Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung

23 reviews

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

The translation from Korean to English is a bit off at times. However, that does not dim the bizarre beauty of this collection. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Pregnancy, Blood, Gore, Ableism, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, Sexism, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Gaslighting, Bullying, Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Stalking, and Suicide

Be aware that there is characters slowly dying, hunger, starvation, c-sections, blood clots, mob violence, financial struggles, mentions of Nazism, and destruction of cities and families.

akj_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

"Parents who destroy their children's lives, who suck the life out of their children's futures, not only for the sake of maintaining their own illusions but also to zealously expand them into the lives of their children - such parents can almost be understood from the perspective of obsession. Following the words 'Be grateful I raised you' is the implied clause 'instead of killing you or leaving you for dead.' They probably mean it, too." ("Reunion")
 
Story Ratings:
1. "The Head" 5/5 stars⭐️
 2. "The Embodiment" 5/5 stars⭐️
 3. "Cursed Bunny" 5/5 stars⭐️
 4. "The Frozen Finger" 3/5 stars⭐️
 5. "Snare" 4/5 stars⭐️
 6. "Goodbye, My Love" 4/5 stars⭐️
 7. "Scars" 5/5 stars⭐️
 8. "Home Sweet Home" 5/5 stars⭐️
 9. "Ruler of the Winds and Sands" 5/5 stars⭐️
 10. "Reunion" 5/5 stars⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

niamphoone's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Miscarriage, Gore, Grief, Child death, Blood, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Car accident, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Medical content, and Self harm

sauvageloup's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I whistled through these very disturbing little stories. 

pros:
- they're definitely gripping, and the writing style is sparse but clear and evocative, with the descriptions being vivid.
- the stories felt self contained and satisfying overall, even as many ended in tragedy.
- the last book of short stories I read, i struggled to jump from one story to another, maybe because they were so different and by different people. this one wasnt like that at all, and i had no problem reading straight through, pretty much.
- i liked the variety in length and themes of the stories, from birth horror, to supernatural, to fantasy fairy tale and modern criticisms on feminism and capitalism. i think i mainly read very on the surface and didnt look hard at metaphors and such, a reread might help me see this more.
- I liked the sheer imagination though and how Chung makes you care for characters who often arent even given a name.

cons: 
- the first two stories especially, but a lot of them overall, were pretty horrible and graphic. they did their job in making you feel things! but it reminded me too much of just horrible nightmares and intrusive thoughts and I wouldnt read those two again.
- I also felt there was generally a lack of hope in the stories, but that's personal taste I guess.

overall, well written and gripping but too horror for me and dont think I'll seek out more of her work, but I might reread this in time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infertility, Car accident, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child death, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Bullying, Medical trauma, Sexism, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Torture, Pregnancy, Body horror, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

sneakysophster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Weird, violent, gross, fairy-tale-esque, existential representations of the patriarchy, relationships with parents, capitalism, and greed. One of my favorite short story collections probably ever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Mental illness, Car accident, Gore, Incest, Suicide, Rape, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Body horror, Excrement, Pregnancy, Ableism, Murder, Misogyny, and Child abuse

rlhreads's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

A hard to read boot at times - definitely one of the most messed up books I’ve ever read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Abandonment, Mental illness, Death, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Rape, Slavery, Cannibalism, Child death, Blood, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Murder, Animal death, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Vomit

maggieoc_x's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Excrement

cocopeia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death of parent, Mental illness, Blood, Animal death, Grief, Incest, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Suicide attempt

dandelionsanddragons's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

this book was amazing and a few of these stories will definitely stay with me for a long time

the head: 5/5 haunting. amazing.

the embodiment: 5/5 body horror, so creepy 

cursed bunny: 4.5/5 great story about capitalism

the frozen finger: 3/5 harder to understand but atmosphere is great

snare: 4.5/5 like a fairytale

goodbye, my love: 4/5 most realistic one 

scars: 2.5/5 dragged out too much 

home sweet home: 4/5 quite realistic and eerie

ruler of the winds and sands: 3.5/5 felt like something was missing, but read like a fairytale 

reunion: 4.5/5 heartbreaking

“no one asked us, when we were still nameless
whether we wanted to live or not 
now i wander the big city alone
looking in doors and windows 
waiting and waiting for something…”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, Incest, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Suicide, Vomit, Car accident, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Self harm, Trafficking, and Murder

zahliajayne's review

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Vomit, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Suicide attempt