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oatmooolissa's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
readtomea97's review
- 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
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
- 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
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
mmefish's review against another edition
Nancy Jooyoun Kim's writing is too repetitive for my liking, so I won't be continuing.
"Beauty is a construct, but theory is not the reality we live, she thought. Theory didn't live in the bones. Theory didn't erase the years of self-scrunity in a mirror and not seeing anyone at all, not a protagonist or a beauty, only a television sidekick, a speechless creature, who at best was "exotic," desirable but simple and foreign. Growing up, she has often wondered, If only I had bigger eyes or brown hair onstead of black. If only..."
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts
desjas's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual harassment, and Domestic abuse
kcelena's review
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, and Stalking
Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, War, Car accident, Chronic illness, and Racism
amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Car accident and Child death
myrtle's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death, Death of parent, and Racism
ctrl_shift_dlt's review
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Grief
Minor: Domestic abuse, War, Racism, and Rape
toofondofbooks_'s review
- 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
3.0
I feel like this was a solid read, but it could've been *epic.* It had all the elements there, but it never seemed to really take off. I thought the writing was great even though it was pretty simplistic and I enjoyed the dual timelines, though Margot as a character truly bored me to tears and I didn't feel like she had a personality. Still, it was hard for me to predict what would end up contributing to the fate of Mina Lee, and I liked that, even though all of the things that did happen to contribute to it fell flat for me in the end or were flat out anti-climactic.
Though I did like this author's writing, there was a ton of repetition that could've been edited down. The entire premise of this book hinges on the death of Margot's mother, but I felt like the author kept wanting to remind us of that fact. So many sentences started or ended with something like "since her mother's death." I feel like as a writer, you need to trust that the people who are reading your book are going to remember such a major plot point.
Something I thought was done right in this book was capturing grief, understanding that there are things we will never know about the people we love or perhaps never understand about them, but loving them anyway. Overall, a decent book, but there are things I would've liked to see done differently.
Graphic: Child death, Racism, Sexual harassment, Vomit, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual content, Rape, Alcohol, Death, War, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Murder, and Gun violence
Moderate: Car accident, Infidelity, and Addiction
Minor: Homophobia, Police brutality, and Child abuse