Scan barcode
elizlizabeth's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
tsundokuu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Infidelity, and Sexual content
Moderate: Rape, Medical content, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Eating disorder
linnybear's review against another edition
Graphic: Rape, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Violence, Animal death, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny
bridge_to_narnia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Body horror, Eating disorder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Rape
dawndiscusses's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Medical content, Terminal illness, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Rape, Self harm, Gore, Mental illness, Body shaming, Medical trauma, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Minor: Domestic abuse
sharnanigans's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Rape, Eating disorder, Medical content, Sexism, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Blood, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Gore, Death, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Addiction
theomancy's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, and Animal death
preciousmist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Slight spoilers below, and brief discussion of sexual abuse.
I think the way this book superimposes body and sexual horror with femininity and social constraints that come with a (cis) feminine body is interesting. I think it's a interesting commentary on Women within Korean society, when I cross reference the little I know of it with the story of this book.
I also think there's some problems with it. For one, the true psychological horror that comes with this book is, funnily enough, in the chapters with male POV's. The way they see women (women as objects, that is, though both male characters we get see this objectivication from different points, one as social value for others, and one as value for his own self-realization and self-worth, in a way) and the way they go unchecked is terrifying because I can see it happening. The rape scenes are brief, but bone-chillingly... normal? If that's a word one can use along with rape. They aren't explored further on the effects they have on the women characters that go through it - though one can say we see the narrative itself being affected for it.
I think what bothers me the most about this book is the emphasis on "strength" of the last, and the only woman who has a POV, character. The sheer will she possesses is what gets her through the days, that and the love for her son - that is what prevents her from succumbing to the strangeness that afflicts her sister. This strength is met with different, and mixed, conclusions at the end:
A) She recognises it was sheer will, and cowardice, that prevented her from going down the same path as her sister. Her sister recognizes this strangeness, in a way, as a strength - the strength to be different.
B) But she continues with the same pattern as before, while as well seeing her sister's "mental illness" as something undesirable. The writing almost insists this endurance is the path to go - survival, not rebellion, is the way. For as feminist this book is, and it is!, somehow I can see a reader coming from this book with the idea that women shouldn't stray too much from the socially accepted roles given to them, because;
C) All this strangeness, all this rebellion, all the suffering endured, is concluded with the afflicted character ultimately dying to the world. Now, I understand why: the Protag has rejected meat, carnality, sexuality, violence. Still, as we see in chapter two, this is imposed on her: through rape, exploration of her body, and the male gaze. Though she has emptied herself of all desire, all the sexual and deviant things inside her, she can't get rid of her *body*, which is why chapter 3 is where we see the Protag's body waste away to nothing, and why there's an insistence in the flora comparison. Trees are not sexual, or better yet, their sexuality is not violent. Is this book implying the only way for an *individual* to be liberated of all the complication that come with a sexual society, a sexual drive, a material life, per se, is to literally become an alien to her own humanity and waste away? One could say yes. In fact, the only way for this to not happen to the one other woman in this book, is for her to connect herself to the social gender roles given to her, that and motherhood.
I think this is an interesting book with a pretty clear message, but I wonder about the ways the message is delivered. I understand the complexity of the topic, which is perhaps why the end of this book can read so differently depending on the reader. Alas, this is a book I'd like to think about more, but certainly not reread.
Also, and perhaps this is a string of unfortunate experiences, but I have yet to read a (translated) korean book whose prose *worked* for me. Is it a translation problem I wonder? Something about the Korean language itself that lends to a translation that seems... Not vague, but certainly seems to leave some sentences incomplete, or weird, gramatically speaking? I can't read Korean, and I've certainly tried to learn it to no avail as I simply cannot compute the alphabet for some reason, but this is the second book I've read in general where I get that feeling.
Oh well. It lends to the strangeness of it all, I guess.
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death
Minor: Gore
sk1m086's review against another edition
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Blood, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
rachaelcandoit's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexism, Self harm, Misogyny, Animal death, Mental illness, and Body shaming