Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

119 reviews

page_karla's review

emotional inspiring reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Abortion, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infertility, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Racism, Abandonment, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Sexism

a_lf05's review

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I don't have much to say about this book but it was definitely really good !! going into this I was worried it would be a bit slow going through four (?) generations but it was very engaging and generally the characters were very well written and felt like real people !!

Some of the storylines that didn't revolve around sunja's immediate family felt a little forgotten at times but I can forgive that 🙏🙏

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, and War

Minor: Abortion and Bullying

matcha_cat's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Racism, Sexual content, and Classism

Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Bullying, Colonisation, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Death, War, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Miscarriage, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Alcohol, Child death, and Violence

adoto's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I don't think I got hooked into this book until shit hit the fan. It's medium-paced but dense. 

I think it does a really good job of what the author wanted to do, which is honestly reflect the varied experiences of being a Korean in Japan. It's also a beautiful ode to migrant grit and resolve. It just didn't grab me the way I expected it to. I would recommend it to a friend but never reread it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, Classism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Violence, Death, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Classism, Child death, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Sexual content, Homophobia, Colonisation, and Alcohol

Minor: Police brutality, Suicide, Sexual assault, Abortion, Mental illness, Trafficking, Miscarriage, and Cancer

brinxleyx's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? No

5.0

This is a new book in my favorites list. Pachinko addresses every issue under the sun within the cultural context it was written in. I have never been so affected by a character, and this story provides many many different stories throughout the four generations of the family it focuses on. This book was both beautiful and culturally informative. There was so much I learned, and I definitely cried.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexism, Xenophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Suicide

Minor: Abortion, Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, and Alcohol

thenoboshow's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, War, and Xenophobia

drkng31's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Classism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Drug use, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Death, War, Cancer, Terminal illness, Abortion, Addiction, Colonisation, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Bullying, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

sas_lk's review

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was the type of novel I had to digest slowly, and take the time to enjoy every chapter. I really liked the first two thirds, they felt like 4.5-5 stars at parts. 
The last third is unfortunately what lost me a little, and it is also why I am giving it 4 stars instead of something higher. At the end it started feeling a little disjointed, like the author lost track of the story a little bit. We were following the POVs of way more characters all of a sudden and quite a few felt pointless - atleast the depth that the author went into. And then it felt like the author added a couple traumatic things to keep the book sad and shocking without delving into these traumatic events. It felt like at the end she was speeding through her writing instead of taking her time with the events and happenings like she did in the first 2 thirds - this made me lose touch with the characters, and I almost felt like I stopped knowing them; like they were different characters than the ones I had been following throughout the whole book.
Overall, a great book, and I would definitely recommend it, I just wish the author had sat with the last third a little longer and not tried to do too much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Suicide, Death, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, War, Sexism, Death of parent, Grief, Colonisation, Car accident, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Hate crime, Bullying, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

novembermoth's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This was a lovely read. Although it didn't stay on my mind all day like some books do, but I loved sitting down at the end of the day to read a few chapters. I wouldn't say it's hard to put down, but it is very easy to pick up.

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Content Warnings

Minor: War, Abortion, Suicide, Ableism, Bullying, and Colonisation

magnolia_berry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Drug use, Infidelity, Murder, Suicide, Bullying, Colonisation, Violence, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Abortion, Torture, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Death, Sexual assault, Slavery, Genocide, Gun violence, Police brutality, and War

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Child death and Trafficking