Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan

10 reviews

rabzia_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Child death, Blood, Grief, Infidelity, Animal cruelty, Classism, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Murder

nerwenie's review

fast-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? It's complicated

2.0

The more I read the more I lowered the rating which is a shame as it is well written. It feels like the author put anything that crossed his mind when he was writing. This book is full of sexism, rape, lots of description of women’s bodies, saying that when you get close to your 30s your youth and prime has passed and you are basically already old. 
I finished it completely but it wasn’t what I was expecting at all for a “bestseller and masterpiece in the Korean literature “.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Child death, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Infidelity, Death, and Abandonment

mxjacknelson's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Death of parent, Rape, Child death, and Animal death

violentcello's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Animal cruelty

christy_lorraine's review against another edition

dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Torture, Rape, Death, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, and Murder

Minor: Suicide, Child death, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Incest, Pedophilia, Self harm, Pregnancy, Animal death, Confinement, and Alcoholism

nixxer's review

dark mysterious sad

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, and Violence

lovleephtogrl's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity

Minor: Car accident, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Child death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Death

kyleyraemccoy's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Murder, Abandonment, Child abuse, Sexism, Torture, Child death, Classism, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

vb_marie's review

dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

2.5

This book is unratable... I both loved and hated it. It's creative, gripping, and thought-provoking. It is also very provocative and crude, which isn't my fave. If you like Kurt Vonnegut, you might like this book. I especially recommend reading it in the view of analyzing it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Rape, Torture, Suicide, Death, Confinement, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, Bullying, and Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Abandonment, Car accident, Excrement, Animal death, Gore, Sexual content, and Violence

paulap's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

3.0

This book was a ride. It mainly focuses on two women, Geumbok is the mother and Chunhui is the daughter. We follow first the mothers story from running away from her town to establishing herself as a business woman. Then, we follow Chunhui, growing up being different and learning the family business of making bricks, up to her last days. It also has glimpses on how the Korean society was changing throughout all this time.

This book also makes a commentary about misogyny by exaggerating and almost twisting it to a point in which it almost felt non-sensical. I am not sure how successful it was at that, although I fond some of the commentary quite poignant. Other times, it was just too brutal to a point in which it was not furthering anything and I wanted to stop reading.

In terms of the writing style, it feels very whimsical and detached. We do not get to know the thoughts of the characters in detail (I think intentionally), and therefore the book does not try to make an emotional connection with the reader by sharing feelings and thoughts. There is a lot of foreshadowing throughout the book as well, which sometimes worked but sometimes didn't. There is also touches of magical realism, which increase the feeling that it almost reads like a fairy tale. And mostly, the book was violent and brutal from beginning to end, so if that is not your thing, maybe stay away from it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Death, Child death, Violence, Animal death, and Rape