daedalost's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I held onto every page. The writing is bare and personal. I think I'd be holding some words dearly to my heart for a long time.
nctdream's review against another edition
2.0
i’m not sure the therapist’s advice was?? good?? also while reading, the book felt somewhat directionless after a while… will come back to this later
warnetteluvr's review against another edition
4.0
(4 ⭐️) It’s concerning how i really related to some aspects of this book, I swear at some parts it felt like I was talking to the therapist myself and she was giving me a reality check
mgbeam's review against another edition
2.0
I skimmed the last half of the book. It wasn’t what I expected and it didn’t keep me engaged enough. I could tell what she was trying to do, though.
saguaros's review
2.0
I saw this book on a few recommendation lists and picked it up thinking it was a novel and sorely based on the fact that I, too, love tteokbokki. I quickly saw that it was a memoir and even though I’m not really into that kind of memoir, I figured I’d give it a go since it was so short anyway.
It’s not good. It just isn’t. I am so mad that the bulk of the book is basically transcripts of therapy sessions between the author and her psychiatrist. That’s it. Not prettified into prose or anything, just. Transcripts. It’s the fucking laziest bullshit. And the thoughts around each chapters are diary-like and so simple I wanted to scream. Look, not everyone is gonna have amazing prose or offer deep thoughts on everything, but this felt almost… childish in its simplicity. I won’t blame the translation, I think this is just how the author writes. The last chapter is a collection of very short essays on various subjects that, honestly, she failed to make interesting (but also at that point I was pretty done with the book—however short it is—and had emotionally checked out).
2 stars because it feels weird to one star a memoir—especially one about mental health—but also because despite what I mentioned, there were a few insights in there that I appreciated, and also I admire the vulnerability it took to publish this, of letting the world see your most ugly thoughts and struggles. I also appreciated that ultimately the book was honest about the limitations of therapy and medication and honest about the ups and downs and inconsistencies of healing.
It’s not good. It just isn’t. I am so mad that the bulk of the book is basically transcripts of therapy sessions between the author and her psychiatrist. That’s it. Not prettified into prose or anything, just. Transcripts. It’s the fucking laziest bullshit. And the thoughts around each chapters are diary-like and so simple I wanted to scream. Look, not everyone is gonna have amazing prose or offer deep thoughts on everything, but this felt almost… childish in its simplicity. I won’t blame the translation, I think this is just how the author writes. The last chapter is a collection of very short essays on various subjects that, honestly, she failed to make interesting (but also at that point I was pretty done with the book—however short it is—and had emotionally checked out).
2 stars because it feels weird to one star a memoir—especially one about mental health—but also because despite what I mentioned, there were a few insights in there that I appreciated, and also I admire the vulnerability it took to publish this, of letting the world see your most ugly thoughts and struggles. I also appreciated that ultimately the book was honest about the limitations of therapy and medication and honest about the ups and downs and inconsistencies of healing.
alittlebitnish's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.5
I have mixed feelings about the book but i think that’s just because i could not relate to certain POVs of the narrator. however, that’s normal because everyone’s problems and perspectives are different and how it manifests into their issues.
i did love this ending tho
“This book, therefore, ends not with answers but with a wish. I want to love and be loved. I want to find a way where I don’t hurt myself. I want to live a life where I say things are good more than things are bad. I want to keep failing and discovering new and better directions. I want to enjoy the tides of feeling in me as the rhythms of life. I want to be the kind of person who can walk inside the vast darkness and find the one fragment of sunlight I can linger in for a long time.
Some day, I will.”
as well as
“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.”
i did love this ending tho
“This book, therefore, ends not with answers but with a wish. I want to love and be loved. I want to find a way where I don’t hurt myself. I want to live a life where I say things are good more than things are bad. I want to keep failing and discovering new and better directions. I want to enjoy the tides of feeling in me as the rhythms of life. I want to be the kind of person who can walk inside the vast darkness and find the one fragment of sunlight I can linger in for a long time.
Some day, I will.”
as well as
“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.”
jacss's review against another edition
2.0
So let down by this book, I had much higher expectations.
The book can be split in two sections: one beginning with a dialogue between the author and her psychiatrist, followed by a bit of new insight and section two being relavations and insights after the care plan has been concluded.
Although the psychiatrist apologizes for it in the second section, some of their advice in the first section was just detrimental to the health of the author in my opinion. I really disliked that, and the fact that the author just flows with what the psychiatrist is saying, and the psychiatrist not picking up on that (often).
Some parts of the second section 'saved' this book from only one star, but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone I know. That might lie in a big part of me not liking the main character much. Although much that I don't like about her, lies in low self-esteem and constant comparison to others, her approach to it mostly made me dislike her.
The book can be split in two sections: one beginning with a dialogue between the author and her psychiatrist, followed by a bit of new insight and section two being relavations and insights after the care plan has been concluded.
Although the psychiatrist apologizes for it in the second section, some of their advice in the first section was just detrimental to the health of the author in my opinion. I really disliked that, and the fact that the author just flows with what the psychiatrist is saying, and the psychiatrist not picking up on that (often).
Some parts of the second section 'saved' this book from only one star, but I don't think I would recommend it to anyone I know. That might lie in a big part of me not liking the main character much. Although much that I don't like about her, lies in low self-esteem and constant comparison to others, her approach to it mostly made me dislike her.
cristinamv00's review
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Very interesting format, but it felt a but “on the surface” for a book that’s supposed to showcase someone’s inner turmoil
megsib's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
This was quite different from what I usually read. At first the transcripts between the author and the psychiatrist are interesting and insightful. I read the Kindle version borrowed from the library, and what intrigued me most were how many people connected with certain parts of the text and underlined the same passages. These underlined passages tapered off about halfway through and the last third of the book didnt have any multiple underlined sentences. This reflected my experience with the book. By the halfway point, I was ready for it to shift.
It doesn't shift which makes sense. This is a person trying to work through some things, and it doesn't happen in unrealistic, dramatic ways. It just goes on. She captured the frustration with that really well. I found myself admiring her courage to write so unabashedly about all of her thoughts and insecurities.
I was impressed with the psychiatrist throughout the transcript section of the book (about 2/3 of the book, I think?) and later in the book is a note from the psychiatrist commenting on what it was like to be recorded by the author during their sessions. That note was my favorite part of the book, and where the fantastic title comes from.
It doesn't shift which makes sense. This is a person trying to work through some things, and it doesn't happen in unrealistic, dramatic ways. It just goes on. She captured the frustration with that really well. I found myself admiring her courage to write so unabashedly about all of her thoughts and insecurities.
I was impressed with the psychiatrist throughout the transcript section of the book (about 2/3 of the book, I think?) and later in the book is a note from the psychiatrist commenting on what it was like to be recorded by the author during their sessions. That note was my favorite part of the book, and where the fantastic title comes from.