Reviews

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

sampostlethwaite's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

kalyaniwarrier's review

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

“History has failed us, but no matter.”

it’s a fictional story about a real historical event that took place. the novel is set in colonised Korea (South Korea - Busan) and later on in various parts of Japan who colonised the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945. the novel highlights the discrimination and suffering of Koreans born in Korea, Koreans born and bought up in Japan, Japanese who married Koreans, Korean-Japanese who are discriminated against in Korea, etc.

we see four generations who go through various obstacles in their lives as Koreans who face humiliation and suffering in every aspect of their lives. each generation suffers a new form of discrimination while suffering their elders’ hardships. a story so brutally painful that it will stick with you for a long time.

i couldn’t put this book down and i finished it before my estimated time. it was harrowing to see the way the Japanese imperialists and citizens treated Koreans and Chinese just to establish authority over the controlled.

aswope's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring 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

kelye's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad tense 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? No

4.5

willproctor's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

gracegeeks'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

5.0

erinreynoso's review

informative reflective sad medium-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

4.0

aliciasokol's review against another edition

3.0

I wanted to love this book, but I didn’t. The history is rich and well-researched, and I enjoyed learning more about the (painful) dynamic between Koreans and Japanese - a brand of racism I didn’t understand before this book. However, there are so many characters and the plot winds around and around. There are some beautiful relationships, such as that between the sisters-in-law, but so many more that are underdeveloped. I was left hanging on a lot of accounts where more detail and context would have been helpful. The winding plot and erratic jumps from one storyline to the next made it a tough read.

gabbydoesntread's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

ameliatmoss's review against another edition

5.0

This is a book you can read and then suggest to your mother and your mother will read it and be like wow, my child is perceptive, my child is brilliant, my child reads literature, and my child knows me and the kinds of stories I like! But really this book is just so good you know that anything that breathes OXYGEN will fucking adore this book. It has nothing to do with you being perceptive and everything to do with the fact that this is storytelling genius.