Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Human Acts by Han Kang

48 reviews

petals4pages's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Gore, Gun violence, Body horror, Mass/school shootings, and Police brutality

Minor: Self harm

sara277's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

To me this book is the definition of “raw”. It’s honest and brutal with descriptions of violence and rotten corpses. It’s also beautiful at times, and very very sad. 
Human Acts is a window to a very dark chapter of Korean history, and learning about it through these characters and the author’s own connections to the massacre is horrible but so important.
I loved that all the stories were connected, not just through the event but through the characters knowing each other. I need to read it again to appreciate those connections better.
Also, wonderful writing, can’t wait to read the Vegetarian.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, and Sexual violence

dmhl's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-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

profoundly and hauntingly beautiful. emotionally draining. took so much out of me but i knew i had to finish for Dong-ho’s sake. i will never be the same. 

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 inhaled your breath became a shrine.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Grief, War, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Confinement, Blood, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Police brutality, Body horror, Child death, and Genocide

anh_read's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Anhand verschiedener Charaktere und Perspektiven beschreibt dieser Roman eindrucksvoll die Geschehnisse um Gwangju-Massaker in 1980 und ihre Auswirkungen auf Überlebende und die Angehörigen der Opfer. Da ich zuvor noch nie davon gehört habe, war ich schockiert, mit welcher Brutalität man versucht hat, Demonstrationen zu unterdrücken. 

Es ist definitiv kein einfaches Buch. Man sollte sich definitiv die Triggerwarnungen unbedingt vorher durchlesen. Ansonsten lässt sich das Buch gut und schnell lesen. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, War, Police brutality, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Death, Excrement, Mass/school shootings, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Infertility

Minor: Suicide

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.

---

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.

---

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

makennadykstra's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

3.75

---

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

midnightcroissant's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

A searing exploration of brutality and its legacy. Harrowing as it is lyrical, this is a thought-provoking tribute to the survivors and victims of an event little-acknowledged outside Korea. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual violence

emmalouisereads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This is quite a tough read. It portrays the atrocities of the event very vividly.

The book uses different writing styles, such as some chapters being in second person (although not the same consistent ‘you’ throughout), and one chapter told from the perspective of one of the dead. Although these were interesting, I personally found it quite hard to follow the plot because of it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Suicide, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Gore, Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, War, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism

__booksandanimes__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Grief, Sexual violence, War, Body horror, Gore, Police brutality, Blood, Child death, Murder, and Rape