A review by afi_whatafireads
Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book has no business on making me cry so much. Literally having a huge headache cause I was literally sobbing reading the last 30 pages it bloody hurts.


"“Although I had known it was coming, nothing could’ve prepared me for this moment, this feeling of utter loss and loneliness.”


Honestly, I knew that somewhere somewhat, this book will break me, but lord, I didn't expect it to hurt this much. This book deserved every award that it has won and nominated. Its the story of refugees and hope, of the war that is still ongoing even until now, of families that are separated, and of love and a sister's love towards her siblings.

Since I don't think my emotional capacity allows me to write this thoughts out rationally (cause I'm writing this right after finishing the book), these will be raw accounts of what I felt the whole time reading the book.

1. The Realities of War
The North Korea and South Korea dispute is amongst one of the "Forgotten Wars" that is still talked about as the war has never really ended until now. Its always hard to read about the war, especially coming from North Korean refugees, who sacrificed their life to escape from their country. I've always watched documentaries related to North Korean refugess, and honestly, I can never imagine to be at their place, in our modern world now, escaping a country and leaving your home. The fact that this book is roughly based on the experience of the mother's author makes it more heartwrenching. We go through the story of Sora and her family escaping North Korea during the Korean War and how along the way, she got separated with her family with her brother. The fact that she was only 12, made it heartbreaking to read; as, eventho this book is fiction, its based on real events, and somewhat may be the stories of real people. Famine, hunger, sickness and just the act of survival is one that I can never imagine to put myself into and my heart goes all out for the people that are still going through wars in their home country.


"War is no cause for celebration.


2. Sibling Rivalry and Patriarchy in Households Especially in Asian Households
Its no secret sons are considered more worthy than daughters, especially during the 1950's. The sibling rivalry in this story, is something that, honestly you can't blame anyone but only the beliefs of the people at the time that made them to think to have the feelings of rivalry in the first place. Honestly, as much as I want to hate the mother, I can't blame her either and I don't blame Sora or Youngsoo or even Jisoo. These are people that are caught up in the beliefs that women are supposed to only serve whilst men or sons is pampered and needs to be taken care off. Asian Households specially made this real clear and its something that even our society struggle until today. The author had made a good job on showing the inner feelings of each characters, even if the POV is from the voice of Sora.

3. The Child Who Became A Caretaker
I sobbed. So bloody hard to a point it hurts. I guess being caretakers of my younger siblings made me really understand how Sora had felt, and how she had to take the blame for almost everything as she is the eldest daughter and has two younger brothers. I feel that, even if each children has their own roles in the family, the child who became the caretaker holds much more burden in her heart and more resentment sometimes, especially to her mother. I'm frustrated with Sora's mother, but I also understand where she's coming from. Its hard when as a woman especially, we understand the hardships that our mother goes through and it made us emphatic but also, we still felt helpless. In some ways, I liked that the author showed this and its hard reading the feelings of only a child having go through these mindset.

4. The Realities of Refugees
In war, there will always be refugees, and the lives of them are ones that we often forgot or we became oblivious to their hardships. In the case of Sora's family, they were lucky enough to have a family in the South, but what of those who have none to survive? It pains me to read the situations and in war, there is no happiness that comes with it. Only hardships and pain.

Overall, besides some writing technicality aspects, this story stole my heart in more ways than one. I might rewrite this review later cause my head is in shambles, but overall, this is definitely a read that I will remember for a very very long time. Biggest thank you to Times Reads for this copy.
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