Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

17 reviews

corriejn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

I checked out this book based on a recommendation, and because I'd heard of the haenyeo before and was interested in learning more. Clearly I didn't look much into the details of the book beforehand, as I started it expecting nonfiction-- when it was apparent it was a novel, that was fine and I just adjusted that expectation. The story is still very informative about the lives and traditions of the Korean women sea-divers. What I wish I had realized beforehand, though, is that the book covers much of mid-19th-century Korean history and includes some really graphic and traumatic descriptions of atrocities committed during occupation and wartime (such content is mainly in the latter half of the book). It is still a powerful and artfully told story, but do be aware of that going in, and don't pick this one up if you're looking for a light read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, War, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Genocide, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Classism, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Vomit, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Infertility, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Medical content, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Suicidal thoughts

alayamorning's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, and War

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Miscarriage, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism and Cancer

caribbeangirlreading's review

emotional informative 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

4.5

• “Every woman who enters the sea carries a coffin on her back. In this world, in the undersea world, we tow the burdens of a hard life. We are crossing between life and death every day.”

• “With arranged marriages, many wives fall in love with their husbands quickly. For some it can take years. And for others, decades of marriage will always be filled with loneliness and sadness . . . How different it is with friendship. No one picks a friend for us; we come together by choice. We are not tied together through ceremony or the responsibility to create a son; we tie ourselves together through moments. The spark when we first meet. Laughter and tears shared. Secrets packed away to be treasured, hoarded, and protected. The wonder that someone can be so different from you and yet still understand our heart in a way no one else ever will.”

• “We thought we were free, but so far the only difference in our lives here on Jeju was that the Japanese flag was lowered, and the American flag was raised. One colonizer had been replaced by another.”

The Island of Sea Women is a profoundly sad, but moving, and very well-researched, work of historical fiction. The sea women of Jeju Island will stay with me for a very long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and Police brutality

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Rape, and Vomit

krisawesome's review

2.5

Pacing is odd, Young-sook isn’t an especially engaging protagonist, and some of the personal conflicts were super predictable and felt a little trope-y to me (and not in a good way).

Although I had been warned about some of the descriptions in this book, I was still not fully prepared for how brutal some of the instances were. I’m usually fine to read those if I’m aware of them ahead of time but the end of the “Life-Giving Air” chapter (and a bit of the following one) were too much even for me. Note that I don’t blame See for including them, and I wouldn’t have even been all that surprised if I’d read them without warning - it’s not like she’d pulled punches earlier in the book either. But they’re hard to get past, is what I’m saying.

The 2008 chapters feel like they’re a little phoned in, compared to the research and effort that See obviously put into the main timeline. 

Stars were earned mostly by the anthropological and historical elements, as difficult as the latter were to read about at times. It was especially fascinating to read about the haenyeo and their matrifocal society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Excrement

Other warnings: drowning, mutilation

spinesinaline's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Infertility, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Blood

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Cancer

books_and_fairy_lights's review

emotional hopeful informative 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

4.75

I don't remember ever crying so much over a single book. It got me laughing and sobbing. It's tragic and very emotional, but hopeful, and beautifully written. It's also very instructive and I loved it from the first page to the last one. A wonderful book about love, friendship, survival, and the importance to forgive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Minor: Cancer

sarah984's review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I liked this novel a lot. It was full of interesting historical and cultural details of a location and period that I didn't know much about beforehand but in an easily understandable way. It definitely felt like it was written with respect and love for the real people of Jeju.

The overarching story about forgiveness and seeing other people's perspectives was good but it was also very similar to Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by the same author, which was kind of weird for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Rape, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking