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brianareads's review
3.0
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Suicide, and Abandonment
sketchydelusion's review
5.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Eating disorder, Vomit, and Animal death
Minor: Fatphobia
clarabooksit's review against another edition
4.25
I’ve been mulling over how to write a review for this book for days. It’s short but wow does it not pull any punches.
When Koh was 14, her parents moved back to South Korea and left her with her older brother in California. For years, her mother wrote her letters and as an adult, Koh translated them into English. This book is those letters and Koh’s memories of that time. But it’s more than that, too.
She writes about ancestral trauma, abandonment, loneliness, resentment, discovery, family, love, poetry and loss. There are parts that read like a fever dream and others that are brutal in their starkness. The honesty here is breathtaking but there’s deception, too, because what is memory and what do we have to tell ourselves to deal with the choices we’ve made?
While each chapter didn’t carry as much weight as others, the beginning felt stronger than the ending, and the transitions sometimes left me confused, the prose absolutely gutted me, it’s so stunning. The writing swept me through time, place and feeling; it’s lyrical, haunting and evocative.
This book was gut-wrenching but beautiful. I want to recommend it but with caution for how devastating it is.
Content warnings for suicidal ideation, eating disorders, emotional violence, war, grief, and abandonment.
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Animal death, Eating disorder, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Grief and Violence
rieviolet'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
5.0
The writing style felt very unique to me, I found that many turns of phrases really wonderfully stretched the English language. It was an impactful style, bringing forth emotions in a very direct and poignant manner.
I really liked the book's structure, with the chapters interspersed with letters from the author's mother. I really enjoyed following the author's own experiences but I think that what stood out to me the most were the sections focusing on her grandmother's stories. They were so interesting and there was a very tangible and at the same time ethereal quality to them.
This is certainly a book that will stay with me and that I want to revisit again in the future.
Graphic: War, Violence, Murder, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Animal death, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Mental illness, and Blood
Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Vomit
annabend's review
3.75
Graphic: Animal death and Murder
Moderate: Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt