Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Human Acts by Han Kang

68 reviews

claireh6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Police brutality, Self harm, Physical abuse, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Death, Sexual violence, Grief, Alcoholism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Drug abuse

nuii's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

4.0

I went in blind, which was my mistake because this isn't sth you just casually read...
It's a very difficult book (lots of graphic descriptions. PLEASE check TW), so brutal, so disgusting and raw...the crime that was commited, the pain and traumas it caused, the lives it had ruined... 
Han Kang writes with such haunting intensity yet, at times, there's also sth tender and delicate about it...
The 4☆ is due to the fact that I'm not a fan of this particular structure, where 1 main plot being divided into short stories among a cast. I always find it's disruptive to the flow and the connection toward each characters doesnt go deep enough -BUT- i do get why it was used here and it's a reasonable choice to have a variety of accounts for this (historical) topic. 
Overall, I cant bring myself to say I enjoy the book, it feels wrong saying that. But I'm glad I read it eventhough it breaks my heart thoroughly... still much to think about. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Grief, Child death, Torture, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Death, Blood, Murder, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Suicide

emilosophy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

this book was hard to pick up once i put it down. and i had to put it down often because of the graphic or horrifying content that was hard to take in. the writing style was interesting (different POVs, including “you”. though judging by the prose, you sometimes cant tell these are all different people talking, different people’s thoughts. the only one that felt clearly like a different voice was the mother’s pov, written in what i assume to be “dialect” translated over to english). the descriptions of violence, corpses, nightmares, sensations, etc, are extremely vivid and feel real. some chapters/POVs were more engaging than others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Child death

Moderate: Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture

areen's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

this was a masterpiece. the way han kang captured different kinds of people being affected by the uprising in such a vivid way was incredible. the 2nd story left me speechless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Police brutality, Rape, and Sexual assault

cyberhavok's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infertility, and Suicide

rockin_robyn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Torture

abbyarm's review against another edition

sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: War, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

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

mjtal's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Child death

Minor: Suicide and Cancer

paperboundwords's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

3.5

This was a difficult read emotionally. Loved the writing style - every person has their own style in this book, they are first and foremost individuals bound by the same horrific events. And I say person not character, because these snippets are based on people who lived those moments in Gwangju. Not all is fact, but all is real and raw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Torture, and Suicide