
I definitely think this is worth a read, and I would love to recommend it and engage in conversation about it with some of my students, but it just didn't do it for me personally.
I received an educator's advanced listening copy of this book from Libro.fm. Thank you to Simon and Schuster Audio, Books for Young Readers as well as author Mary H.K. Choi. Opinions stated in this review are honest and my own.
Release Date: March 2, 2021
For another book on eating disorders, I highly recommend Molly Fennig's Starvation, which was published in November 2020.
Thrust back together under the weight of this news and June's insistence on keeping it secret from their parents, the sisters realize how much they've missed each other and how much they rely on their relationship. Choi manages to portray their interactions and reactions in such a wonderful, honest, not cheesy way. June and Jayne apologize for past infractions, but the way that siblings do, honestly, but without overdoing it and with more of a focus on just moving on. As they attempt to take care of each other, dancing around the severity of both June's cancer and Jayne's bulimia, they continue to nag and argue about little things. They want to gossip about crushes and sex, complain about their parents and the restaurant they own, avoid church and painful memories of high school, and smoke in the car without getting caught. Choi navigates this balance of serious and every day so well, and Jayne and June come to life as truly human characters.
That said, I just didn't care that much about them. I appreciated the story and the important conversations that Choi began by telling it, including discussions of disordered eating, sibling relationships, and anti-Asian racism. I greatly admire Choi's skill as a writer and her ability to establish complex characters, but it still fell flat for me. As much as I sympathized with Jayne's insecurity and June's reckoning with her illness, I wasn't particularly compelled by either sister.
I definitely think this is worth a read, and I would love to recommend it and engage in conversation about it with some of my students, but it just didn't do it for me personally.
I received an educator's advanced listening copy of this book from Libro.fm. Thank you to Simon and Schuster Audio, Books for Young Readers as well as author Mary H.K. Choi. Opinions stated in this review are honest and my own.
Release Date: March 2, 2021
For another book on eating disorders, I highly recommend Molly Fennig's Starvation, which was published in November 2020.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Cancer, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Sexual content
mmmmmm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.75
this majorly hurt my heart but mary hk choi is definitely an autobuy for me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
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