Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Трава by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim

9 reviews

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.

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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

sleepylit's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

I knew I was in for an emotional ride when I started this, but Grass truly blew me away. The illustrations work so well to depict deeper meaning, so the book is truly art on several levels. The story is gutting and truly shows the horrors so many women had to endure. But Kim does a great job of making the content digestible for sensitive readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt

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: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, and War

Moderate: Torture, Xenophobia, Abortion, and Pregnancy

Minor: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Murder

timelapse's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and War

julia20y3's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Genocide, Infertility, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, War, and Classism

jhbandcats's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Wow. What a powerful story with such strong artwork. The illustrations feel oppressive, obviously since Lee Ok-Sun was oppressed through most of her life. 

The author / illustrator, Keum Duk Gendry-Kim, met and interviewed Lee. They became friends of a sort, with Gendry-Kim working for three years to complete her biography. It begins when Lee was a child, sold by her parents to alleviate their poverty. From there things got progressively worse with her being abducted and sent to a “comfort station” at the age of 16 or 17. 

Things were almost as bad after the war. The newly liberated women were shunned as whores, unable to find food or work. Lee told Gendry-Kim that her life was miserable from the moment she was born, and that’s all too clear. 

Gendry-Kim tells Lee’s story in a straightforward fashion without sensationalizing the violence and misery. I confess I can’t conceive of this level of pain and anguish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

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

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Kidnapping

f18's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Infertility, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Abandonment, and War

Moderate: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

lais's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Xenophobia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Murder