Could have been better

I really enjoyed the first portion of this book, it was interesting and once I realised it branched out to other characters from other generations, I enjoyed becoming invested in their stories. But this book sometimes glossed over important character's plots, I actually thought I'd accidentally skipped ahead at one point because the time jump was so long. Also when something dramatic did happen, sometimes I felt I wasn't given time to digest it, again it was just brushed aside.

The book is read well, but I don't think Hiroto is suited to this book in particular, but that's because the recording quality made it difficult for me to understand what was being said, and the gentleness of her voice was a bad contrast when there were quite graphic sex scenes. Some of them were okay, most of them were unnecessary. You'd be in a normal scene and then suddenly there would be graphic descriptions of people's bodies. It was really jarring.

It took me a year to finish this book. I'm glad I did, and I enjoyed some of it, but I couldn't recommend it to anyone.

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8 people found this helpful

amazing

it was one of the best in every possible sense. story, performance. I was hooked.

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Great book

Great book, great voice narrator. Highly recommended for anyone who wants an insight into the complexities of being an “other” in any society.

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A brilliant listen

A book that you resist to put down. Finished it in a week during housework.

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Mesmerising

I was really pulled into this saga. Multigenerational and filled with memorable characters. I was unaware of the nature of the relationship between Japan and Korea and the historical basis proved a compelling backdrop as it shaped events and the characters. Well narrated and fascinating.

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beautiful book

I really enjoyed this book, it's a beautiful story spanning a few generations.
the narrative is great

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Very good full of feelings

I really enjoyed this book and learnt a lot about the relationship of Japanese and Koreans, the sense of pride, respect and feelings. Very sad parts and the end very calmed.

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Narrator could have done with a bit of googling

Listened to it half way but think I will read it myself instead because the narrator mispronounces a lot of the Korean words written in the book. Kind of annoying to listen to really. The least she could have done is google how to pronounce it before narrating them but no she just blatantly mispronounces it. So annoying to listen to. Otherwise, the story is great. So far.

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Very eye opening!

I didn’t even know that the Korean people had such a hard time in Japan, even though this is just a story about ONE family and their journey, it was so interesting to hear all about the cultures of the each place and how they intermingled and the struggles the people were going through alongside the war, I also cried at the end and I don’t even know why, something about these characters clearly made a deeper impression than I realised! I’d definitely recommend it, it’s an easy read and the characters are very relatable and the history and culture is really interesting and worth hearing!

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Long but Compelling

I cared for the characters and learned a lot listening to this book. Well narrated.

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5 people found this helpful