Reviews

Go by Takami Nieda, Takami Nieda, Kazuki Kaneshiro, Kazuki Kaneshiro

kimberly3838's review against another edition

3.0

It was a nice, short story set in Japan. However, I didn't like how the story was told as it often felt monotonous and just a reproduction of events. I wished for more depth and character development. Sometimes, I got confused with all the names but at the end it was all right. What I liked is that it mentioned many important topics like physical abuse but it often just scratched the surface. Moreover, born and living in a country where its people don't recognize or see you as foreign can be understood by many immigrant children. That was a constant topic in this book and it showed how it is to be a Korean in Japan. There were many things mentioned about the japanese culture and society that was very interesting.

nandakandabooks's review against another edition

informative reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

namj00nie's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

ka_schulze's review against another edition

Just was having a hard time sticking with it. Not that it’s a bad book, just not right mood 

twicomb's review against another edition

4.0

A slim novel with a lot to think about packed within its pages. This book won Naoki Prize, in part for how it "tackles issues of ethnicity and discrimination in Japanese society" (quoted from author's bio). This might sound like a dry topic but it's all told through the lens of a high school kid who's struggling with figuring out who he is and who he wants to be, all while navigating the ups and down of his first romantic relationship. At the core of the book is the question - what determines if someone is Korean or Japanese or anything else? Is it your nationality? Can you choose your nationality? Is it your roots? If so, how far back do you trace your roots to determine what you are?

But as we move deeper into the book, we realize that the real question is none of these. The real question is - "Does it even matter?" And the answer to the protagonist is "no." But the answer to everyone in the society that he lives within is "yes, it matters more than perhaps anything else."

So what happens when these two views collide - when someone lives in a society where your nationality matters above all else - and you will be judged accordingly - and yet this person refuses to accept that judgment and insists that he will choose his own identity. Well, especially if you're a hot-headed young adult as the protagonist is, it leads to a lot of fistfights and rash decisions. But it also leads to a lot of eye-opening moments as we see him try, one fight at a time, to carve out his own path in the world.

michloue's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective relaxing 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

3.75

wyll's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

cemoses's review against another edition

5.0

The book is about people of Korean origins growing up in Japan where they face a lot of discrimination and can't hope to become Japanese citizens.

zhelana's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This is a book about racial discrimination in Japan, narrated by a Korean boy who was born in Japan but could never get Japanese citizenship because he wasn't ethnically Japanese. He falls in love with a Japanese girl but she leaves him when he tells her he is Korean. But then, without really exploring what happened to change things, they get back together and everything is alright again. The book spent too long ramping up and not enough time on the actual character change or end of the story. So it felt simultaneously like it was too long and too short. It's only 174 pages long, so there clearly was more space that could have been used to examine the girl character coming to grips with her racism or something. Anyway, I don't know whether I liked this or not, I didn't actively dislike it, and I continued reading it all the way through, but I didn't feel like I had much of a sense of the female character at all, and the male character was something of a bully, even though he portrays it as a response to bullying he is suffering from. But anyway I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book in the end. 

kiki6k's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

3.0

This novel surprised me. While I anticipated a lighthearted high school romance, it tackled profound issues like racism, discrimination, and even violence. The story's fast pace and quick read kept me engaged, but the emotional weight of the themes made it a surprisingly sad experience.

The maturity of the main character's voice did occasionally feel incongruent with a high school setting.