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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
The first four stories were excellent, very interesting read. However, the fifth and sixth felt eccentric and tedious. The final one was emotional to say the least.
The writing style is very immersive, the characters are well-written and mysterious. I didn’t have many interesting reads this year, but this one stood out. I’d recommended it for a light read or to get out of reading slump.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
Shoko's smile was definitely the best story in this collection. The rest of them disappointed me and I had to skim through some to be able to finish the book. I picked it up after seeing many of my friends on Goodreads giving it 5 stars, but I honestly don't see what all the fuss was about.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
my favourite short story from the book definitely goes to 'hanji and youngju'. in the story, the narrator, a young korean woman, develops an intense friendship with a kenyan man she meets while both are volunteering at a monastery in france. at some point, their relationship goes wrong, and he stops speaking to her. but despite the narrator’s best efforts, she cannot figure out the cause of their estrangement, what she might have said or done to upset or offend her friend. the reader can’t, either. instead, we are left with the gut-punch of that lost intimacy and no tidy way to reassure ourselves that the same thing wouldn’t happen to us under comparable circumstances (washington independent, 2021)
reference: https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/shokos-smile-stories
reference: https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/index.php/bookreview/shokos-smile-stories
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
It's quite a sad read