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clovetra's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
oh jiwon…. i had such high hopes for you. were my expectations unrealistic? yeah probably. did i wish i loved this more? yeah.
did i still have a decent time? yeah!
this book is tagged as adult but reads sooooo much like a YA. which that’s fine! but then tag it that way so my expectations are changed. i was expecting something a bit more insane like maeve fly & instead i got she is a haunting. iykyk
the biggest issue of this book is the first half of this book. it wasn’t great. the first half almost acts like a set-up for all the plot in the second half, but instead it feels repetitive and lacking depth. like ok i get we need some time to give a shit about the characters, but when spending the first half developing characters and they still feel boring…. it’s not good. i only really enjoyed jiwon in the second half of the book. almost everyone else felt like a trope or very formulaic, and had one discernible trait. and the minute almost every character was introduced i could predict where the plot was going to take them.
this book also made several missteps in my opinion. first, giving jiwon a brain tumour was stupid. it felt like a hail mary. sure it made sense seeing as she was hallucinating, but it felt like it was almost completely random with no foreshadowing and rhyme or reason to it other than to get jiwon to still be in the hospital & get off scott free from george’s attempted murder. also, her relationship with alexis not going anywhere annoyed me. like seriously what was the point of having a subplot about their will-they-won’t they? the story doesn’t end in a way that has any pay off for this plot point, and instead it felt like it was wasted time that could’ve gone to fleshing out the horror elements earlier, or to explore more of jiwon’s family.
i will say though, i really liked the horror elements (once the book actually got to them). the descriptions of the eyes was sublime to read, and god at some points i almost felt a tad nauseous. i really think that point was well done.
i had such high hopes for this. i was really looking forward to this, and this was easily one of my most looked forward to reads of 2025. instead, i got served a big slice of disappointment pie :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Medical content, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Stalking, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Pedophilia
reveckd's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Actually incredible book. Couldn’t put it down! Like American Psycho but better lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Xenophobia
Minor: Alcoholism
falberrybots's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, and Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia
finnyboy's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i liked this! very viscerally icky body horror as well as the implicit horror of anti-asian racism & misogyny. the climax felt a little too perfectly wrapped up for me, but i enjoyed all the men i hated getting their comeuppance. the brain tumor twist was a little cliche, but i did feel like it worked with the level of psychosis the protagonist was experiencing. overall fun, not for the squeamish definitely!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Cannibalism
Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Stalking, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
wavymave's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Ji-won ate them all up. Men suck!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and Cannibalism
emilysshelf's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It was a short read that I took longer to read than I hoped for just because it overlapped with socializing on the holidays. I do appreciate feminine rage books and usually enjoy horror/gore, I was very excited for this one based on recommendations I'd gotten. Without spoilers here are some thoughts: I feel this had a slow beginning and I can see how people may be bored and DNF early on. There's nothing super compelling about the MC's narration or life. The MC wasn't anyone I particularly cared for and come to think of it I felt this way for many of the characters. I was mostly apathetic towards Jiwon, (which may have been intentional? Unsure, the author didn't have me often rooting for her despite the obvious reasoning for us to be on her side.) Jiwon just came off as an emotionally immature and kind of jealous, pretentious asshole, especially when viewing her friends and other relationships. A lot of this could've been avoided if she just went to therapy, I get that she was a child of immigrants and her parents obviously weren't going to go be proactive about getting help themselves but for Jiwon and her sister's sake she could've TRIED. There was a bit of victimization on her part despite her "learning" to not think of herself that way and not wanting to continue that cycle like other women in her life. I do wish there were more male figures in her life that didn't suck, this book felt randomly "anti-men" in a similar way to Chlorine by Jade Song. I almost feel that the abuse in her life didn't equate her reaction, which I guess is explained a little bit at the end but I still didn't feel things were justified. Perhaps Jiwon was just a tad of a psychopath at the core or maybe she was always going to slowly unravel this way, up to you to decide I guess. I wanted Jiwon's implied attraction for Alexis to be a bigger point, I wanted her to sit with the possibility of her being LGBT and that maybe impacting her choices as well. I think we barely touched this topic and there was so much potential for their relationship to shape Jiwon's actions. As for the horror elements I think imagery wasn't too graphic and the descent into madness could've been longer, or just better executed. It wasn't super scary at all, or gross at all really, pretty tame on the cannibalism trope unless you're squeamish or new to the genre. I do wish we had a less rushed ending but I understand that it's meant to leave things open ended. Hoping this is a standalone novel and no one requests a sequel, the open ending was a good way to leave things ambiguous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
lv_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Wow this book was wild. I wish the ending was a little longer (I feel like I always say this about books) but I was not expecting the end after the twist. I enjoyed it though! Like this authors style of writing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Sexual harassment
stonesq's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Murder
Minor: Mental illness and Racism
neesbookshelf's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Xenophobia and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Stalking and Toxic friendship
spacecadetlav's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was so incredible. I was hooked from the beginning and it did not let down once the horror kicked in. Every action felt purposeful in progressing the narrative of the state of this family.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Torture, Xenophobia, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Terminal illness