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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
Wrote a whole ass thorough review about this book and it got deleted so im just gonna say the last story did it for me and i shall never recover. Other than that, some stories were alright, some were amazing, and the one about the head scarred me for life.
medium-paced
Just fine… some stories too long… some really good… i will probably never think about this again
Right... Well...
I'm going to rate each short story and give some thoughts on them and then my overall thoughts at the end.
The Head ⭐ - If this was supposed to be some deep commentary on women aging and their role in society then it could have been done a better way. This story was unnecessarily gross.
The Embodiment ⭐⭐ - Only slightly better than the first story. Again, a heavy-handed commentary on women and their bodies. I was hoping this one was satirical because it has big 'women written by men' vibes
Cursed Bunny ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - One of the few stories I actually enjoyed. Has more of a fairytale vibe, and it was quite a fun wee read. I don't think it did anything new or spectacular but it was a nice change to the first two stories (and probably why I enjoyed it so much).
The Frozen Finger ⭐ - Pointless, read like a TLDR of a Twilight Zone episode and had little substance.
Snare ⭐⭐⭐ - Another one that read like a fairytale or fable. Had some cringy moments but overall was an okay story. Warning for sibling incest in this story as well!
Goodbye, My Love ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - By far my FAVOURITE story out of the collection. Would love this expanded into a larger story. Bora Chung writes sci-fi very well!
Scars ⭐ - I hated this lol It was way too long and rather pointless? The resolution to the struggle is almost a blink and you miss it moment. Disappointing after making us slog through all of the build up. Hate.
Home Sweet Home ⭐⭐⭐ - Meh, it was fine? I would have rather it focused on the child more? It was the one story that had me surprised by the ghost twist but only because I hadn't considered it haha.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands ⭐⭐ - Nothing of note happens here either. It's fine but it's also very predictable and the characters are very one-note. TBH I think it suffers more for being so short, might read better as a fully realised / fleshed out story.
Reunion ⭐ - Soooo boring. I struggled to really care about this story and found myself tempted to skim read the last ten pages just to be done. Was it written just so the author could flex her knowledge of Polish? lol
Overall, a lot of misses and too few hits in this collection for me. I had heard a lot of hype for this book and had always wanted to pick it up. Thankfully it was so short and didn't waste too much of my time (but did waste £5 of my bestie's money, sorry Clare). It leaned a lot on absurdist / surrealist themes and a lot of the time it felt like the author was using tropes or including plot elements just for the shock factor. It rarely paid off in my opinion.
I do think the author has a nice writing style and I think if she wrote a full sci-fi novel, I'd be interested in checking it out.
Average star rating is 2.3 so I'm rating this a 2 star overall.
I'm going to rate each short story and give some thoughts on them and then my overall thoughts at the end.
The Head ⭐ - If this was supposed to be some deep commentary on women aging and their role in society then it could have been done a better way. This story was unnecessarily gross.
The Embodiment ⭐⭐ - Only slightly better than the first story. Again, a heavy-handed commentary on women and their bodies. I was hoping this one was satirical because it has big 'women written by men' vibes
Cursed Bunny ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - One of the few stories I actually enjoyed. Has more of a fairytale vibe, and it was quite a fun wee read. I don't think it did anything new or spectacular but it was a nice change to the first two stories (and probably why I enjoyed it so much).
The Frozen Finger ⭐ - Pointless, read like a TLDR of a Twilight Zone episode and had little substance.
Snare ⭐⭐⭐ - Another one that read like a fairytale or fable. Had some cringy moments but overall was an okay story. Warning for sibling incest in this story as well!
Goodbye, My Love ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - By far my FAVOURITE story out of the collection. Would love this expanded into a larger story. Bora Chung writes sci-fi very well!
Scars ⭐ - I hated this lol It was way too long and rather pointless? The resolution to the struggle is almost a blink and you miss it moment. Disappointing after making us slog through all of the build up. Hate.
Home Sweet Home ⭐⭐⭐ - Meh, it was fine? I would have rather it focused on the child more? It was the one story that had me surprised by the ghost twist but only because I hadn't considered it haha.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands ⭐⭐ - Nothing of note happens here either. It's fine but it's also very predictable and the characters are very one-note. TBH I think it suffers more for being so short, might read better as a fully realised / fleshed out story.
Reunion ⭐ - Soooo boring. I struggled to really care about this story and found myself tempted to skim read the last ten pages just to be done. Was it written just so the author could flex her knowledge of Polish? lol
Overall, a lot of misses and too few hits in this collection for me. I had heard a lot of hype for this book and had always wanted to pick it up. Thankfully it was so short and didn't waste too much of my time (but did waste £5 of my bestie's money, sorry Clare). It leaned a lot on absurdist / surrealist themes and a lot of the time it felt like the author was using tropes or including plot elements just for the shock factor. It rarely paid off in my opinion.
I do think the author has a nice writing style and I think if she wrote a full sci-fi novel, I'd be interested in checking it out.
Average star rating is 2.3 so I'm rating this a 2 star overall.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
the reason i picked up this book - like many that i do - is that i read the first page and groaned in disgust. having evoked such a reaction from me, i thought it only fair i bought it.
some stories i really like; disgusted by them, but really liked regardless. i'm sure a lot of these have deeper meanings than what i could conjure because i'm really not that literary, but i think my favourite was ruler of the winds and sands. partially recency bias, but also i just like a fairly happy ending. a lot of these do not end happy at all. a great introduction into korean horror, nonetheless.
some stories i really like; disgusted by them, but really liked regardless. i'm sure a lot of these have deeper meanings than what i could conjure because i'm really not that literary, but i think my favourite was ruler of the winds and sands. partially recency bias, but also i just like a fairly happy ending. a lot of these do not end happy at all. a great introduction into korean horror, nonetheless.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated