Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Human Acts by Han Kang

33 reviews

madamenovelist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Grief, Vomit, Torture, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Medical content, and Mass/school shootings

angievansprang's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

A harrowing account of the Gwangju Massacre from a cast of characters all connected by the death one young boy - Human Acts by Han Kang will tear your heart apart. Despite the horrific content of this story, I found Kang’s descriptive writing to be beautiful and unique. Her descriptions of death and death-adjacent experiences is like none other I’ve read before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death, Child death, War, and Torture

Moderate: Gore and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

mathildelestrange's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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

5.0

Brutally written but with depth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, War, Gore, Grief, Death, Genocide, Police brutality, and Violence

kia_y_k's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Genocide, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Child death, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Torture

uhm_kai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

so good, but so so sad

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Self harm, Murder, Gun violence, Confinement, Death, Child death, War, Sexual violence, Suicide, Police brutality, and Genocide

__mydearbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, and Torture

swapnasrita's review against another edition

sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Police brutality, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Self harm

alexismoodie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Police brutality, Rape, Torture, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Murder, Self harm, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Suicide, Confinement, Grief, and Medical trauma

seasized's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative sad 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? No

5.0

i didn't really understand, not entirely, the impact of genocide & state sponsored violence until i read this. i was aware of it, i've had a few bad weeks when things got bad in my country but i eventually moved on, with a sense of guilt for doing so. but this book keeps the people at the forefront and makes us confront these human acts and how vastly it effects so many people over so many decades... its depressing but necessary. excellent writing that refuses make this sensational and treats it's characters with utmost compassion. it was a very hard read but i want to reread it someday to experience the writing when i'm familiar with the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Violence, Death, Gun violence, Genocide, Physical abuse, Murder, and War

savvylit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

"After you died I couldn't hold a funeral, so these eyes that once beheld you became a shrine. These ears that once heard your voice became a shrine. These lungs that once held your breath became a shrine."

In Human Acts, Han Kang paints a haunting portrait of the emotional aftermath of a massacre. Weaved throughout the book are meditations on grief, courage, cruelty, trauma, humanity, and survivor's guilt. Dong-ho, the story's focal point, represents the cruelest casualties of war: just a brave young person motivated by a sense of duty and compassion.

Throughout Human Acts, Han Kang uses repetition to a devastating effect. Characters who were physically tortured all experience the same disassociation from their physical bodies, the same survivor's guilt, the same suicidal ideation. Additionally, by addressing trauma from multiple points of view, Kang masterfully demonstrates the collective nature of grief and the lasting impact of brutality on a single community. 

This book broke my heart. Human Acts is an unforgettable fictionalized account of events that were all too real to so many South Koreans. Much of the content featured in this book is both shocking and horrific - but clearly that is the point. This book isn't another glamorized war story. No, it's the exact opposite: a realistic portrayal of suffering with no happy ending. Sometimes humankind is capable of horrible acts, end of story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Blood, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Grief, Rape, Police brutality, Suicide, Child death, and Mass/school shootings