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rieviolet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I'm in the early stages of exploring the world of graphic novels, so I'm still familiarizing myself with the genre and its peculiarities.
I can say that I quite liked the author's drawing style and her choice of a black and white colouring.
The graphic novel recounts the life story of a Korean woman, Lee Okseon, but it stands for the suffering that many other people went through at that time of colonisation and war. The narration doesn't shy away from the brutal details and the horror of the experiences of "comfort women".
There is still a hopeful note in the ending, with the arrival of spring once again and the possibility of renewal.
I can say that I quite liked the author's drawing style and her choice of a black and white colouring.
The graphic novel recounts the life story of a Korean woman, Lee Okseon, but it stands for the suffering that many other people went through at that time of colonisation and war. The narration doesn't shy away from the brutal details and the horror of the experiences of "comfort women".
There is still a hopeful note in the ending, with the arrival of spring once again and the possibility of renewal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Fire/Fire injury
syntaxx's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Impactful story about the Korean grannies. Heartbreaking.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma
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: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and War
thewordsdevourer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
grass is a powerful, harrowing bio graphic novel abt korean comfort women in an unjustly less known chapter in ww 2 history. i expected this to be a difficult read but was nevertheless unprepared for how hard it hit me.
the graphic novel follows the life of one particular comfort woman, lee oksun, and from the get-go i was frustrated and angry reading abt the gender inequality experienced by lee since childhood. it's a tale older than time, yet it never ceases to be infuriating. there's a lot of triggering content here - unsurprising for a book mostly abt sexual slavery during wartime - but i was also particularly affected to tears by the story of seo mija, which was hard-hitting.
gendry-kim does justice to lee through her art and storytelling. despite the abundant violence and triggering content present, nothing feels gratuitous, w/ gendry-kim handling them all w/ care and detached objectivity. the brushstrokes and inkwork also masterfully convey both the external physical landscape of china and korea, and the internal situation of her subject.
this graphic novel tells an important story that deserves to be more known - esp as the injustice surrounding comfort women and japan's denialism still persisting - and gendry-kim does a lauded job of doing justice to the story.
the graphic novel follows the life of one particular comfort woman, lee oksun, and from the get-go i was frustrated and angry reading abt the gender inequality experienced by lee since childhood. it's a tale older than time, yet it never ceases to be infuriating. there's a lot of triggering content here - unsurprising for a book mostly abt sexual slavery during wartime - but i was also particularly affected to tears by the story of seo mija, which was hard-hitting.
gendry-kim does justice to lee through her art and storytelling. despite the abundant violence and triggering content present, nothing feels gratuitous, w/ gendry-kim handling them all w/ care and detached objectivity. the brushstrokes and inkwork also masterfully convey both the external physical landscape of china and korea, and the internal situation of her subject.
this graphic novel tells an important story that deserves to be more known - esp as the injustice surrounding comfort women and japan's denialism still persisting - and gendry-kim does a lauded job of doing justice to the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Infertility and Gaslighting
goizi's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Abortion
ollie_again's review
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
4.5
This graphic novel is extremely important and powerful, while the art style is not the most elaborate, I think that the story does not need some beautifully detailed artwork to be told. Korean 'comfort women' aka women who were raped and abused by the Japanese army during the war, is a piece of history I was vaguely aware of but never really looked into it more. It is just as horrifying and tragic as one would imagine.
I would give this full five stars but the insertion of the author in the story didn't sit well with me, her stress about publishing Grass, getting the story out next to the actual experiences of the person she's writing about just did not seem right. Especially when she prodded the granny Lee Ok-Sun with the question about if there were some nicer soldiers that came because there might be less evil ones but they still came to rape those women just because they could. The last chapter about the author retracing the steps of Lee Ok-Sun was jarring because a few pages back there are traumas of the old woman bared naked and next there's the author complaining about airconditioning and air pollution. And on the same note, the afterword felt to me like the author got what she wanted from Lee Ok-Sun and didn't feel like vising her anymore.
Despite that, the book is something everyone should read at some point in their life.
I would give this full five stars but the insertion of the author in the story didn't sit well with me, her stress about publishing Grass, getting the story out next to the actual experiences of the person she's writing about just did not seem right. Especially when she prodded the granny Lee Ok-Sun with the question about if there were some nicer soldiers that came because there might be less evil ones but they still came to rape those women just because they could. The last chapter about the author retracing the steps of Lee Ok-Sun was jarring because a few pages back there are traumas of the old woman bared naked and next there's the author complaining about airconditioning and air pollution. And on the same note, the afterword felt to me like the author got what she wanted from Lee Ok-Sun and didn't feel like vising her anymore.
Despite that, the book is something everyone should read at some point in their life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and War
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