Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

14 reviews

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Murder, Death, Misogyny, and Violence

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.

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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

ktbee's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Moderate: Murder, Racism, and War

books_n_rosess's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Violence, War, Murder, Pedophilia, Death, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Abortion, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

devynreadsnovels's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Police brutality, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, War, Child abuse, Child death, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Trafficking, Abandonment, Sexism, Violence, Death, Pregnancy, and Adult/minor relationship

ajhuber2's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Murder, Physical abuse, and Rape

juliavra's review

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, War, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Slavery, Infertility, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Racism, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Death, Rape, Torture, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Murder, Grief, Genocide, Classism, Sexual content, and Deportation

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Pregnancy, Infertility, Abandonment, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Deportation, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Genocide, War, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, and Suicide attempt

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Racism, and Trafficking

Moderate: Violence, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Gore, Gaslighting, Rape, Genocide, Emotional abuse, and Colonisation

Minor: Abortion

mapscitiesandsongs's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

 "I've never known happiness from the moment I came out of my mother's womb" - Lee Ok-Sun

A harrowing but necessary read. In her afterword Keum Suk Gendry-Kim writes that she didn't want to sensationalize the violence, pain and suffering of the characters, which she succeded in. I think the inclusion of really graphic scene would have been a disservice to the life story of Lee Ok-Sun and I am glad the author thought the same way. There weren't necessary at all, since the story in itself is harrowing enough. 

I would have given the graphic novel 5 stars if it wasn't for the self-insertion of the author. It kind of rubbed me the wrong way how she was complaining about mundane things such as deadlines or air conditioning/air pollution, after we just read about the horrifying atrocities the "comfort women" had to endure. Not only that, but it also took me out of the story. I also found it quite weird how she frequently admits to not being in contact with Lee Ok-Sun and not having seen her in forever. As another reviewer mentioned, it felt like the author got her story and it's not interesting anymore. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Pedophilia, Grief, Infertility, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual assault, Slavery, Confinement, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, and War

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Pregnancy

Minor: Police brutality, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

readingkitty's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

Since it is a non-fiction novel telling someone's story of going through the hardest and most terrible things in life, I don't feel comfortable giving it a rating. (I stopped giving star ratings for memoirs tbh) However, I would definitely recommend this book but before you decide to pick this up, please do look into the TWs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Pedophilia, War, Xenophobia, Grief, Child death, and Trafficking

Moderate: Kidnapping and Suicidal thoughts