Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

70 reviews

matcha_cat's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, and Alcohol

mmccombs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

A multigenerational story that definitely belongs in the pantheon of great classics! I loved these characters and the natural flow of the story, where each turn and tragedy of these characters’ lives felt very lived in. The examination of culture and how it changed over time, of the racism towards Koreans and longstanding impact of colonialism, and of intergenerational conflicts and expectations for women were all wonderfully nuanced. 
I didn’t leave this book feeling as wowed as I anticipated, I think i found this either too short or too long. So many characters came and went, to the point where I never quite felt enough depth from most of them except for Sunja. In the end though, I’m glad I finally got around to this one, it was a great sweeping story that will stay with me for a long time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage and Car accident

kyrajade's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

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

3.25

I think this is an important story to tell, but I think that it wasn't written very well. The first 250 pages I was wedded to the original cast of characters, but then for the sake of making the narrative multi-generational, the author began introducing characters very shallowly who you were for some reason supposed to care about, and then the stories of these characters and the widening time skips between chapters meant that characters from the first half who you liked and felt an attachment too were picked off in the background. The author made horrible and traumatic things happen in this book and yet you didn't get to experience any of the grief of the characters because she skimmed over it with a time skip. The whole thing felt very emotionally unsastisfying, but the actual context and history of the story is an interesting read. For a character driven story, the characters introduced in the second half are flat and semi-transparent. I really enjoy multi-generational stories (100 Years of Solitude or Do Not Say We Have Nothing) and one thing the authors in both books do is carefully manage the number of characters in the book to give the reader the experience of spending time on the page with each one. This book just became too ambitious and lost so much in the process.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide, Trafficking, and Abortion

sas_lk's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This was the type of novel I had to digest slowly, and take the time to enjoy every chapter. I really liked the first two thirds, they felt like 4.5-5 stars at parts. 
The last third is unfortunately what lost me a little, and it is also why I am giving it 4 stars instead of something higher. At the end it started feeling a little disjointed, like the author lost track of the story a little bit. We were following the POVs of way more characters all of a sudden and quite a few felt pointless - atleast the depth that the author went into. And then it felt like the author added a couple traumatic things to keep the book sad and shocking without delving into these traumatic events. It felt like at the end she was speeding through her writing instead of taking her time with the events and happenings like she did in the first 2 thirds - this made me lose touch with the characters, and I almost felt like I stopped knowing them; like they were different characters than the ones I had been following throughout the whole book.
Overall, a great book, and I would definitely recommend it, I just wish the author had sat with the last third a little longer and not tried to do too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

femmeprints's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

This was a slow long read but really really interesting. The intergenerational dynamic was well done but a bit confusing at points as I was doing an audiobook. I have very little background on Japanese imperialism of Korea and this was my first look into that history. It was informative, deeply heart breaking, beautifully written and did keep me engaged. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

moonmoonsun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

art_anthology's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I loved this story and in my head i will remembe it as an exploration of Sunja the matriarch.

Through this review you will see my very biased opinion of how the third book was definitely the weakest.... but the first parts make up for it.

Well the middle of the book (book2) was definitely the best in terms of events pacing and intrigue. It habdled topicsvthat were introduced in book1 while also becoming more complex. The introduction was also pretty solid and since a real bond was created between readers and characters. Sadly the 3rd book felt like it was doing a bit to many different things. And so the depth of themes an  events that the first part had was lost felt more like seperated vignettes rather than a collated history.

Positive: the characters relationships felt meaningful. 
When a new character was introduced to the central family there was an actual and tangible shift in the structure. This meant they all felt important and like they impacted each other.

Exception: why was Yoseb still alive for so long. Like the whole pointvwas that he was on the verge of death... why was he still alive and in bed after like 10 years? I understand that it was to give Kyunghee and Yanjin something to do. Away from Mozasu and his life story but i would have prefered to see the women enjoy their lives and each others company.

Negative: I was not reqlly interested in the later inclusion of other characters such as

Harakumi and Ayame's personal relationship. Additionally I felt like the park orgy was shoved in as an afterthought. Would have preferred an exploration into haruki and Mozasu's weekly? Monthly? Meet ups i feel a lot could be discussed further eg gambling compulsion.

Positive: the characters felt real. I loved the beginning within the boardinghouse the fishermens banter actually became quite comfting l could image their background chatter.

And OMG the way I hated Noa when he did that to Sunja. Honestly i kind of have had enough of characters like that cough cough Willy Lomam. Im not really interested readin about men who feel that they cant amount to anything because they've internalised other peoples ideals. Or that there is only one possible route to go in life and if 1 thing hoes wrong they can't cope and its all woe is me... yea not intrested.

Overall this is a great book to read like i did as a part of a book club. The character based narrayive allows you to dote on some and critique other characters. Or you could explore the nook through a historical lense 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence, Trafficking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

clipshultz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

This book was an incredible read. Each character had so much life, and I felt pulled into each of their worlds. I cried multiple times while reading this, and many of the passages left me reflecting on how certain historical dynamics continue to play out today. This has been one of my favorite reads in recent years, as it pulls you deeply into storyline and keeps you invested in the fate of each character. I wish I could give this a higher rating, but it deserves every star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Miscarriage

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

san_dra's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Abortion, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail