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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
haunting, nearly-dystopian look into the importance of beauty in South Korea. Some of the characters’ storylines fell a bit flat at the end but overall it was a fascinating read!
This book doesn't have a plot in the strictest sense of the word; instead, it's a look into the lives of the characters, their backgrounds, their place in society, their views, struggles, and general experiences within a society that focuses on appearance and status. Each character was very well developed and unique from one another. I felt like I could really get into each of their shoes and have some kind of understanding of what it was like to be them, which can be a difficult thing for an author to achieve. Because the book doesn't necessarily have a main plot, it does end without a real sense of conclusion for any of the characters, but this did not bother me because of how well it was written.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"It is easy to leap if you have no choice."
This book wasn't bad, by any stretch of the imagination, I was just underwhelmed. There are moments of brilliance in the narrative, and some of the lines are beautiful, but I found it hard to distinguish between the characters even at the very end of the novel and didn't honestly care about any of them. Their characterisation felt rushed and hap-hazard, and their relationships with each other even more so. Whenever this book tried to be touching, I just felt a bit confused. Do these characters like each other or not?
There is a lot in here which is interesting - from the perspective of someone who is not very knowledgeable about South Korea or its culture - and a lot which is incredibly bleak. Whether this is because it is accurate to life or just something the novel wanted to achieve, I couldn't say, but I almost dreaded continuing to read this book at times because of how demoralised it made me feel. Still, some of the women's experiences and individual stories are compelling at times, which is indeed what made me persist with finishing this book.
At the same time, throughout the book and especially at the end I found myself wondering what the point was. We didn't find out a lot of what happened to the characters, both at the end and before the story starts, and whilst some things had changed in their circumstances over the course of the story, there was nothing in it that made me feel like I understood why the story was being told. Why tell this story, at this particular point in these characters' lives? It spans such a short timespan I found myself wondering why I had just spent so much time experiencing the daily lives of these women.
Overall, this book was okay. It just didn't really do it for me. I loved being educated about South Korean culture, but these moments were rather fleeting in the face the prioritisation of characters' narratives (which I get, because this is fiction and not a book about South Korean culture, this was just my favourite part of the book). There were lovely moments within the narrative itself but, unfortunately, for me this wasn't enough to save this novel. I thought it was fine, I just wasn't overly enthused. But this 2 star rating would have been 3 if I didn't have so many books I liked much better than this one set to 3 star ratings themselves. It deserves more than 2 stars, but in my rating system I just can't give it more.
This book wasn't bad, by any stretch of the imagination, I was just underwhelmed. There are moments of brilliance in the narrative, and some of the lines are beautiful, but I found it hard to distinguish between the characters even at the very end of the novel and didn't honestly care about any of them. Their characterisation felt rushed and hap-hazard, and their relationships with each other even more so. Whenever this book tried to be touching, I just felt a bit confused. Do these characters like each other or not?
There is a lot in here which is interesting - from the perspective of someone who is not very knowledgeable about South Korea or its culture - and a lot which is incredibly bleak. Whether this is because it is accurate to life or just something the novel wanted to achieve, I couldn't say, but I almost dreaded continuing to read this book at times because of how demoralised it made me feel. Still, some of the women's experiences and individual stories are compelling at times, which is indeed what made me persist with finishing this book.
At the same time, throughout the book and especially at the end I found myself wondering what the point was. We didn't find out a lot of what happened to the characters, both at the end and before the story starts, and whilst some things had changed in their circumstances over the course of the story, there was nothing in it that made me feel like I understood why the story was being told. Why tell this story, at this particular point in these characters' lives? It spans such a short timespan I found myself wondering why I had just spent so much time experiencing the daily lives of these women.
Overall, this book was okay. It just didn't really do it for me. I loved being educated about South Korean culture, but these moments were rather fleeting in the face the prioritisation of characters' narratives (which I get, because this is fiction and not a book about South Korean culture, this was just my favourite part of the book). There were lovely moments within the narrative itself but, unfortunately, for me this wasn't enough to save this novel. I thought it was fine, I just wasn't overly enthused. But this 2 star rating would have been 3 if I didn't have so many books I liked much better than this one set to 3 star ratings themselves. It deserves more than 2 stars, but in my rating system I just can't give it more.
A bleak yet beautiful novel following the lives of four women from different walks of life. Their stories intertwined but were still distinct. This was a moving commentary on beauty standards, class, sexism, and work culture in South Korea. I really felt like i was living in their shoes, I just wish this were longer.
4.5 stars. Sometimes I love books about people living in quiet despair, but they have to come to me at the right time (see my adoration of [b:My Year of Rest and Relaxation|36203391|My Year of Rest and Relaxation|Ottessa Moshfegh|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513259517l/36203391._SX50_.jpg|55508660].) If I Had Your Face is a book I'd been anticipating for months. It's quite different than what I expected, but I suspect I wouldn't have loved this quite as much pre-pandemic. It just suits my current mood perfectly.
This book is an interesting indictment of capitalism, particularly the realm of social capital. There's quite a lot of discussion about plastic surgery in here. This usually comes under criticism for setting impossible standards of beauty- particularly for women - and all the resultant self-esteem issues. This book doesn't really touch on it from that angle, though. Here, beauty is a form of capital. Social capital, but capital all the same. While this book touches heavily on South Korean beauty standards - which, from my delving into k-pop, are a bit different from American beauty standards - I don't think this book lets the reader rest easy like "oh, thank goodness it's not like that here." For example, America has somewhat different attitudes towards plastic surgery but I couldn't help but think about influencer culture and makeup standards here. Or perfectly curated images from parenting blogs where its like "oh no, my toddler spilled something on the floor!" but you're also supposed to look at the beautiful, expensive home and the otherwise perfectly clean and perfect kitchen.
So basically tl;dr there's a lot about this book that's specific to Seoul but also a lot that I think will invite you to think about social capital and how it expresses itself in your world.
I think I wish this book had been a bit longer. However in some ways
This book is an interesting indictment of capitalism, particularly the realm of social capital. There's quite a lot of discussion about plastic surgery in here. This usually comes under criticism for setting impossible standards of beauty- particularly for women - and all the resultant self-esteem issues. This book doesn't really touch on it from that angle, though. Here, beauty is a form of capital. Social capital, but capital all the same. While this book touches heavily on South Korean beauty standards - which, from my delving into k-pop, are a bit different from American beauty standards - I don't think this book lets the reader rest easy like "oh, thank goodness it's not like that here." For example, America has somewhat different attitudes towards plastic surgery but I couldn't help but think about influencer culture and makeup standards here. Or perfectly curated images from parenting blogs where its like "oh no, my toddler spilled something on the floor!" but you're also supposed to look at the beautiful, expensive home and the otherwise perfectly clean and perfect kitchen.
So basically tl;dr there's a lot about this book that's specific to Seoul but also a lot that I think will invite you to think about social capital and how it expresses itself in your world.
I think I wish this book had been a bit longer. However in some ways
Spoiler
the book ending with things uncertain but vaguely optimistic for all the characters in some way really fits the themes of this book. All the characters were living basically moment to moment and scared to plan for the future in various ways and for various reasons. Having it end with Kyuri contemplating what it might be like to try planning for one day ahead while in the midst of friendly company is actually a pretty genius place to end it. My biggest issue is that I kind of wish the other had become friends with Wonna earlier on. Or maybe Soojin should have had chapters of her own? But maybe that's me being biased because I enjoyed her whenever she appeared.
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The names all sound similar in the audio book and I cannot follow it and also o don't care about this actually
perhaps the hardest to read book i've ever pushed through in my life. 5 stars for compelling me to make it to the end. i read this through gritted teeth but i just... kept... reading... definitely sacrificed towards the end to quickly tie up loose ends but still. wow.
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes