Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

469 reviews

kieralyn_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-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

4.75

another good long read tracing a family across multiple generations. the author really loves throwing in hard-hitting-story-changing-why-the-hell-would-you-do-that-sad moments at the very last page of a chapter. i learned a lot about japan's colonization of korea and the effect on families too

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Colonisation, Death, Incest, Sexual content, Hate crime, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: War

Minor: Terminal illness

kinda reminds me of "the love songs of w.e.b. dubois" and "homegoing" in the way it traces a family over generations also warning for sex b/t minors/incest

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

---

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

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

---

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

mmccombs's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

A multigenerational story that definitely belongs in the pantheon of great classics! I loved these characters and the natural flow of the story, where each turn and tragedy of these characters’ lives felt very lived in. The examination of culture and how it changed over time, of the racism towards Koreans and longstanding impact of colonialism, and of intergenerational conflicts and expectations for women were all wonderfully nuanced. 
I didn’t leave this book feeling as wowed as I anticipated, I think i found this either too short or too long. So many characters came and went, to the point where I never quite felt enough depth from most of them except for Sunja. In the end though, I’m glad I finally got around to this one, it was a great sweeping story that will stay with me for a long time!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Racism, Death, Misogyny, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation

Moderate: Car accident and Miscarriage

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.  

---

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

lazagn's review

dark lighthearted 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

very introspective

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide

heyheykk's review

dark emotional informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide and Xenophobia

oceanwriter's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? Yes

3.0

This book hadn’t been on my radar but I have seen it around over the past few years. I picked it up when it was selected as a group read. I’m glad I got to go into it with an open mind. I came away with mixed emotions. 

 

Beginning in the early 1900s, we meet Sunja and her family living in Korea. She meets Hansu and envisions a future with him, especially once she discovers she’s pregnant. Unbeknownst to her, he has a wife and children in Japan. Refusing to see him again, she accepts the offer of marriage from Isak, an ailing minister. Together they set off for Japan to live with Isak’s brother and his wife with Isak adopting Noa and raising him as his own. Parts two and three follow the lineage of Sunja’s family through to the 1980s. 

 

As I was reading the book’s first part, I anticipated this being a five-star read. I was completely absorbed in the plot, characters, setting, history, writing… all of it. Part two started to lose me a little bit, especially reaching the second half of it. Part three was an absolute headache. I no longer had a grasp on the characters or the many plot lines the story now involved. 

 

So many of the monumental moments of the book, particularly in the second half, start, occur, and end in the span of one to three paragraphs — if that. Because of this, there’s no chance to build a bond with a number of the characters or their situations. After a slower build in the beginning, all of a sudden switching to fast pacing and sporadic time jumps was dizzying. I cannot recall most of this second of the book as my reading was interrupted to go back and see if I missed something, only to realize a major plot point was dropped in a singular sentence with little to no explanation around it. 

 

I’m definitely walking away feeling disappointed after so much enjoyment in the beginning, but I’m glad I went along for the ride. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent, War, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage

blairwithredhair's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Abortion

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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