A review by lorithereadingfairy
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

challenging dark inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 TW: Japanese Colonialism (xenophobia, anti-Korean sentiment), imperialism, rape, suicide (mentioned), physical and emotional abuse, racism, sex, misogyny, starvation, age gap relationship, death, internalized homophobia, sex work, dubious consent, war (Korea & WW2)

Rep: Korean MC, Japanese-Korean MCs, Japanese side characters 

 “Living everyday in the presence of those who refuse to acknowledge your humanity takes great courage” 

You know those books that are sitting on your TBR and you forgot you added it to your TBR when you went and picked up the book? Yeah that really happened to me as it was November 2020’s SABC BOTM pick-and I realized it was on my TBR the moment I placed a hold on it. I’m defiantly really glad this book exists because it made me feel seen in so many ways.

Pachinko follows a young Korean woman named Sunja who gets groomed by a creep Hansu. She ends up pregnant and moves to Japan with her newly wed husband, Issak who is ill. Pachinko follows the four generations starting from Sunja and ending with her grandchildren.

There are three books combined in this almost 500 page book-but book 1 and book 2 is the best in my opinion. book 3 was just a mess all around with an ending that left me very dissatisfied and wondering what the point in book three was. It was messy even though it was in the modern times, and not in the early 1900’s.

Book 3 was set in the modern times with Sunja being older so she doesn’t have that connection to the story anymore. The new generation took the lead with Solomon, Hanna and other characters who have an impact in the world. I had less connection with these characters, and there was a lot of time jumps that prevented me from liking any of these characters and knowing them.

There were several parts of the story where I felt like this was my family. My totally dysfunctional family because no one talks about some parts that happens. These parts made me shed a few tears as it was so familiar to my situation. This was the first time I have seen a dysfunctional family with Sunja having a child from being raped by the creep which is exactly what happened to mine. And a scene at the end of book 2 was so familiar because I grew up, not knowing my family’s history because none of my ancestors wanted to talk about where we came from and finding out my father is a creep and a stalker.

This book takes from history and offer us a new and true perspective from a fictional family. The discrimination that Koreans faced while in Japan from not being ‘true-citizens’ of the country even though they probably have lived there for generations, and the hardships that Koreans face. Many Koreans ware also unable to go back from to what we know as North Korea.

It was so thought provoking as this touched from real events with a fictional world and it was so important. It wasn’t from what we are told with a focus on western history and a white history at that-but something that has happened to thousands of people living in Japan face. 

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