Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

99 reviews

whisper88's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Body shaming, Death of parent, Bullying, Miscarriage, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and War

franzi_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Racism, Bullying, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

Moderate: Misogyny, Infertility, Police brutality, Terminal illness, War, and Miscarriage

Minor: Abortion and Alcoholism

kenzieburns's review

emotional reflective slow-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

4.0

A truly touching story spanning 4 generations of love, loss, and everything in between. I'll start by saying: this book is definitely a slow build kinda read, but I was so entranced with the story and the characters that I hardly noticed the lack of action until reflecting on each part. I think the author did a good job of balancing storytelling/immersion in the characters with small tidbits of revelation of deeper meaning/symbolism behind somethings. There were times in the book where I wanted to throw one (or more!!) of the characters against the wall, or shake them and say "why are you being so stupid???" but I think that's a sign of really well-written characters. I also appreciated learning more about the Korean immigrants' experience and struggle in living in Japan during the 20th century. Noa's story is particularly heartbreaking, and I stared at the page where

Spoiler

he shot himself for a bit too long, thinking "wait, what? no! what? for real? no!!" and the way that it wasn't really talked about anymore after the fact?? Like, he really truly died. Heartbreaking.

The author also balanced transitions really well, as in switching from focus on one generation/characters to the next. I felt like I was growing with the characters, and by the time narrative focus shifted to the next generation, I was ready to move on to their perspective. I also have to take a moment to reflect on the title and how it played into the story:

Spoiler

"Pachinko" didn't really come up until midway through the book, and even then it was just a job for Mozasu at first. And, Mozasu was written to be a bit unlikable, in my opinion, until Noa rejected his heritage and you really only had Mozasu to support. The symbolism of Noa's suicide, even when he was the "good" child, but Mozasu's prosperity thanks to embracing his heritage as Korean is particularly striking. Also, Soloman's eventual rejection of Western life to instead run the pachinko business really speaks to the whole idea that you can't escape your heritage, and maybe you shouldn't try to. And that sometimes, the only choices life gives you are "bad" ones.

One thing I'm left thinking about is how the characters in this novel were constantly delt hard hands, from Sunja's struggles bearing a bastard child to a minister to <spolier> Solomon's termination because of "bad looks" , and it was so, so hard for them to get by, let alone get a leg up. Like, they had to make some of the "bad" decisions they did, because there was no way for them to survive otherwise. It really put some perspective on the immigrants struggle for me, in a light I hadn't really seen it before. Like, the playing field is never level, and everyone's choices need to be taken in context of the rest of their lives, because they truly might not have had any other options.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, and Bullying

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

sarcasmpotato's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

eiireads's review

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.25

this book left me empty, numb, and ruined. oh i dont think i can ever recover. i teared up several times and whenever i thought, ‘oh, this will get better,’ TADAA ! another heart wrenching scene was waiting on the next page. there are still so many pain, prejudiced, and WORKS to do to make this world a better place. pachinko is a book that you HAVE TO read at least once in this lifetime. trust me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Genocide, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicide, Hate crime, Pregnancy, and Racism

ackee's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

For other Asian diaspora like me, I hope you find this book. It was wonderfully enchanting and a deep tribute to the quiet women that held communities together in Asia in the 1990s, against so many outside unknown forces. It was so humanizing, and by bringing us along to see intense private emotional conflicts it sheds light on a marginalized and mistreated group of people in a beautiful way. I personally feel so much gratitude for the success I’ve had, and MJL shows that such success rests on the shoulders of shoulders that have worked tirelessly for generations. Luck exists, but in unfortunate times, it is rare. I had difficulty finishing this book and had to set it down many times—it’s very emotionally hard hitting. It’s worth teaching the conclusion, but I would encourage a sensitive reader to take their time. Reading is supposed to be enjoyable, not painful. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, War, Pregnancy, Death, Bullying, Colonisation, and Misogyny

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

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

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

maddeesryan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

absolutely loved this. almost a modern “one hundred years of solitude.” it would have been a good callback to marquez if lee had chosen to end the novel with the birth of a child with a cleft palate, but that wouldn’t really align with the themes present in this novel. just would have been a super fun allusion; however, the novel itself would probably require different overarching themes, as hope isn’t quite a theme present in “one hundred years of solitude”. pachinko feels more about growth, hope, the passage of time & the changes that occur generation to generation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Racism, Miscarriage, Grief, Cursing, Child death, War, Cancer, Bullying, Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

amazing read

squidknees's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Stalking, Sexual violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Racism, Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Misogyny, Xenophobia, War, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Death of parent, Suicide, Slavery, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Abortion, Ableism, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Deportation, Trafficking, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, and Racial slurs

rieviolet's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-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? Yes

3.0

The book is divided into three parts: the first one I liked well enough, the second one was so-so, the third one, well, I just kept thinking "What is going on here? What the heck am I reading about?".

There were just too many characters, especially given that the book already covers a very long period of time and many generations of a family. I really think that some characters were just unnecessary additions and we could have done without their perspectives, so that more space could be given to the main ones. All the jumping between so many different points of view just made it hard to become invested. 

Moreover, very big and even traumatic events are just briefly explored or worse just mentioned in passing. This character died, this one entered a relationship , and so-and-so did that, well good for them, am I supposed to care? There is no groundwork, how can a reader get attached to these people and their stories when you as an author have given them so little? Well there was time to go on and on about George Elliot's novels but no time to delve into a main character' emotions, I guess. 
I was just not a fan of how the author portrayed the characters, if there isn't a good handling of their depictions then the story just turns into an over-the-top soap opera.  

I found interesting the setting and the overall theme (exploring the lives of Korean people and their descendants living in Japan) but I was not that impressed with the execution itself.

For its length, the book is quite easy to get through, the chapters are not too long, the pace is quite fast and the narrative style is readable enough. Still, the writing style is nothing much to talk about, overall it's a bit too much dry and matter-of-fact for my taste. 

All in all, the premise sounded good but the book was a disappointment for me and the three-star rating is basically only for the first section, the rest I'm wilfully choosing to ignore.         

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Alcoholism, Ableism, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Bullying, Chronic illness, Classism, Suicide, Religious bigotry, War, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Police brutality, Miscarriage, Trafficking, and Cancer

Minor: Terminal illness, Child death, Physical abuse, Infertility, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Blood, Rape, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Torture, Car accident, Abortion, and Body shaming