A review by greymalkin
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Evocative and immersive, with characters that feel like real people.  The story itself is a hard one though, with many difficult and brutal events that made me keep reading compulsively- not so much because I lost track of time but because they were so stressful and upsetting that I had to keep reading to know that all hope was not lost.   I learned so much about that area and historical incidents that I wasn't aware of, and a deeply fascinating tradition. 
The reason for the fracture in their friendship was legitimate and seeing the way that the war atrocities of others poisoned them for so long was heartbreaking.  I really felt for the characters and I was pleased that there was no "magical solution", just the everyday grace of people trying to live their lives under unspeakably difficult conditions.
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