Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

La vegetariana by Han Kang

145 reviews

frenchvanillapowdercreamer's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

The Vegetarian is so compelling. It uses the unusual but very appropriate lense of vegetarianism to explore a wealth of other topics, from sexual violence to self-harm to familial abuse. I will have to reread it again at some point, as I definitely did not pick up all its nuances the first time around - it may be short, but it's dense. It is told in three parts, each from a different perspective, and I haven't decided how I feel about the tri-point-of-view yet, which is just about the only thing keeping me from giving it a full 5 stars. Regardless, it is haunting, and my brain will keep wandering back to it, for sure.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Physical abuse, and Vomit

renegadegrocerycart's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Challenging and darkly fascinating exploration of obsession, bodily purity, mental illness, and societal control. It’s very difficult to read, but worth it, I think.

Yeong-hye is reminiscent of Anna of The Wonder by Emma Donoghue in her obsession to purify her body in response to trauma; it’s interesting to read them side-by-side. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

All of the aforementioned trigger warnings are integral to the story. If you are sensitive to any of them, consider taking a pass on this story.

cat_d's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, and Infidelity

pupaebug's review against another edition

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

2.0

wasn't a big fan of this one. felt like a glorification of eating disorders and was too slow paced to be enjoyable to read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Body horror, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

baileyt2424'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Blood, Vomit, and Medical content

cordeliamartin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Dysphoria

bugfriend's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement and Alcohol

dizzyinsane's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

this book was very strange and often times hard to read. it’s split into three parts that are from 3 different perspectives of correlating characters. The first part was dark and very fast paced. The second part was incredibly hard to read because it was so uncomfortable and was like a medium pace. The third part was the slowest pace but still very good. This book was so well written and intriguing. I would recommend it to anyone who likes psychological horror with heavy character development. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Suicide attempt