Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

34 reviews

page_karla's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

aidareads's review

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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pedophilia, Suicide, Colonisation, and War

sha's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Classism

gilmargirl's review against another edition

It was hitting a little too close to home for me emotionally and it was starting to be not enjoyable

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

art_anthology's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved this story and in my head i will remembe it as an exploration of Sunja the matriarch.

Through this review you will see my very biased opinion of how the third book was definitely the weakest.... but the first parts make up for it.

Well the middle of the book (book2) was definitely the best in terms of events pacing and intrigue. It habdled topicsvthat were introduced in book1 while also becoming more complex. The introduction was also pretty solid and since a real bond was created between readers and characters. Sadly the 3rd book felt like it was doing a bit to many different things. And so the depth of themes an  events that the first part had was lost felt more like seperated vignettes rather than a collated history.

Positive: the characters relationships felt meaningful. 
When a new character was introduced to the central family there was an actual and tangible shift in the structure. This meant they all felt important and like they impacted each other.

Exception: why was Yoseb still alive for so long. Like the whole pointvwas that he was on the verge of death... why was he still alive and in bed after like 10 years? I understand that it was to give Kyunghee and Yanjin something to do. Away from Mozasu and his life story but i would have prefered to see the women enjoy their lives and each others company.

Negative: I was not reqlly interested in the later inclusion of other characters such as

Harakumi and Ayame's personal relationship. Additionally I felt like the park orgy was shoved in as an afterthought. Would have preferred an exploration into haruki and Mozasu's weekly? Monthly? Meet ups i feel a lot could be discussed further eg gambling compulsion.

Positive: the characters felt real. I loved the beginning within the boardinghouse the fishermens banter actually became quite comfting l could image their background chatter.

And OMG the way I hated Noa when he did that to Sunja. Honestly i kind of have had enough of characters like that cough cough Willy Lomam. Im not really interested readin about men who feel that they cant amount to anything because they've internalised other peoples ideals. Or that there is only one possible route to go in life and if 1 thing hoes wrong they can't cope and its all woe is me... yea not intrested.

Overall this is a great book to read like i did as a part of a book club. The character based narrayive allows you to dote on some and critique other characters. Or you could explore the nook through a historical lense 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

clipshultz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

This book was an incredible read. Each character had so much life, and I felt pulled into each of their worlds. I cried multiple times while reading this, and many of the passages left me reflecting on how certain historical dynamics continue to play out today. This has been one of my favorite reads in recent years, as it pulls you deeply into storyline and keeps you invested in the fate of each character. I wish I could give this a higher rating, but it deserves every star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage

jiwiz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and War

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Grief, Pregnancy, and Classism

readingsponsoredbybts's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, and Deportation

Minor: Cancer, Drug use, and Homophobia

madzie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

Lee hits the ground running in this family saga; unfortunately, her pace peters out. The beginning of this book has it all. The characters are well-developed and interesting as they struggle with colonization, war, and relationships. Lee quickly and wonderfully establishes themes and creates excellent ideas to begin moving her plot along.  She has a wonderful writing style throughout, which feels classic and epic. Her use of omniscient narration works very well for her story and characters. Every moment and insight into the characters feels like a very natural and intimate dialogue the reader is privy to.

Unfortunately, about two-thirds through the book, the characters, plot, and themes fall apart. Lee moves too fast through time, not allowing time to develop the later generation of her characters or the themes she has set up. Instead of exploring the point she is trying to make about life and the world, Lee falls into the trap of focusing on spurts of drama that make the reader feel empty due to lack of time for character building. She relies on tropes that occasionally go directly against her themes and certainly never adds anything to them. 

Lee writes about a very intriguing and important part of history that is rarely told and starts off wonderfully with vivid characters and ideas. However, the novel's structure could have benefited more by building more on her later characters to round out her themes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abortion, and Alcohol