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A review by mrpitmansgranddaughter
Marilyn and Me by Ji-min Lee
3.0
Synopsis wise this book is without a doubt up my street. Old Hollywood Glamour combined with a part of history that both fascinates me and horrifies me at the same time. How could these two worlds possibly collide?
Alice's story is horrific and while you cannot comprehend her experiences, it makes her evident troubles understandable. I really enjoyed the switches between Alice's past and the current day, encouraging the reader to keep going as we are drip-fed information and teased with the truth behind Alice. This is the second (Japanese/Korean translated) book that I wish was double the size. If that was the case I could see this book being an easy 4star or more.
I desperately wanted more depth in the relationship and communication between Alice and Marilyn. There was such potential for this relationship to be vitally important to Alice and potentially also Marilyn. These are two incredibly different women who suffered incredible pain.
This leads me to not being sure what this book is, with elements of historical fiction, spy and mystery themes and friendship and life. It was all of those and it was also not those.
What this book does brilliantly is to describe the heartbreak and horror of a war described as the forgotten war. As a warning, some of the scenes described are incredibly difficult to read, but it has continued my pledge to learn more about Asian history so that it isn't considered forgotten.
Overall it is a quick read, with huge potential. I would give nothing more than to pick this book up again but with a couple hundred more pages and to get lost in the clash of two very different worlds.
Alice's story is horrific and while you cannot comprehend her experiences, it makes her evident troubles understandable. I really enjoyed the switches between Alice's past and the current day, encouraging the reader to keep going as we are drip-fed information and teased with the truth behind Alice. This is the second (Japanese/Korean translated) book that I wish was double the size. If that was the case I could see this book being an easy 4star or more.
I desperately wanted more depth in the relationship and communication between Alice and Marilyn. There was such potential for this relationship to be vitally important to Alice and potentially also Marilyn. These are two incredibly different women who suffered incredible pain.
This leads me to not being sure what this book is, with elements of historical fiction, spy and mystery themes and friendship and life. It was all of those and it was also not those.
What this book does brilliantly is to describe the heartbreak and horror of a war described as the forgotten war. As a warning, some of the scenes described are incredibly difficult to read, but it has continued my pledge to learn more about Asian history so that it isn't considered forgotten.
Overall it is a quick read, with huge potential. I would give nothing more than to pick this book up again but with a couple hundred more pages and to get lost in the clash of two very different worlds.