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A review by amandawu47
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

challenging emotional sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I was intrigued with the content of the novel as far as exploring the identity of immigrants living in another country and learning more about the history of Japan and Korea in the 20th century. Overall, the writing style was excellent and it felt like the author captured the cultural nuances well.

However,  Book 3 seemed to ramble away from the main storyline just to be able to stuff in certain modern themes that weren't relevent to the main characters and this felt very out of place (both plot-wise and historically).

BUT that being said. The novel needs to come with CONTENT WARNINGS.

The book had some very adult themes, and I had to skip parts. Almost setting it down for good. I was NOT prepared for the character-specific profanity nor the detached descriptions of sex (while not graphic seemed vulgar due to the language chosen and the coarse nature of the descriptions). For these two reasons alone, I can't recommend this one.
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