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liandatel 's review for:

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
3.25
emotional informative inspiring relaxing sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I’m surprised to rate this book as low as I am. The reviews have been pretty great across my socials and I’ve seen many many people include this book on their “favorite reads” lists. But… while I did enjoy it, it fell a bit flat for me. I was very invested in one of the main characters that got pregnant from an affair and moves to Japan. HER story was interesting, but I got lost after she stopped being the main focus. At the end of the book I asked myself: okay, so what?
The writing moves fast and I loved seeing the cultural aspects and the lens through which we see world events unfolding, but ultimately it was too long and too insignificant with little to no meaning I got out of it… buttttt that might just be me?!