Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Human Acts by Han Kang

23 reviews

wong_jyi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It is stunning in its ability to weave the darkest and cruellest aspects of human nature with truth and brutal honesty, but also, with hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Genocide, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Grief, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Death, Sexual assault, Addiction, Body horror, Gun violence, Rape, Gore, War, Child death, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Suicide

lisvxdro's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

I was given this book by a coworker and a companion during my time in South Korea. On the surface level, I was a bit conflicted as I didn’t have enough information on the Gwangju Uprisings. But that’s the beauty of this book. Han Kang uses real-life stories and create a sort of nonfiction-esque novel where we learn about the issues of that time through the eyes of multiple characters. Each character, having some connection to the boy Dong-ho, adds to this sense of shared experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The closest thing to this is like Babel. 

Han’s writing style for this book does well to give you impactful introspection in a way that’s not familiar in the west. By spending the entire 1/3-1/2 of the chosen chapter setting up that chapter’s character worldview, the rest is the truth revealed in the most honest way possible. This book stings, it’s raw and often picturesque to the point that it might make you queasy. But the book is worth the read.

Favorite chapters: 
-The Boy’s Friend read like a very dark and doomed Miyazaki story. I felt hopeless after.
-The Prisoner was definitely a hard one to get through, especially the reveal at the end with the young boys. Such innocence lost.
-The Boy’s Mother: I felt empty and deeply emotional. This chapter reminded me of my own fears.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, War, Child abuse, Death, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement

sugarloaded's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was my third Han Kang book (I had read The Vegetarian last year and Greek Lessons a couple of months ago). Han Kang writes magnificently. This is definitely a book that will stay with me. Really heavy on a lot of triggering topics. Please tread carefully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Torture, Gore, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual violence

mcfay's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Torture, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Blood

stairsflynnmore's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, War, and Police brutality

tomoonarmy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

“should this book really be rated?”, is what I asked myself after finishing this book. The events portrayed in this book so gruesome that it’s hard to believe that they really happened. 


“have their souls also escaped their bodies, flying away like birds?”

“There will be no forgiveness.”

“our soldiers are shooting. They’re shooting at us.”



I think that this book is an important piece of literature that many people should read (check the trigger warnings before tho!!), therefore I gave it a rating bc in today’s society I think people are more likely to read books with good ratings. So pls keep in mind that this rating isn’t about the story contained inside, more so for the writing and the importance of the story itself. 

If you can, please read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Infertility, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Child death, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Vomit, Blood, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Gore, Infertility, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, and Gun violence

acintiabarreto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

Vai ser difícil algum livro desbancar esse livro de favorito do ano. Definitivamente um favorito da vida, vou reler ele com certeza.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Child death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Body horror, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

jessiejessj's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was gut-wrenching, heart breaking, uncomfortable, disgusting, and yet? It was beautiful. The way it’s written is stunning, and I loved the way each chapter was written by a different voice connected to the protagonist. It felt like reading the story for seven different points of view, but each point of view was adding to the story as opposed to re-telling the same part. I read this book as a recommendation from Kim Namjoon, and it broke my heart, but I feel better for having read it. I am in awe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, Body horror, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and War

luman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

A heartache put into prose that deserves to be heard, some places gave me goosebumps, some caused my eyes to feel heavy with the feeling of brimming tears that never really came and just sunk deep into my heart.
I don't feel like I can comment much on this as it is souch a delicate story but I loved everything about the way it was handled: the intertwined different persepctives that connected in one way or another, the usage of 1st person and lastly, the inclution of the writer's experience as well.
In some ways, I could relate these events to Lithuania's own history and the writer's experiences to my own feelings of wanting to keep the memory of all thes brave people alive and the desperate wishing to be able to go back in time and make the suffering go away, to protect everyone somehow or at least let them know that it will all not go in vain.

All in all, I am getting more and more sucked into this topic and also am planning on checking out other Han Kang's works as well, if this was anything to go by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Emotional abuse, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Child abuse

lowercase_em's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Murder, Sexual violence, Death, Death of parent, Gore, War, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence