A review by conoraflynn
The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

bang on 3.5 - I really like Dusapin's style and how impactful/concise her writing is (incredible economy of language) and the way she writes relationships that feel raw and vividly human in their imperfection. but this undeniably ambles in places and comes to a rather tepid conclusion, as much as I enjoyed the novelty of reading something that is far more about identity and atmosphere than it is about narrative progression or teleology. starting to feel like winter in sokcho might have been her peak but I enjoyed this enough to nibble at one more