Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

88 reviews

mstall_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

If I could give this book 100000/10 stars, I would. 

By page five I knew this was going to be my favorite five star read of the year. Pachinko is a sweeping story of a Korean family in Japan that spans four generations -- from 1900 to 1989. Sunja, the main character of the book is a young girl when she finds herself pregnant and unmarried. What follows is an incredible story of love, resilience, family, and heartbreak. I think this story was also really connective for me because of my time spent in Japan. It was easy for me to draw up my own memories there. I can still hear the pachiko parlors as I walked up the side street to the train station in Yokosuka. 

Min Jin Lee did a phenomenal job writing a story that was painful and sad at times without making you feel complete obliteration (I'm looking at you A Little Life). While parts of the book are gut wrenching (August 1945) the theme of resiliency rings true. Despite colonization, political strife, racism,

suicide

and more, this family clings to one another and fosters a closeness that cannot be pierced. 

This book made me cry, twice actually. Five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia and Grief

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Pregnancy, and War

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Infertility, and Car accident

meilanon's review against another edition

dark 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

0.5

fuck this book i still hate it months later 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicide, and Police brutality

jartone93's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Colonisation

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Suicide, Car accident, and Abortion

lipliplip's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

5.0

A beautifully written intergenerational family saga that covers the passage of time and distance in place incredibly well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Infertility, and Abandonment

janicew9's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

The first 100 pages was difficult,  the last 100 pages felt half lit, like the closing scene of a movie where sunlight filters through the curtains and the music swells over the voices of the characters. The middle was a fantastic novel. Was inspired to read this after listening to a Planet Money episode that featured an interview with the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Hate crime, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

karwc's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism

jenrazzle's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative 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

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

jg34's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

3.25

Many emotions. Learned a lot about Korea-Japanese relations. Didn’t love all the random time jumps and character shifts. For a few chapters one character would be all that is talked about then they aren’t mentioned for 100s of pages!!
Still a good story and made me cry ugly tears

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and War

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Infertility, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Police brutality

Minor: Cancer, Confinement, Infidelity, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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

rit's review against another edition

informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad slow-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

This is an amazing book. The story told feels so real, it made me feel like I was there and the characters were my best friends. I felt mad, I felt happy, I felt in love and I felt sad through the history of a family during WWII. I highly recommend it, but be aware of all its trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Abortion, and Alcohol