Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Book Review

Is that snow, Hannah? Why yes, yes it is. I was supposed to read this book ages ago, as evidenced by the photo. I was recently convinced by some bookstagram friends to take this one off my TBR and do a buddy read with them and I’m so glad I did!

Pachinko is a multi-generational saga that tells the story of a Korean family living in Japan. The book begins in the early 1900s during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Sunja is a teenager who becomes impregnated by a wealthy older man. After discovering that her baby daddy has a wife and family, Sunja rejects a life with him and instead marries another and together they move to Japan. From there, we watch Sunja’s children and grandchildren grow up amidst a constantly changing landscape and struggle to find their place despite the inherent racism they face as Koreans living in Japan.

While the story felt a bit slow to me for the first 100 or so pages, the second half of the book was very engaging. I also feel like I learned a TON about the complicated history between the Koreans and the Japanese.

Apparently the author spent 30 years working on this story. She interviewed countless individuals in the Korean Japanese community in order to accurately depict the lives of ordinary Koreans who faced both ethnic and religious persecution during the occupation and subsequent communist takeover of their homeland.

If you’re looking for a fascinating character-driven story that will also teach you quite a bit about history, I would highly recommend this one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

What’s a historical fiction book that you found particularly educational?