Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

8 reviews

isabellabruno's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Child abuse and Xenophobia

shannabanana6's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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

3.5

It started slow and was pretty tough to get into but once they introduced Oskar to the story I really enjoyed it, he was probably my favorite character honestly. It was hard to like any of the characters in the main family. There was also a lot of childhood and generational trauma to get through which didn't make getting into the book easier at all but it was written from an honest perspective.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Grief, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

cviii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief

5aru's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Racism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, War, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Miscarriage

voidboi's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Diving deep into Korean folklore, particle physics, intercultural adoption and immigration, and the merging of reality, mental illness, and the supernatural, Folklorn follows Elsa Park as she confronts her family's history, her identity, and most importantly, her complex relationship with her mother. The story manages to feel deeply true, connecting to the experience of questioning your world and yearning to understand your place in it, while still making the reader question what is real. 

Elsa begins in Antarctica, where a childhood imaginary friend/hallucination/

spirit of her mysterious lost sister

begins to visit her again, and Elsa hears news that brings her mother back into her life and her mind. Elsa is smart, abrasive, and somewhat neurotic, and the characters closest to her (her brother, father, and Oskar in particular) push each other into difficult and satisfying places, resulting in a rich emotional and relational environment which Elsa tries her best to support and escape in equal measure. The plot progresses mostly slowly, but erratically, as Elsa moves in the grey areas between logic, conjecture, and paranoia.

I loved this book. It aches with love, and fear, and anger. It longs for meaning in the unknowable, and rages against the fates prescribed to us by our cultures, families, and biologies. While there are mostly dissimilarities between my relationship with my mom and Elsa's with hers, I found that it captured the feeling of

posthumously

grappling with the entirety of your mother's humanness, everything she wants you to be, and everything that can't be between you. In the end, this story won't be for everyone, but it is raw and beautiful and weird, and I'm glad I read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Xenophobia

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual content

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative 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

3.5

3.5 ⭐s. I AM NOT SMART ENOUGH FOR THIS BOOK. Let's just get that out of the way up front. I genuinely didn't understand large chunks of this novel, even after reading them multiple times. However, something about it made me keep reading, and I ended up really enjoying the whole experience. I *think* I understand how everything wrapped up, but TBH I don't really care either way. I just loved being immersed in this topsy-turvy world of Korean folklore, mental illness, family drama, and generational trauma. Also, the bird got hit by a car and I totally called it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

hamohero's review against another edition

Not my cup of tea. Don't really care for the characters or romance. Narrator would go on tangents and there were dialogues that made me go "Who talks like this?" 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Violence, and Xenophobia

reviewsandreadathons's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Child death, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse