Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Quero morrer, mas também quero comer tteokbokki

I felt really seen, really connected to the author of this book. I understood completely how she was feeling. The only downside was the essays at the end felt very disconnected rather than the topical/related ones that followed the conversation transcriptions earlier in the book.

Content Warnings

yuzu_149's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I think this book falls under the category of "I like it" because I resonate with the author's struggles, but I also get why some people may not enjoy it, because it's just such a raw, candid sharing of her personal experiences. The book is a collection of transcribed recordings between the author and her therapist, with an epilogue at the back where the author and the therapist shares their final thoughts.

The writing is not always polished, and the thoughts expressed sometimes sound convoluted and contradictory. But then isn't that what makes us all human? When we get anxious, stressed or just don't feel well, that's how our thoughts are - when I journal, I also feel like I'm trying to find clarity through a huge fog of jumbled up feelings and emotions.

It felt comforting to read her struggles because I also struggled with similar things. And I found myself highlighting a lot throughout the book - it can be a relief to read and find the words that describe what I've felt a lot of the times. The state where you feel anxious, down and stressed out on a lot of days - and yet, it isn't exactly serious enough to take drastic action.

A paragraph from the epilogue fo the book (written by the author's therapist) sums it all up very well, "This is a record of a very ordinary, incomplete person who meets another very ordinary, incomplete person, the latter of whom happens to be a therapist. The therapist makes some mistakes and has a bit of room for improvement, but life has always been like that, which means everyone’s life – our readers included – has the potential to become better. To our readers, who are perhaps down and out from having experienced much devastation or are living day-to-day in barely contained anxiety: I hope you will listen to a certain overlooked and different voice within you. Because the human heart, even when it wants to die, quite often wants at the same time to eat some tteokbokki, too."

Content Warnings

herbertem1996's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

2.5

Content Warnings

ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I liked this memoir. It opened my eyes to the Psychology of making choices; that how we see ourselves is reflected in how self-esteem we have. Confidence is a choice and having a middle ground is okay to not be tied to the extremes of black and white. Life is complicated and having just two choices didn’t make sense. Sehee, Unnie, thank you for sharing your life and experiences with us, it’s not easy, but you did it. This book opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities and realizing that I need to focus more on the positive side because negativity can ruin a person. Overall, I was enlightened by this book.

Content Warnings

lanid's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative reflective

Content Warnings

booksandboba's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective medium-paced

3.0

Content Warnings

More...