Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan

22 reviews

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

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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

cryskim's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Murder, Child abuse, Incest, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Body shaming, and Abandonment

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Grief, Misogyny, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Child abuse, Colonisation, Mental illness, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Torture, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

jayisreading's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

4.75

First and foremost, I cannot emphasize enough that you should look at the content warnings for this book. Whale is a brutal and violent journey, and I can see why it has the reading community so divided in opinion. I was very skeptical when I was making my way through Part I. However, once I reached Part II, things really started to click and I realized what Cheon was trying to do.

Whale will make a lot more sense if you’re familiar with modern (South) Korean history. It will be a startlingly thought-provoking read as Cheon explores this history with incredible depth through his themes and characters as allegories of the brutality and violence that South Koreans have faced throughout the twentieth century. I can see why Cheon deliberately chose women as his protagonists, though I fully recognize the discomforts that come with a male writer putting female characters in horrific situations. It’s complicated, to say the least, and I’m still trying to process how I feel about all of this.

This probably isn’t the most insightful reflection, but it’s mostly because I need to sit with this book a bit longer. I will say, though, that this is the first time that I felt Cheon did wonders in addressing han throughout Whale. (I realize han is a disputed concept, with South Koreans not really thinking much of it while the Korean diaspora have made it a large part of their identity. I think it’s something well worth considering in Whale, though, when you historically contextualize it.)

I think this is one of those books that will have polarizing opinions. You’ll either find it repulsive, but others will find it brilliant. I happen to fall in the latter category, but it definitely comes with complicated feelings about the delivery.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Body shaming, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Police brutality, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Torture, War, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Self harm

ptibouh's review

adventurous challenging dark fast-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Body horror, and Sexual assault

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.

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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

krista_lm's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia and Sexism

ddnreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This book revolved around a family and their detailed lifestyle, adventures, and misfortunes. At first, we met the girl Chunhui, known as the queen of red brick. However, this book will take us back to people who live long before Chunhui, and the history of Chunhui mother herself, geumbok.

This book remind me a lot with Beauty is Wound by Eka Kurniawan. 

For me, the storytelling and pace is not my favourite. I'm just not patient enough and I found myself struggled to finish this book. It stretches going back and forth from the past to present.

Character wise, I have this love hate relationship with geumbok. For a woman in that time to be able to do what she did is an applause. However, there were questionable decisions of her that made me go 🤧.
The accountability for the characters' action is concerning. It threw so effortlessly rape and SA. I found it uncomfortable and disturbing. It might be common for the setting based on the time and place the book is in, but it doesn't make it bearable to read. 

If you love speculative fiction, magical realism combined with historical trivias, this book is perfect for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Torture

nini23's review against another edition

I intensely disliked this, how the hell did this misogynistic crap get long-listed for the International Booker?  This is a re-translation to boot, they found this worth translating twice?  Why not translate more of Park Wan-Suh's works instead?
Thanks to publisher for ARC.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

clemist's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Magical realism good. Excessive sexual assault bad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Violence