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skyebird16's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Vomit, Grief, Gore, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, Toxic friendship, Child death, Excrement, and Genocide
Moderate: Colonisation and Rape
Minor: Animal death and Alcohol
pbuzzard'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Abortion, Bullying, Child death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual assault, Gore, Suicide attempt, Cultural appropriation, Slavery, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Mental illness, Murder, Hate crime, Infertility, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Violence, Body shaming, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, War, Medical trauma, Grief, Racism, Alcohol, Excrement, Physical abuse, Genocide, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Torture, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, and Gun violence
galexy_brain'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
4.5
Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Grief, Death, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Gore, Physical abuse, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Torture, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Abandonment, Infertility, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Excrement, Cancer, Child death, Classism, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
rieviolet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The sections with historical, social and cultural informations were very interesting (at least for me) but I don't think that they were very well integrated into the narration and I can see how someone might find them a bit too much didactic and dry.
The historical events that are the basis for this story were brutal and certainly they cannot be brushed aside, but I still think that an author can approach the portraying of violence in a way that does not feel gratuitous (as it did for me in this case). I don't think that such a violence was well transposed on the page, at times it just felt like a list of atrocities, just for shock value.
In general, I just didn't get along much with the writing style, I found it eithera bit plain or a bit too much overdone, without much subtlety in terms of both narration and characterization.
Speaking of characters, I have to say that I struggled to connect with them, even when it came to the main character, Youngsook, there were very few moments when I felt really engrossed in her story and her feelings. I think that the characters' emotions were not so well portrayed, they were either too much melodramatic for my taste or kept hidden or just vaguely hinted at, so that I struggled as a reader to actually understand their depth and to be interested in the unfolding of the various relationships.
I wasn't so keen on the big final reveal, the events of the last chapters
just felt like too much for me, too over dramatic, too out of nowhere, just too much. The ending itself was also very abrupt.
I really liked the setting and the historical/cultural background but the story, the characters and the writing style quite dampened my enjoyment of the book.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Gun violence, War, Colonisation, Police brutality, Torture, Death, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Grief
Moderate: Rape, Ableism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Excrement, Vomit, Blood, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse
Minor: Cancer, Body shaming, and Alcoholism
amandas_bookshelf's review
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Death of parent, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, War, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Excrement, Vomit, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Cancer
zombiezami's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Torture, Gun violence, Violence, War, Death, Murder, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Child death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Blood, Gore, Animal death, and Genocide
Moderate: Vomit, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexism, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual harassment, Excrement, Ableism, Alcoholism, and Medical content
Minor: Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Kidnapping, Drug use, and Infidelity
Starvationcorriejn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
4.75
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
- 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
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
- 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
• “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.
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
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.
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