Andrew

DNF

I came into this book having watched the Apple TV show, and shockingly, I have to say that the TV show was so much better than the book. So much changed from the TV show to the book, including changing the gender of the MC, a man in the book but a woman in the TV series. Having watched that previously my expectations were set really high and coming in and reading the book and having it be an almost different story, that felt like it was missing so much, made me not enjoy the book at all. It felt underdeveloped and just not fleshed out with flat characters and a boring plot. I only got 50 pages in but at that point the whole motive and plot to the story line was that there was political tension with neighboring planets and they were trying to create an encyclopedia that could decrease the amount of time the empire would spend in a dark period. Overall not very exciting.

At this point I was basically forcing myself to read the book and making very slow progress, and while I really try to never leave a book unfinished, lately I've been going through some major book slumps so I decided to let this one go.

Wow. What a book.

The vibes in this book are immaculate. So creepy, so intriguing, and contains a sharp tension that permeates the whole novel. I was enraptured and kept on the edge of my seat the whole time, literally could not put the book down. This is the kind of book where everything is just so well construed and every detail matters. Every reveal in this book is impeccable. It continues to shock you even past when you think you have a handle on the story. I loved the prose as well, and the way I was easily able to connect to the main character. I quickly became invested in her story even if it wasn't the most relatable for me.

An easy five stars and I'm eager to continue with the rest of the series.

4.5

I absolutely adored this series as a kid and after watching the movie I was left feeling a little disappointed so I went to read the book. I don't really read middle-grade often anymore, and I think that slightly effected my mood while reading it. I just found it really hard to connect with any of the characters at all. While this is still a great read it just had a a few problems that kept sticking out to me. And while I know they fit in with the universe it still really bothered me. There somehow was a mix of woman empowerment and misogyny it in too. Half of the time I felt I was reading one or the other. Sometimes both at the same time. And also there was just to much of an emphasis on peoples looks and especially on being skinny. Especially on not eating to be skinny as well major red flag.

I loved Pachinko for many reasons. I felt the book was strongly written and while it often got depressing, it provided a sense of realness that soothed the harsher edges. And while upsetting, I enjoyed reading the historical look into the lives of Koreans in Japan and the discrimination they faced there. There were also many strong themes throughout the book that elevated the read and caused me to often think deeply. Tackling issues such as mental health, regret, and shame, this book became more than just your typical generational novel.

However, I had one main issue with Pachinko. As a generational novel this book contained many characters, and while not hard to follow, I found the constant switching around caused a lack of emotional connection. This novel moves swiftly, and I often felt that around the time I was finally getting a strong feel for a character the POV would switch. I found myself often wishing for deep dives into certain characters, only to instead be getting whisked around from character to character. This often meant I wasn't connecting to the characters emotionally, which usually left me feeling distant from the novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was well written, and I loved reading about the history of Koreans in Japan. A personal highlight for me was reading about Korean dishes throughout the novel which always left me hungry.