A review by kimveach
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

I read this book in two forms: hardcover and audio. I preferred listening to it. It's a beautiful, mostly sad, story of a Korean family living in Japan. The struggle of Koreans who were not fully accepted into Japan, either legally or socially, was new to me.  I'm glad I read this and learned about this piece of history.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and War

Minor: Medical content