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bxnny'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Rape, Dementia, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Medical content, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
i can't even say it was interesting because i was often bored. it was undeniably disturbing, but that alone doesn't make for a good read. it often read like, "they did this. then they did this. this is what they did." the writing fell so flat that i didn't highlight a single passage. and maybe it went over my head but i couldn't extract any meaning from it, either. after reading others' reviews, none of the mentioned themes held any weight for me, except for patriarchy. just an unpleasant, unenlightening slog. it earned one star because the first part of the three was my favorite, and at least i can say i have a favorite, even though i wouldn't say it was good.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Blood
Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Gore, Abandonment, and Body shaming
Minor: Ableism, Dementia, Alcohol, and Cursing
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
iseefirede's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
The second part I feel had the best imagery. The artist was focused on his work and I liked how it intertwined with the story.
The third part was...strange.
I had a personal connection with the main character as I'm vegetarian as well. However, there was a lot more going on with the main character. Definitely an eating disorder and probably psychosis. It's not really made clear.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Mental illness, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Bullying, Grief, Misogyny, and Self harm
Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Dementia, Rape, Blood, and Domestic abuse
megselyane'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
4.75
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Rape, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Animal death, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Eating disorder
Moderate: Self harm, Sexual content, Infidelity, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Dementia, and Body shaming
jamesdavid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Blood, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dementia, Eating disorder, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Ableism, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
aelunny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Very, very well written and this was an excellent translation. It's truly one of those novels thats also a work of art. That being said, the content of this book is most accurately described as disturbing. I have so so so many thoughts and I feel like I need to write an essay about this book, but the number one theme that I keep coming back to to is the objectification of women. Our protagonist (Yeong-hye) is viewed by a different person in each of the three parts and is reduced to a role in each of them. I also think a lot of people are saying her actions in the book are to enact agency on her life, but I think that by viewing it this way we are also objectifying her as a character in a book. The fact we never see the story told from Yeong-hye's perspective and our narrators never have a real conversation trying to understand what is going on in her head, makes me believe we cannot presume what her motivations are.
Please read all content warnings, as a lot of the depictions are really graphic.
Graphic: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Body horror, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Rape, Blood, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Abandonment and Dementia
samarakroeger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Dementia, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
feranmi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Blood, Self harm, Rape, Animal cruelty, Dementia, Vomit, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, and Body shaming
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Sexual violence
Minor: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, and Infidelity
ichthusangel'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
- The first part is written in Yeonghye’s husband, Mr. Cheong’s POV who married her because it was easy, not requiring much energy to keep their relationship is outraged when he finds his wife starts throwing away all the meat and is informed she threw away eggs and is giving up on milk as well.
“Try to push past but the meat, there’s no end to the meat, and no exit. Blood in my mouth, blood-soaked clothes sucked onto my skin.”
“But the fear. My clothes still wet with blood. Hide, hide behind the trees. Crouch down, don’t let anybody see. My bloody hands. My bloody mouth. In that barn, what had I done? Pushed that red raw mass into my mouth, felt it squish against my gums, the roof of my mouth, slick with crimson blood.”
Koreans predominantly follow a non vegetarian diet. Almost every dish is a preparation of meat, or requires eggs etc., in such a society, becoming a vegetarian isn’t considered normal. She becomes a burden in gatherings, especially as she refuses to wear bra, follow pleasantries, bringing her husband immense shame while she stays unperturbed. Her parents are, similarly, disturbed with her giving up meat (and it takes an ugly turn which although, would be expected by anyone who lives in a similar society, still shocks).
“A bird, which had been crushed in her grip, tumbled to the bench. It was a small white-eye bird, with feathers missing here and there.”
- The second novella, Mongolian Mark is from third POV, focusing on the protagonist’s brother in law and the protagonist herself. A video artist, Inhye’s husband craves understanding as he plunges into an artists’s block, desperately searching for people who have similar vision as he has.
- The third novella, Flaming Trees, also written in third POV, focuses on Yeonghye and Inhye as Yeonghye spends her days in psychiatric care while we’re introduced to Inhye’s trauma and insecurities in form of what ifs.
The most mystical, deeply thoughtful, emotionally reflective novella, this part explores different perspectives and Inhye almost descending to her own world like her sister who’s now diagnosed as schizophrenic, but we also find how Inhye feels like she was never a part of the world, never having lived.
“The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure. She had believed in her own inherent goodness, her humanity, and lived accordingly, never causing anyone harm. Her devotion to doing things the right way had been unflagging, all her success had depended on it, and she would have gone on like that indefinitely. She didn’t understand why, but faced with those decaying buildings and straggling grasses, she was nothing but a child who had never lived.”
“Why, is it such a bad thing to die?”
This part reminded me of Girl in White Cotton (Burnt Sugar) by Avni Doshi which is a book I absolutely loved.
[This book has affected me like no other has in any recent time. Would definitely read again, together with The Metamorphosis and Girl in White Cotton.]
Graphic: Dementia, Dysphoria, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, and Terminal illness