Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

8 reviews

readtomea97's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Grief

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual harassment, and Deportation

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Death, and Murder

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

Liked how all the loose ends were tied up. Liked how the reality of their situations were contrasted to the model ministry expectations. Liked the acknowledgement of what happened to Rodney King and the impact it had on the community (in this and in her other book When We Kept to Ourselves).

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Alcoholism, Car accident, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Child death, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Cancer, Deportation, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

kcelena's review

challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, and Stalking

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, War, Car accident, Chronic illness, and Racism

lain_darko's review

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Racism, and Stalking

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and War

cereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child death, Death, Infidelity, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, and Pregnancy

theresenatalie's review

slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Racial slurs and Suicidal thoughts

adoesetfree's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I didn’t hate this book by any means but I didn’t like it either. It doesn’t deserve a 3 but I don’t think it deserves a 2 either, so have a 2.5. 

I found the writing an odd mix of threadbare and try-hard (if this book asks me ONE more rhetorical question....) The story itself didn’t give me what I wanted, often skipping right over the things I was interested in seeing. The explorations of how complex mother-daughter relationships can be, how patriarchy affects women, and life as a Korean-American immigrant were thorough, but not especially intuitive or engaging; I wonder if maybe the author took on too many topics at once, particularly for a debut novel. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexism

wai's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oh, my heart. This book really captures the experience of Asian diaspora in the USA, with the story of Mina Lee, a Korean immigrant who first came to the USA in the last 1980s, and her daughter, Margot Lee.  Adding in the mystery of how Mina died, and Margot's absolute resolve to know the truth, really pushes you to want to keep reading, if only to know how it ends. Plus, I honestly love dual narratives that includes switching between flashbacks of the past to what is the book's present (in this case, late 2014). This book was so touching and I know it will stay with me even as I move on to other books. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief and Death

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault

Minor: Sexual content, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Child death