Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982

Cho Nam-Joo is a force to be reckoned with. The entire storm even.

A large part of this book made me feel a flurry of emotions. So much, that I developed a migraine in between reading it. Her novel perfectly describes the socially conservative nature of South Korea, while also detailing the difficulties of being a first time mother. Similarly, the book perfectly describes the disconnect between genders (in relation to workplace violence, and pregnancy).

The beginning was hard to follow in the beginning, as it read like a infographic. However, it picked up greatly. I wasn’t able to put it down (despite that migraine I mentioned). If you want a book that will stick with you, this is it.

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amberinbookland's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

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beatriks's review against another edition

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informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It’s a short life story, but filled with facts and stats with references. It gives very clear insights into the lives of Korean women of my age in a misogynist society. The men in the book really don’t understand.
This book really makes me angry.

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lish_e's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

It’s sad that this book is so relatable. Also, it’s weird to rate this book, as the topics and stories are so real.
The author uses statistics with citations to proof her point and to show, that the story of Kim Jiyoung isn’t uncommon. A lot of the experiences the main character has aren’t specific to South Korea and happen to a lot of women around the world. When I talked about this book, sadly a lot of women could relate and experienced something similar.
A hard-hitting book that I highly recommend.

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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annabunce's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective

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

4.0

The premise for this book is so cool - based off of research of average/common experiences of South Korean women during this time period it felt like a great window into life of South Korean women. It made me wish this could be a series, recruiting authors from around the world to research and write stories of fictional "average" people in their communities from a specific time period. Loved it, though at times the writing was a bit dry (perhaps a function of the translation or the based on research angle)

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carolinewithane's review against another edition

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challenging reflective 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

5.0

this book will make you angry.

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mscoleman's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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