koreanlinda's reviews
212 reviews

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

3.75

This book landed on my lap magically. (I mean, it caught my attention on display in a library.) I was already deep in thought on the topic of loving my body, and Rupi Kaur's poems helped me think about it more, also from different angles. 

The biggest strength of Kaur's poems is that she bravely bears vulnerability. 
i don't know why
i split myself open
for others knowing
sewing myself up
hurts this much
afterward
It is painful to hear the stories of violence that she and other women experienced at early ages. But that's what writing can do for you. By writing, you shed the pain, and at the same time, others shed it, too, while reading. 

What makes this book weak (presumably weaker than Kaur's later books) is that many poems reveal Kaur's heavy dependence on male partners. It pained me to witness that. The book is filled with poems of heartbreaks and healing, but the healing won't last if you stay dependent on men as in "every revolution/ starts and ends/ with his lips" (p.48).  Kaur also disturbingly uses the word "love" for certain past relationships that were abusive or toxic. For example, "love made the danger/ in you look like safety" (p.104). In my opinion, that is not love, but rather infatuation or delusion. I hear that her later books are better, so I look forward to reading them. 

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in December 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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Blue Period, Vol. 1 by Tsubasa Yamaguchi

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

I enjoyed reading volumes 1-14 and look forward to reading the future volumes. Not only is the story's pace adequate for leisurely reading, but the characters are also lively. As a beginning artist, I also enjoyed learning about art, art history, and art school. The animated series is on Netflix now. Check it out while it's on!

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in November 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Reader, expect a heart-smitten story about a tiny mouse, Despereaux! This book came into my life through a kind friend who loved the story and lent it to me. How sweet of them! 

It is a children's story with a simple plot, but it is thrilling to follow Despereaux's adventure. I also loved the casual way the author incorporated some virtues that they valued, such as empathy and courage. 

"Do you know what it means to be empathetic? ... It means that when you are being forcibly taken to a dungeon, when you have a large knife pointed at your back, when you are trying to be brave, you are able, still, to think for a moment of the person who is holding that knife."

"I have never known a mouse who has made it out of the dungeon only to go back into it again. Goodbye, friend. Goodbye, mouse among mice."


There are problematic aspects similar to those in traditional storybooks. A male character "saves" a female character, and another male character objectifies a female character: "That is why I brought the princess here, really, just for some beauty... some light of my own." For that reason, I would not recommend this book to children. I believe parents and teachers can find other books on the theme of empathy and courage where hetero-normativity and sexism are less present. 

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in November 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness by Peter A. Levine

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

I enjoyed reading about half of the book; I actually skipped several chapters. The main reason was that the book is quite technical. It is more geared toward the people who work in the industry, for example, counseling therapists, than trauma patients like me. Levine goes in depth about steps in the treatment process, which I didn't need. 

For readers like me, I recommend the following chapters: 1, 2, 8, and 9. They are recounts of traumatic experiences of Levine's patients and himself, and these chapters were much easier to follow than the others. 

Nonetheless, I learned a lot from the book. The biggest find was that my chronic neck and shoulder pain might be connected to my trauma. None of the "physical" doctors I have met for my condition mentioned the possible psychological cause for it, and the idea didn't occur to me until I read this book. This book taught me that the trauma lives in our physical bodies as much as in our heads, if not more. 

I feel hopeful about my chronic conditions with the new revelation. I look forward to reading and learning more about the body and mind connection from here on.

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in November 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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Two Brothers by Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

3.0 out of my 3.5 rating comes from the unique illustration, and I gave very little credit to the story. First of all, I hated the story. It is filled with human ugliness. Every family member, except the live-in servant and her child, is made of despicable flaws, so it was hard to relate to any of them. The story is suspenseful due to the violent tension between the two brothers, but I had little expectation of any satisfactory resolution. There isn't any growth for any of the main characters; they all get worse and worse. I imagine the author's view of humans is quite depressing. 

I was impressed by the story in Daytripper by the same illustrators. I honestly don't understand why they picked up this story by Milton Hatoum to turn it into an illustrated book. I recommend Daytripper to anyone who liked the artwork in Two Brothers but wished for more in its story. 

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in October 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Anna Lembke

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hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

This book helped me learn the basics about how addiction works in the human brain and in people's daily lives. The author Dr. Lembke does a great job of integrating research findings and client cases to show us the way out of common addiction in modern days. Although the book is not focused on my phone/video addiction, most of the information was relevant and helpful. 

Of course, understanding the issue and executing the treatment, especially on your own, are different, but I believe understanding is a good start toward the treatment. I tried a period of abstinence, the A in the acronym DOPAMINE, but it didn't work out. However, since Dr. Lembke also explained different ways to practice self-binding (physical, chronological, and categorical), I plan to try another way, specifically setting a time limit on phone use. I look forward to learning more about addiction, mine and that of others, and living a life with more freedom from devices. 

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in October 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached

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challenging dark hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

This short but dense graphic novel describes the author Zeina Abirached's childhood memories in Beirut, Lebanon during its civil war. Although it spans mostly one evening when her parents were away and missing, the whole situation in Lebanon's internal conflicts is interwoven through the stories of neighbors who come over and keep Zeina and her younger brother company. The level of violence that these people have been experiencing is unbearably harsh, yet they get through it together with constant expression of affection and care for one another. I got to learn about the Lebanese civil war and at the same time gained hope and faith in humanity in small pockets of this world.

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in October 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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Around the World by Matt Phelan

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

3.75

My star rating is relatively low probably because I was not the targeted audience. The book is written for young adults, and it's quite educational. It is a collection of biographic stories of three people who traveled around the world in the 19th century. The author Matt Phelan does a good job of telling stories and draws them beautifully with his soft strokes. Since each story takes up 1/3 of the space with graphics, it is limited in depth (and probably intentional for its YA audience). Yet they are inspiring and demonstrate many admirable traits of the three adventurers. It was an easy, light-hearted read for me, and I appreciate it.

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in October 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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Goodbye, Eri by Tatsuki Fujimoto

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

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adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The artwork in this book is amazingly beautiful, and the writer's alternating colors for reality and fantasy add to its aesthetic. 

The story falls short for adult readers though. This book is clearly for young adults, and the story lacked the depth to be believable to the level of my satisfaction. For example, Tien's mother is fully accepting of his queerness when he comes out to her; however, the story provides no context in which she might have learned about LGBTQ identities. After fleeing the war in Vietnam and working 24/7 with limited English in the US, it is hard to imagine that she had a chance to read much about the LGBTQ community. This resolution makes the book quite idealist and open to debate whether it is beneficial or not for queer YA readers. It can be beneficial by giving them hope about how parents' unconditional love can play out; however, many of them might have a hard time relating to Tien's experience. 

One aspect that I enjoyed of the story is the author's reimagination of classic fairy tales such as Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. In the new versions, the author integrates elements from Vietnamese culture and queer community.

Review by Linda (Any Pronouns) in September 2024
Personal essays on DefinitelyNotOkay.com
Artwork on Instagram @KoreanLinda 
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