Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

I found this book to be a really good depiction of the rampant and pervasive sexism in everyday life and actions that women have to put up with, deal with and make excuses for. It was really well done and as a compliment to the book and meant in the best possible way the word I can beat use for describing this book is demoralizing.

Possible spoiler:
The ending was absolutely heart wrenching and did and excellent job of amplifying the message of the book.

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kallsypage's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

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juli100101's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad fast-paced

4.75

200 Seiten über Alltagssexismus in Korea - hat mich wütend und traurig gemacht, aber sollte jeder lesen.

"Ich habe doch dein Geld nicht geklaut. Ich habe ein Kind geboren, unter Schmerzen, und wäre beinahe daran gestorben. Ich habe auf mein Leben, meine Träume, meine Zukunft, ja mein ganzes Selbst verzichtet, um das Kind zu erziehen. Und dann bin ich plötzlich Ungeziefer. Was soll ich denn jetzt machen?"

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leonorb's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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kaneebli's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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scifi_rat's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

Plot: 4.5★
Prose: 4.5★
Pace: 5★
Concept/Execution: 5★/5★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 4.75★
Ending: 5★

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

quick and effective.
kim jiyoung, born 1982 was informative, fiercely feminist and still managed to be greatly entertaining.

one learns quite a few things about korea and its past regarding misogynistic laws and the rather sexist society in general.
the book talks about kim jiyoung's (and also some of the other women in her life) experience as a woman—getting victim-blamed for sexual harassment, being expected to do most, if not all, domestic and parental chores, being expected to give up her career for the "greater good" (i.e. family), and being overlooked at the workplace, to name a few.

great execution on the social commentary—the overall critique wasn't subtle, but kim jiyoung's rage and descent into madness and depression was. adequate.

now, the fact the feminist commentary was so on the nose and the writing style a little choppy (perhaps à cause de translation) made kim jiyoung and her story seem a little caricaturistic, which isn't a bad thing inherently, but it took away some of the realism and relatability—at least for me.

but other than that, great read. can't wait to re-read and properly annotate it some day.

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aude's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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