Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

La vegetariana by Han Kang

167 reviews

a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Vomit

heycloehere's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

hannaheinhorn's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

because many people with mental health are already silenced when telling their own stories, this book rubbed me the WRONG way. i disliked the author’s choice to describe various violent instances (specifically the multiple rapes) by gratuitously showing it through the brother-in-law’s perspective and the husband’s perspective. i’ve read far grimmer stories but this one grossed me out, especially because of the pedophilic overtones when describing yeong-hye’s emaciated body. i feel like the author did exactly what she was trying to critique, which is ridiculous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Pedophilia, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

dawntin's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

What a dark and devastating book! I read this for a class, and was told it would go well with the ecofeminist analysis of literature. It did, though definitely not in the way I thought things would go. Some of the story was definitely lost in translation but I still thought it was okay. The plot was a bit hard to get through at times because of how violent it was: full of family/marriage issues, mental illnesses, and trauma. The narrator changing with each section of the book was interesting, but I did not like

the main character’s husband or her sister’s husband’s perspectives

at all. The drama that unfolded was like a wreck I couldn’t stop looking at. The narrator was never who I wanted to hear from (Yeong-hye gets her small snippets in the form of dreams, but nothing else). I guess that was a part of the book’s main point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Child abuse

anenome's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

benthewriter's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt

leic01's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

saturnsaz's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Quite unsettling but also poetic. There were a few times where I had visceral reactions of disgust. I dont know how to feel right now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Violence and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mbhcad's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I’m not entirely sure what this novel is about, but that doesn’t stop it from being gripping the entire way through. Han Kang creates a subject whose very existence upends the lives of those around her, laying out like spilt entrails the inescapable violence of patriarchy. Yeong-hye, the titular housewife-turned-vegetarian, is constantly manipulated and violated by the men around her who have decided her expression of autonomy is an unbearable offense. A spectacularly written read that left me feeling hollow, but not in a bad way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail