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gossameralbum's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
definitely check content warnings and do not take them lightly, as most of them are very graphic and haunting.
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Incest, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism
heddasch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Blood, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Sexism, Animal death, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Alcoholism, Dementia, and Mass/school shootings
maddamreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Part 1 The Vegetarian
Definitely a strong but strange opener, the choice to have the story be told primarily through the husbands thoughts is provoking. It touches on themes of duty and expectation for women while also having the reader question “what defines madness.”
Part 2 The Mongolian Mark
I hated this chapter so much I skimmed a bit. Talking about lust, need, and the romanticization of living and mental illness. I found the character to be deeply unsatisfactory and one-dimensional, even though it felt like the point was to make the audience empathize with him.
Part 3 Flaming Trees
A thorough, honest look at mental illness, how it affects one’s duties to others, and grief for someone still alive. It was very introspective, but it could have been way shorter with the flashbacks. The overall tone is melancholy and helpless-which is perfect. It did not make me turn pages the way the first chapter did.
Graphic: Blood, Eating disorder, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Blood, and Sexual violence
May be hard to read if previously suffered from depression and/or an eating disorder.birdafterdark's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Vomit
monserrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Body shaming, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism
emily_journals's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think the first segment of this book was my favorite, I enjoyed the commentary that the author was making about gender and family roles in Korea through the husband's perspective. I also enjoyed the snippets about Yeong-hye's dreams that were included in this segment, and I really wish this was continued throughout the rest of the book.
The second segment of the book is told from Yeong-hye's brother-in-law's perspective and this segment deals a lot with struggling with the failure to live up to expectations, and also with the exploiting and taking advantage of mental illness. This one was a bit weird to me, as the themes seemed to be working against the brother-in-law while the tone tried to make the audience empathize with him. I'm not sure if this tonal vs. theme discord was due to translation or if this was the way it was meant to be, but the discord was very off-putting and made me confused and unsure of what the author was trying to convey in this segment, so I didn't like this segment as much as the first.
The final segment of this book is told from Yeong-hye's sister's perspective and the main themes of this segment deal with the duties of those in proximity to mental illness and the grief of losing someone while they're still alive. The themes of this segment are probably the most interesting in the book, but the sister's voice and inner monologue are quite strange, which might be due to translation but I'm unsure. The way that she switches between different feelings and trains of thought quite suddenly detracted from the story for me and made it really difficult to immerse myself in this portion of the book.
Overall, I think the themes of this book were quite interesting, but I think either the author or the translation didn't have a clear vision of what voice they wanted to portray to the audience in the later two sections of the book. I also really missed Yeong-hye's short interjections in the later two sections that were present in the first section, I thought they added a lot to not only Yeong-hye's character but also to all the characters reacting to Yeong-hye in the first section.
Graphic: Vomit, Body horror, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Blood, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
wellreadsquid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Vomit, and Mental illness
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Blood, Body shaming, and Ableism
There is Marital Rape in this book so read with caution.thefearlessfrock's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
It's really heavy.kaiulanilee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Ableism
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis