Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Human Acts by Han Kang

8 reviews

makennadykstra's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Hate crime, Medical content, Body horror, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, and War

dreamvials's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Police brutality, Gore, Child death, Death, and War

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

lovely_lisa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Body horror, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Death, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Child death

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

theroyaltyreader's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

4.75

it doesn't really have a solid plot nor character's growth. it is more on compilation of Gwanju Uprising memories. 

This book is so heavy and dark. The description of people got killed during the protest so raw, realistic and gruesome. It is not twisted but the description of torture and death do really leave me in shook. How can SK rises from the dead? They can build a new life on top of dark memories. To the old generation, these memories still intact but to the new generation, it is unspeakable among them, i think. This book taught me on people are really cruel. They knew life worth of something so other people took it away. Disabled and buried away those civilian's life. What a tense and sad time it was.

It remains as a scar and the bloodiest protest ever in SK. I myself got spook in case the soldier starting to torture civillians. The emotions of this author felt so genuine and manage to reach the reader. I can't imagine if those who read can't feel the pain. I wanted to give 5 stars but I ended up 4.75 stars because I was a bit of confuse with the usage of second POV. I kinda lost at first despite of understand but still unable to focus properly. It does give a big impact to me then. At the early reading, the author emphasizes a strong POV which was the second one where YOU need to imagine if YOU were there. 

Another part is that I want to know further about the politics that lead to Gwangju Uprising. I know the author provided basic knowledge but as a history lover, I want more. I want to weep and cry and let the tears went away for these victims but it got stuck. Must be suprising how tragedy it was this protest. Rather than sad, it left me speechless. Too many violences were executed. Brutal at its finest. 

To Han Kang, I feel this tragedy deeply into my heart. You managed to educate me how dark it was that days. The emotions that you capture and put in here is really touching. To Gwanju residents, I hope that they knew that their stories during the uprising has travelled far across of what they realy expected. We knew, heard and feel and the justice for the victims will always be upheld by the reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, War, and Violence

mxpringle's review

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Self harm

katherinevarga's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is not the most comforting book to be reading when white supremacists are storming the Capital at the behest of a would-be fascist authoritarian.... but it was too good (and too short) not to finish, so I powered through.

I loved the structure of the book - the first section is "The Boy, 1980" and each subsequent section focuses on another person haunted by the boy's death, leading up to "The Writer, 2013". The writing made me think about death, guilt, and the trauma of sharing stories in new ways. I had to skim past some of the violence and torture - although some of the calmer scenes (like a theatre director finding out he can't do his play, or the mom thinking she's seen her dead son) made my eyes tear up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Hate crime, Grief, Death, and Confinement