Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

6 reviews

bites_of_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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? No

5.0

Yes, I truly love well-crafted historical fiction that spans generations and this one did not disappoint. 

The characters are complex and multidimensional, the prose is beautiful and careful in how it describes each event and each decision made by the characters. The historical context is given without it being overwhelming or dry and it makes it all feel urgent. 

I breezed through this book and I'll definitely pick up other works by Min Jin Lee. Highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

aexileigh's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

stvalentine's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Blood, Car accident, Alcohol, and Colonisation

jessiereads98's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad 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

4.25

This promised a sweeping epic of a multigenerational Korean family living in Japan and it delivered. Min Jin Lee’s writing is simplistic and effective. She’s created complex characters and gets the reader invested in their story.  It’s truly impressive how the author manages such a large cast of characters and managed to flesh them all out into realistic people with differing morals existing in the same setting. This is a historical novel and Min Jin Lee has written it with realism for the time. She is also attempting to tackle themes of beauty and desire. That being said and understood, I didn’t enjoy the way female and disabled characters were described and treated in some ways in this novel. I don’t think it actually grappled with the beauty standards, sexism, and ableism of the time period so much as just said “this is how it was” in an objective way. I did still enjoy the novel overall, there were just some character treatments and descriptions I did not enjoy reading. The pacing of the last approx. 100 pages also came off as disjointed compared to the rest of the book which made it more difficult to be invested in the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Infertility, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Abortion, Murder, Alcohol, and Deportation

yuki__'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Gore, Infertility, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ntvenessa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

A gem. This is a tale about poverty, suffering, colonialism, identity, salvation, endurance, family. Min Jin Lee's background as a historian shines through and Pachinko is exemplary of great historical fiction. It is factually consistent and you will learn much of Japan's colonisation of Korea, a topic not so in regular discourse. It is also emotional, generous, and sensitive to these historical facts. The characters are distinct and each have personalities which make sense for their context. It is intergenerational. The story is just so well crafted. This makes sense given how much time and dedication Lee spent workshopping drafts. I am normally averse to thick novels, but Pachinko has me unafraid -- it is exactly as long as the story needs to be, and moreover, it is easy to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Cancer, Suicide, Car accident, and Abortion

Minor: Child death and Homophobia