I've loved many of Lisa See's previous books, but The Island of Sea Women felt different to me. While I enjoyed reading about a different culture- the haenyeo women of Jeju- I felt that there was no emotional connection between the characters. It was like I was supposed to care about the protagonist and her family, but I didn't.

I loved the careful attention to detail, especially about the matrilineal society. As a western reader, I don't often come across accounts of matrilineal societies. The haenyeo culture in The Island of Sea Women presents men as the sentimental, dreamy ones, with women as the loud, hard workers.

While not See's most emotive or character driven work, I still enjoyed reading this book for the careful research.