Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Human Acts by Han Kang

95 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

bargainandbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-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? N/A

5.0

I went blindly into this book based solely on the beautiful cover and my goal to read more translated books. This book shook me to my core. How can a book about such a horrific historical happening be written in such a beautiful way. I devoured the book and was left utterly crushed by each characters chapter. I loved the way everyone was connected, and still showed different aspects of the time and how it affected the people and the community that was left grieving. Brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief

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

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

sevensableyes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I don't really read books with dark content, let alone ones based on real events, so I don't really know how to review this. Saying I 'enjoyed' the book feels wrong.

It's a heartwrecnhing and tragic story about the Gwangju uprising. It was uncomfortable to read. It's beautifully written (another review I read on here goes into detail about the English translation, which was interesting).

I would highly recommend looking into content warnins before reading this book. Some things took me by surprise.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Police brutality, Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, War, Torture, Terminal illness, Gun violence, Suicide, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Self harm, and Medical content

Moderate: Grief and Alcoholism

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

ajlct's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Child death, and Blood

ka_cam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A beautiful and emotionally challenging read, and informative if you like me don’t start with much knowledge about the Gwangju Uprising. The method of exploring voices of different people connected to the uprising and a death of a child, including a spirit voice and the child as well as those more loosely connected, ended up feeling very tender rather than the loose-ends feeling that Can come from that style. Very moving and upsetting content. Highly recommend checking content warnings, highly recommended read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Police brutality, Child death, Grief, and Rape

Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism

viviireads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Child death, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

svb96's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, War, Violence, Suicide, Rape, Police brutality, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, and Alcohol