Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan

2 reviews

rachelmaria's review

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

3.5

A great plot and very colorful characters that I really enjoyed reading about. Good pace, really great story telling with a strong sense of humor. However, the descriptions of women's bodies in this book serve as a constant reminder that this book is written by a man. Lots of casual mysogeny "people were impressed by her unwomanly capacity to boldly persue new opportunities" and there is very casual reference to rape throughout. 
I would score the first half of the book 4* and the second half 2*, as my interest started to dwindle the more cruel and capatalist Geumbok became, but then ended strong as my heart broke for Chunhui.
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purplemuskogee's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I have really struggled to finish this one. It's written like a tale with many short chapters focusing on different generations of women in a family - the "old crone", the daughter with the magical scent, the daughter who is a giant... I found it well written, the translation is very smooth, but the content was incredibly disturbing and seemed gratuitous at times. There is a rape at every page or almost, murders, sexual assault of vulnerable people, and I am still not sure wbere the book was going. I found the writing interesting and the format original but it wasn't for me.

FREE ARC sent by Netgalley 
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