Reviews

The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun

chavag's review against another edition

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I really wish I liked this better than I did. The premise, about a woman who works for a disaster tourism agency and discovers a dark secret behind one of their trips while traveling, was promising. But something about the story and the motivations felt very disjointed. And attempts to inject a kind of Murakami-like magical realism just left me confused, instead of adding an element of wonder/absurdity. Or, maybe it's a cultural thing and I don't get Korean storytelling.

enricats's review against another edition

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2.0

interesting concept but storyline lacked focus

reading_moo's review against another edition

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1.0

All aboard the struggle bus, choo-choo. Tbh, this could have been a good book, it should have been and maybe it was when it was written in Korean but the translation is really what cocked it. It’s hard to read, there's no flow and none of the characters are rememberable and most of all, it's slow. It’s so slow, I stopped at page 48. I'm sorry, I tried.

Jungle is a cutting–edge travel agency specializing in tourism to destinations devastated by disaster and climate change and until Yona Ko found herself at the mercy of her predatory boss, Yona was one of their top representatives. Now on the verge of losing her job, she’s given a proposition: take a paid “vacation” to the desert island of Mui and pose as a tourist to assess the company’s least profitable holiday.

Positives: honestly… none? Is that mean? Maybe?

Negatives: It was just so boring and none of the characters was likeable or memorable. Yona has a chance to do something about her predatory boss and chooses to do nothing instead, and honestly even if later in the book she does something about it - it wasn’t worth sticking around for.

Genre: BOREDOM ENDUCING??
Mood: BORING - wait I said that… MEGA BORING
Pace: Slower than the USA doing someone about gun violence, so, basically nonexistent

zgrz's review against another edition

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2.5

Interesting premise; rather poor execution.

nicolauda's review against another edition

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

3.5

Odd, weird, reflective. 

chills_multiply's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.5

rae2's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

raikorr's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

aboxer6490's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

omtesouro's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

3.0

Rara y un poco entretenida novela que intenta retratar diversos aspectos de la sociedad capitalista actual...