kenzieburns's reviews
55 reviews

This book was just what I needed, a quick little spooky jaunt to start October off. It wasn't literature by any means, just a quick entertainment novel. It also wasn't very spicy, with only one real sex scene, which was a bit disappointing, but I still liked the focus on a wlw relationship! Overall a fun quick read to get you in the mood for Halloween.

Such a touching memoir. I don't frequently give 5 stars, but this was so relatable for me and I absolutely devoured it in an hour and a half. First off, I really liked the artistic style of this graphic novel! So colorful and cute, yet detailed and nuanced at the same time. Regarding the narrative: anyone who has divorced, remarried parents HAS TO read this. I love the way Gharib puts words to that "out of place" feeling I assume we all have at one point or another when you don't live full-time with half your family. Pages 123-125 specifically are so relatable. This idea of "I don't fit here/I'm not a part of this family" is so hard to grapple with, and to see Malaka come to terms with her family's structure  (and as she realizes and I have realized too, yes, you DO fit and you ARE a part of this family) as she gets older is so validating. Although our stories diverge at the end, as my dad and step-mom have probably the happiest, healthiest relationship I know of, I still relate to the author in this feeling that, no matter what, you want the best for your family (even in Hala/Malaka's case where they're not married into you immediate family, but are still very much your family). I also have to reflect on how this book put words to cultural struggles/experiences that I am not familiar with, which helped me to further appreciate and understand immigrants' compounded struggles and triumphs. It's interesting to me how relatable and also unrelatable this memoir is, because our family situations are similar, but there is also a whole cultural aspect that I will never fully understand as a White person. So, on one hand, it's cool to not be alone in two-family situations even across cultures, but it's also humbling to realize that there are so many other layers to family dynamics.

A truly touching story spanning 4 generations of love, loss, and everything in between. I'll start by saying: this book is definitely a slow build kinda read, but I was so entranced with the story and the characters that I hardly noticed the lack of action until reflecting on each part. I think the author did a good job of balancing storytelling/immersion in the characters with small tidbits of revelation of deeper meaning/symbolism behind somethings. There were times in the book where I wanted to throw one (or more!!) of the characters against the wall, or shake them and say "why are you being so stupid???" but I think that's a sign of really well-written characters. I also appreciated learning more about the Korean immigrants' experience and struggle in living in Japan during the 20th century. Noa's story is particularly heartbreaking, and I stared at the page where

he shot himself for a bit too long, thinking "wait, what? no! what? for real? no!!" and the way that it wasn't really talked about anymore after the fact?? Like, he really truly died. Heartbreaking.

The author also balanced transitions really well, as in switching from focus on one generation/characters to the next. I felt like I was growing with the characters, and by the time narrative focus shifted to the next generation, I was ready to move on to their perspective. I also have to take a moment to reflect on the title and how it played into the story:

"Pachinko" didn't really come up until midway through the book, and even then it was just a job for Mozasu at first. And, Mozasu was written to be a bit unlikable, in my opinion, until Noa rejected his heritage and you really only had Mozasu to support. The symbolism of Noa's suicide, even when he was the "good" child, but Mozasu's prosperity thanks to embracing his heritage as Korean is particularly striking. Also, Soloman's eventual rejection of Western life to instead run the pachinko business really speaks to the whole idea that you can't escape your heritage, and maybe you shouldn't try to. And that sometimes, the only choices life gives you are "bad" ones.

One thing I'm left thinking about is how the characters in this novel were constantly delt hard hands, from Sunja's struggles bearing a bastard child to a minister to <spolier> Solomon's termination because of "bad looks" , and it was so, so hard for them to get by, let alone get a leg up. Like, they had to make some of the "bad" decisions they did, because there was no way for them to survive otherwise. It really put some perspective on the immigrants struggle for me, in a light I hadn't really seen it before. Like, the playing field is never level, and everyone's choices need to be taken in context of the rest of their lives, because they truly might not have had any other options.

I might return to this one to read again, and to re-evaluate my rating. So much to think about. The character development was amazing, nothing short of spectacular. I often find it so hard to follow and stay engaged with novels that span generations, because I get too attached to one character/generation's story arc, and then end up skimming the sections not relevant to that character/arc. This book was NOT that. By the time we got to Stella's perspective and the focus on her life, I was itching to learn more about what motivated her

to up and leave, especially after Desiree was the one who originally motivated her to leave.

 

This book really challenged my perceptions of race in the US, especially in recent history. I wasn't "shocked" by the segregation that pervaded into the later portions of the novel, but I did have to keep reminding myself that it was set in the 80s at that point, and even earlier in the book it was only the late 50s/early 60s. That's like, when my mom was born. It also gave me pause to consider that, yes, we're 40 years down the line from the 80s, but how much has changed? I was particularly struck by the introduction of Stella's portion of the story when the main plot point is that the neighborhood association is scandalized by a Black family moving in, and people were saying how it would "drop property value" and they "wouldn't be wanted, so why would they move in anyways?". I just know that there are still neighborhood association meetings today that play out following the exact same script.

I'm particularly moved by Stella's chosen life in passing. I think I expected so much more fear to bleed through in her part of the story, but was equally moved by how nonchalantly it seemed to be discussed. Like, don't get me wrong, I definitely felt some fear in her perspective, but the fear was less of the "I'll be found out and killed" that I expected and more of a "everything I've built and worked hard for, even though no one knows I've worked hard for it, will be destroyed". I'm not sure why, but this difference in the perceived motivation of the fear made it all the more striking to read for me. I also think the author did an amazing job of writing Kennedy's perspective. I felt bad for her, for so many reasons (not knowing half of her identity, being lied to all her life, and having to lie for the rest of it as well...), but I also felt jealous of her/mad at her on behalf of Jude, who didn't seem to feel either of those emotions toward her cousin. It's really interesting to me that, as a White reader, I was feeling these negative emotions towards the perceived White character in the book, even though the Black character didn't display these emotions; so, these emotions were coming entirely from within myself, which leads me to believe they come from my own internal biases. Definitely something to make a personal note of and evaluate, but also writing it here to hold myself accountable.

My one gripe is that I wish there was more resolution to the Stella/Kennedy storyline. I felt like this was left very much an unknown, and would have loved to see even a tiny bit of Kennedy's coming to terms with her mother's (and her own) background. But, maybe this is my Whiteness wanting more resolution to the perceived White storyline, and maybe that's the whole point of leaving this storyline up in the air; that's not what the author wanted to focus on. All in all, a great novel that really challenged my thinking.

There was a lot of sex in this book. Like, so much. But, the character development was much more detailed than in previous books in this series. I really appreciated the struggle that Nesta went through as she came to terms with her "new" status as Fae, accepting herself despite and even because of her faults and failures, and etc. I definitely started the book hating her, and ended with more acceptance for her character and path. As far as the plot, it definitely came second to Nesta's development, which was fine, it just felt very long and drawn out. Like, every couple of chapters we would get a plot development and ot was like "oh, right, there are other events happening". I really liked the heavy use of symbolism in the book, especially with things like the dark pit in the library, the stairs from the House of Wind to Velaris, the Valkyries, etc. My one gripe us that the author felt the the need to fully explain each instance of symbolism, which is nice because it takes the onus off the reader, but decreases the literary quality of the book. Although, with so much fairy sex, I guess there is a hard case for calling this literature, anyways.

**Review contains uncensored spoilers!!**

Didn't wow me or captivate me as I expected it to. Perhaps because of the old language and views of the role of women in society, but I was bored and annoyed more than I was entertained. I was only half listening at some points, so maybe I missed some vital plot points, but Jane's sickness and Lydia's departure seemed pointless to me. Also, for a book that is supposed to be so much about Elizabeth's and Mr. Darcy's relationship, I felt like there was surprisingly little discussion of such, and by the end of the book their marriage felt so abrupt and rushed. Is this typical of "romances" from thus period? Not sure. I feel like I need to do some digging and find an analytical synopsis because much of the book was over my head and I was just not interested.

I was honestly a bit disappointed by this book. It had such great accolades, but I found it kind of boring. I was never really excited or surprised by the big "twists" in the plot; it's not that I predicted them, it's more so that after a while, I just knew that the crew would get out if whatever was thrown in their way. I think the author could have made it more exciting by having a bit more variation in how the crew and heist was impacted by interferences. As far as character development, it was a mixed bag. I enjoyed the forays into each characters' past that made up the bulk of the middle of the book, but even with these descriptions I didn't feel like I knew the characters and their backgrounds enough to make me feel anything for their relationship conflicts and "betrayal" decisions. Also, the romance was severely lacking on all fronts except the Nina/Matthias one. I think I was queer-baited, as a lot of people promised a queer romance and we barely got anything from Wyatt and Jesper until the very end. I get that this is a duology, though, so perhaps more of the second book will be dedicated to relationships? Although, I'm bit exactly jumping up to go buy the second book, as I was severely unimpressed with this first installment. I'm torn between a 2 and 3 star rating for this one, but ultimately went with 3 thanks to the authors dedication to detail and description of setting/scenery. 

An overall enjoyable read! Törzs kept me engaged and guessing to the very end. I would have liked more resolution in the Pearl/Esther relationship, being that it was the only queer rep in the book, but the dynamics we got early in the story were nice at least. I think the concept of magic in this book was very well thought-out, but I was a little confused on the whole

"Richard's bloodline of Scribes spell

thing. But the tie ins to Esther/Johanna's lives and Nicholas' life were planned out and fit nicely together. I liked the author's use of dramatic irony, particularly in relation to

Esther's status as a Scribe.

All in all, this was a great debut fantasy novel and I'll definitely be reading more of Törzs' work!

The final installment of The Hunger Games series was similar to the first book in that it was quite average. I remember reading this book when I was younger and thinking Katniss was really whiney, and this still stands true after my re-read as an adult. My perspectives shifted a little bit and I think I have a bit more sympathy for her now than I did as a teen, but I still felt let down by all Katniss amounts to be in the final book. On the surface, I get what Collins was trying to do: the symbolism of Katniss moving from a tribute in Snow's games to the figurehead of the war is not lost on me. However, for all that Katniss is made out to be as the narrator of these books, I felt like Collins could have given her more credit for her own actions and decisions in the books. As a figurehead, I kept expecting Katniss to do something that would reveal the similarities between Snow and Coin to the masses, thus turning the rebels against both presidents and leaving everyone to rally with Katniss and Peeta and Haymitch for something more just than either Coin or Snow's regimes. Also, I felt like everything with Peeta in this book was just lazy writing. Collins didn't want to have to develop the love triangle while also writing about the war, so she just tossed Peeta to the Capitol and then made him insane when he was rescued. Also, the rescue mission?? So glossed over, should have been a much bigger plot point. And finally, sending Peeta into the Capitol fighting on Katniss' squad didn't really make any sense, even if the goal was to get Peeta to kill Katniss for Coin. Like, why would someone in his condition even get sent to war at all in the first place? I think there should have been some other secret plot if Coin really wanted to kill Katniss because sending Peeta didn't make any sense from any strategy perspective. 

This was my favorite installment of the Hunger Games trilogy. When reading, I was surprised that the actual Games only made up the last third or so of the book - I had forgotten that there was such extensive discussion of the victory tour and events leading up to the next Games in the early parts of the novel. I feel that Collins did a great job balancing the action and character development in this book, unlike in the other two books in this series. We really got to see multiple sides of Katniss, from her fake in love with Peeta girlish persona to her fiercely protective of Gale to her stubbornness and anger when she realizes she's always just been a piece in everyone else's Games. Some characters did not get the same level of attention from the author when it came to character development, and I found myself wanting more discussion of the relationship between Haymitch and Katniss, as I think he is somewhat of a father figure to her, but in an "I hate that I love him" kind of way. I think Collins could have spent more time digging out their relationship and how they play off of each other in both good and bad ways. I also think, on this re-read and knowing how the story comes to an end, I picked up on a lot more foreshadowing than I would have if I didn't know the general storyline. For this reason, I was really able to appreciate some of the more intricate details and foreshadowing that Collins played with leading up to the Games. Overall, I really liked this book compared to the other ones in the series, but there was definitely room for improvement in writing style and relationship development.