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jessep's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence
corky12's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Pedophilia, and Infertility
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Colonisation
Minor: Physical abuse, Violence, Police brutality, and War
jayisreading's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
5.0
The history of “comfort women” (i.e., girls and women who were forced into sexual slavery by Imperial Japan’s military) is one of the many heartbreaking parts of Korea’s dark history during the twentieth century. In Grass, Gendry-Kim illustrates the life story of one survivor, the late Lee Okseon, starting from Lee’s childhood leading up to the present. Lee had a difficult life even before she was forced into sexual slavery, and she recounted life under Japanese occupation and those who suffered under their rule (particularly Koreans). Unfortunately, life remained difficult for her even after she and the rest of Korea were liberated, facing enough adversity throughout her life that she stated, “I’ve never known happiness from the moment I came out of my mother’s womb.”
I thought Gendry-Kim did a wonderful job presenting Lee’s story with great respect, as she never turned Lee’s suffering into a spectacle, as well as emphasizing that Lee is more than a survivor. I really liked the brushwork art style that Gendry-Kim used, and I got the impression that she was heavily inspired by traditional Korean brushwork. She noted at the end of the graphic novel that she “refrained from provocative expressions to give lightness to a story burdened with such brutality.” On this note, I did feel that she found a relatively good balance between restraint and freedom in her illustrations, the freeing moments especially highlighted when opportunities arose to show the beautiful landscapes of Korea, as well as the occasional smiles and laughter given by Lee in the present.
Lee was one of the few remaining comfort women survivors (at least based on those registered with the South Korean government), and she passed away in 2022. It breaks my heart to know the number of survivors is growing smaller, with neither those who have passed away or are currently alive having received full reparations and a proper apology from the Japanese government. It’s imperative that their life stories are documented in all forms, and I truly appreciate that Gendry-Kim did so with great care through a graphic novel form.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Murder, Death, Misogyny, and Violence
syntaxx's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Impactful story about the Korean grannies. Heartbreaking.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Medical trauma, and Sexual violence
flop's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
"Cuando termine este frío tan duro, llegará del Sur la carta de siempre. Una carta llena de luz con noticias de primavera. Frágiles ramas que tiemblan en las postrimerías del largo invierno. Dentro albergan la energía de una vida nueva que pronto brotará y abrirá grietas en la corteza."
Aferrarse a la esperanza de una humanidad más humana parece a momentos fútil, pero es tan necesario. Aun cuando no seamos capaces de reconocerlo, tenemos una deuda con quienes han vivido el lado más oscuro, seguir creyendo, seguir recordando, seguir luchando.
Aferrarse a la esperanza de una humanidad más humana parece a momentos fútil, pero es tan necesario. Aun cuando no seamos capaces de reconocerlo, tenemos una deuda con quienes han vivido el lado más oscuro, seguir creyendo, seguir recordando, seguir luchando.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Sexual violence, and War
camz's review against another edition
5.0
Una lectura que te parte el corazón.
Debo agradecer a la autora por no mostrar escenas gratuitas de violaciones, creo que la forma en la que decidió mostrar esas atrocidades permite mostrar el daño sin causar más trauma a quienes lo sufrieron.
Otra grata sorpresa para mi fue la belleza de muchos de los paneles, al ver la portada y con el estilo de la obra no esperaba que me gustara tanto su dibujo, pero es muy expresivo.
Debo agradecer a la autora por no mostrar escenas gratuitas de violaciones, creo que la forma en la que decidió mostrar esas atrocidades permite mostrar el daño sin causar más trauma a quienes lo sufrieron.
Otra grata sorpresa para mi fue la belleza de muchos de los paneles, al ver la portada y con el estilo de la obra no esperaba que me gustara tanto su dibujo, pero es muy expresivo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and War
Moderate: Torture, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Pregnancy
Minor: Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts
isaile's review
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
It's very vile and disturbing how women were treated during this time. It would be great if there was a warning about such topics discussed in the book (mainly r*pe). Other than that, it described very well what the comfort women went through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual violence
Moderate: Deportation, Cursing, and Death
Minor: Misogyny and Kidnapping
_askthebookbug's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Sexual violence
timelapse's review
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
5.0
it’s a story without much hope or happiness to it because it’s a story about extensive suffering, and the author makes a point to not pretend it is anything but that. but you can feel how much love and care went into this book, from the interviewing of grandmother okja, to the illustrations, and the translation which in and of itself feels like an act of defiance--to care to painstakingly discover and document her story even as the history tries to pretend it never happened.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
poemsandponds's review
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This book was devastating. Not sure how else to describe it beyond that. The story of this woman is overall well told and heartbreaking. It pulls no punches in telling the horrors that “comfort women” aka girls sold into sex slavery, endured during the Japanese occupation of Korea. It was hard to read. And yet I couldn’t look away. I found myself wanting to know her story. The truth is I came away knowing much more than I had going in about the occupation and that it was so much worse than I had thought. The brutality is unbearable to witness, and yet people lived it. As a whole, I think it shows that no matter what side of the world, what period on time, the atrocities of war, colonization, and oppression bring out the darkest sides of human nature. I came away feeling amazed that people survive these things and continue on. It brought out a sense of compassion that said, you really don’t know what other people have been through, so carry that thought in mind whenever you meet someone.
Side topic: To comment on the author inserting needle fin the narrative, I wasn’t a fan. It just took me out of the story. I like the idea of flashing backwards and forwards in time in stories like these, however, I think those flashbacks should be solely focused on the teller of the story, not the journalist wiring it down. The journalist was too detached for it to have a real impact on the delivery of the story, but somehow her thought, feelings, and etc, were part of it? I like hearing the author’s pov when they have a very personal connection to the story, such as Thi Biu in the Best We Could Do. She’s telling her parent’s refugee story and giving parts of her life, thoughts, feelings, but you care because she’s their daughter. I didn’t care about a random journalist’s thoughts, and the thoughts given weren’t even insightful or emotionally impactful. They could’ve been removed with no harm to the book. It would have been a lot more interesting if the author would have made a section in the back of the book dedicated just to their research process and how they developed the book. If they talked about the emotions that came up whole writing and interviewing, why they wrote this book, etc it would have been so much more interesting. I guess I learned that I don’t like researchers inserting themselves in the memoir narrative when they don’t have much to say.
Side topic: To comment on the author inserting needle fin the narrative, I wasn’t a fan. It just took me out of the story. I like the idea of flashing backwards and forwards in time in stories like these, however, I think those flashbacks should be solely focused on the teller of the story, not the journalist wiring it down. The journalist was too detached for it to have a real impact on the delivery of the story, but somehow her thought, feelings, and etc, were part of it? I like hearing the author’s pov when they have a very personal connection to the story, such as Thi Biu in the Best We Could Do. She’s telling her parent’s refugee story and giving parts of her life, thoughts, feelings, but you care because she’s their daughter. I didn’t care about a random journalist’s thoughts, and the thoughts given weren’t even insightful or emotionally impactful. They could’ve been removed with no harm to the book. It would have been a lot more interesting if the author would have made a section in the back of the book dedicated just to their research process and how they developed the book. If they talked about the emotions that came up whole writing and interviewing, why they wrote this book, etc it would have been so much more interesting. I guess I learned that I don’t like researchers inserting themselves in the memoir narrative when they don’t have much to say.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Slavery, Violence, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Rape, and War