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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
okiecozyreader's review
emotional
mysterious
slow-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
4.0
The Last Story of Mina Lee is just what it sounds like - the story of Mina Lee, told in alternating viewpoints from that of the daughter Margot in 2014 and her own story, mostly from the 1980s, when she immigrated to the United States from Korea. She had lost her husband and child and wanted to escape Korea.
In 2014, her daughter returns home to find her mother unresponsive on the floor. After years of being embarrassed of poverty, of having a mother who only speaks Korean, of living a life that wasn’t typical American, she didn’t want to live the life her mother did. But as she finds her mother, she wonders what caused her mother to fall, and is there more to her mother’s story than she knew. She takes the investigation into her own hands, and goes back through her mother’s life with the few people who knew her.
— thoughts
For some reason, I wasn’t motivated to read this, except that it was a bookclub pick, and even though I did like the story. I liked the perspective of learning about this woman, who so few people knew or valued. Her daughter makes a point to the police that her mother worked and paid taxes like everyone else and should be valued as such. It’s a look at how people are valued by society and by their families.
It’s also a book of found families. Mina doesn’t have a family in the USA but finds one with a neighbor (which I do kind of like that she isn’t rescued by a man). It’s very much a story of female friendship/family through years and tough times.
— quotes
“But the past always had a way of rising back again when so many of the questions had remained unanswered, wrongdoings remained unacknowledged, when a country torn by a border had continued for decades to be at war with itself. Both the living and the dead remained separated from each other, forever unsettled.” P193
“Well, something I learned is you don’t have to know where you are going to, you know, enjoy yourself a little, have a good time.” P222
“I have books. I have music. I don’t need a boyfriend. I’m busy.” P245
“The thrill of sex drowned out her burning questions, replaced the real dangers that, when pursued, might actually kill her. Who was she? What would happen if she were unafraid of herself?” P279
“What is worse than the truth is where your mind goes,” he said. “How it wanders, how it refuses to let go. P343
“But she and her mother were both free yet forever woven into each other. They could be both - separate and inseparable. … Her mother’s death was not a knot but a temporary undoing. Her mother had been carrying the burden of so much truth, truths that she had protected Margot from and now Margot knew: she, like her mother, could handle anything - even love, even family.” P398
In 2014, her daughter returns home to find her mother unresponsive on the floor. After years of being embarrassed of poverty, of having a mother who only speaks Korean, of living a life that wasn’t typical American, she didn’t want to live the life her mother did. But as she finds her mother, she wonders what caused her mother to fall, and is there more to her mother’s story than she knew. She takes the investigation into her own hands, and goes back through her mother’s life with the few people who knew her.
— thoughts
For some reason, I wasn’t motivated to read this, except that it was a bookclub pick, and even though I did like the story. I liked the perspective of learning about this woman, who so few people knew or valued. Her daughter makes a point to the police that her mother worked and paid taxes like everyone else and should be valued as such. It’s a look at how people are valued by society and by their families.
It’s also a book of found families. Mina doesn’t have a family in the USA but finds one with a neighbor (which I do kind of like that she isn’t rescued by a man). It’s very much a story of female friendship/family through years and tough times.
— quotes
“But the past always had a way of rising back again when so many of the questions had remained unanswered, wrongdoings remained unacknowledged, when a country torn by a border had continued for decades to be at war with itself. Both the living and the dead remained separated from each other, forever unsettled.” P193
“Well, something I learned is you don’t have to know where you are going to, you know, enjoy yourself a little, have a good time.” P222
“I have books. I have music. I don’t need a boyfriend. I’m busy.” P245
“The thrill of sex drowned out her burning questions, replaced the real dangers that, when pursued, might actually kill her. Who was she? What would happen if she were unafraid of herself?” P279
“What is worse than the truth is where your mind goes,” he said. “How it wanders, how it refuses to let go. P343
“But she and her mother were both free yet forever woven into each other. They could be both - separate and inseparable. … Her mother’s death was not a knot but a temporary undoing. Her mother had been carrying the burden of so much truth, truths that she had protected Margot from and now Margot knew: she, like her mother, could handle anything - even love, even family.” P398
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
korpney's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder
Minor: Rape
ctrl_shift_dlt's review
emotional
reflective
slow-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
3.25
Content Warnings
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
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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
3.0
"The Last Story of Mina Lee" explores the complex relationship between mother and daughter through the daughter, Margot trying to solve her mother's mysterious death. Intertwined with this storyline is Mina's story, which takes us back in time to 1986 when she first arrived in America.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
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
molhog93's review
emotional
informative
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Child death
Minor: Rape
caroline_hutchison's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
kry_yang's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Just finished reading this book, and honestly, I have so many mixed feelings about this story.
Things I loved:
- The overarching murder mystery story. I've never seen ASAM lit combined with the mystery genre before, so that made for a thrilling and exciting read.
- The commentary on being a POC immigrant, particularly in relation to deportation, policing, trauma, and "assimilation."
- Mina's entire character arc was really fascinating. I thought we could have spent a little more time with Mina's childhood, particularly because it seemed to play a significant role throughout Mina's POV. But overall, really enjoyed reading about Mina's backstory and getting to know her as a character.
Things I didn't really love:
- Margot's character. I honestly thought she fell really flat, especially compared to her mother and her character development.
- Similar to other reviews about this book, I felt that there needed to be more chapters specifically dedicated to exploring Margot's childhood, and her relationship with her mother. I felt that some descriptions of Margot's life with her mother were a bit... Too on-the-nose for me? As an avid consumer of ASAM lit, I felt that Margot's childhood was written with an almost "stereotypical" flair. Like Margot hating her mother's cooking and only wanting to eat American food... Like Margot refusing to learn Korean... Like Margot wanting to watch American TV... I also just finished reading "Crying in H-mart" which is also about a Korean-American girl grappling with her mother's death, so maybe I'm a bit biased here.
- Margot's friend, who takes up a weird amount of word count in this story? I feel like Margot's character development would have been so much more impactful if she had explored the implications of her mother's death on her own, rather than exploring the whole situation with a friend who didn't feel relevant to the story at all. I get that the author was trying to create parallels between Margot's life and Mina's--and perhaps Miguel's character was supposed to relate to Mrs. Baek's. However, Mrs. Baek ended up being such a key character in the story, in a way that Miguel just... was not.
I'm leaving this book with very mixed emotions (clearly). On one hand, I enjoyed the murder mystery element. I liked the overarching commentary on the "American" immigrant narrative. Some characters and descriptions didn't quite hit the mark for me. I think if the book had been just a bit longer--and if we had gotten more pages of adequate character development--then this book would have been a really incredible, tense, and fast-paced investigation into the Korean-American experience. But as it is, the book is only "good" and not "great," in my opinion.
Things I loved:
- The overarching murder mystery story. I've never seen ASAM lit combined with the mystery genre before, so that made for a thrilling and exciting read.
- The commentary on being a POC immigrant, particularly in relation to deportation, policing, trauma, and "assimilation."
- Mina's entire character arc was really fascinating. I thought we could have spent a little more time with Mina's childhood, particularly because it seemed to play a significant role throughout Mina's POV. But overall, really enjoyed reading about Mina's backstory and getting to know her as a character.
Things I didn't really love:
- Margot's character. I honestly thought she fell really flat, especially compared to her mother and her character development.
- Similar to other reviews about this book, I felt that there needed to be more chapters specifically dedicated to exploring Margot's childhood, and her relationship with her mother. I felt that some descriptions of Margot's life with her mother were a bit... Too on-the-nose for me? As an avid consumer of ASAM lit, I felt that Margot's childhood was written with an almost "stereotypical" flair.
- Margot's friend, who takes up a weird amount of word count in this story? I feel like Margot's character development would have been so much more impactful if she had explored the implications of her mother's death on her own, rather than exploring the whole situation with a friend who didn't feel relevant to the story at all.
I'm leaving this book with very mixed emotions (clearly). On one hand, I enjoyed the murder mystery element. I liked the overarching commentary on the "American" immigrant narrative. Some characters and descriptions didn't quite hit the mark for me. I think if the book had been just a bit longer--and if we had gotten more pages of adequate character development--then this book would have been a really incredible, tense, and fast-paced investigation into the Korean-American experience. But as it is, the book is only "good" and not "great," in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape and Gore
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