Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

The Cabinet by Un-su Kim

21 reviews

ancestrallizard's review

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

Moderate: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Alcoholism

Minor: Misogyny

eggplantia5's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.75

I found this a little hard to get started but then I was hooked. I loved the descriptions of the different symptomers - kind of wish there were more. I find that many of the books from Korean authors I've read have main characters who are very unsympathetic and they don't care that they are unlikeable. And while they do grow, it's different from how American or British authors would have a main character grow. 

The ending was a little rushed - I found the torture scene really horrifying despite its relative brevity, and that kind of overwhelmed the ending for me. I wish we understood the role that Jeong-eun had to play a bit more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Torture

scifi_rat's review

dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Plot: 3.75★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4★/4.5★
Characters: 4★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 3.75★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Gore, Grief, Suicide, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Cursing, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Blood, Cancer, and Animal death

andreapap15's review

dark funny mysterious slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Torture

Moderate: Alcoholism, Torture, and Sexism

Minor: Vomit

kinddog2073's review

dark funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

2.5

A bizarre book to be sure. There is some interesting and at times poignant commentary about capitalism and alienation as others have noted. There are also some very funny and human moments. Despite that, I think this would have been better as a collection of short stories with the narrator's personality and life filled subtly through the telling of those. Instead, we get weird moments of plot that feel like distractions from the stories of the symptomers, which are so often funny or touching.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Torture

Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Bullying, Suicide, and Grief

roytoo's review

reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

An interesting read but it ended pretty abruptly which made the story feel unfinished to me.

The premise is:
 'symptomers’, humans whose strange abilities and bizarre experiences might just mark the emergence of a new species.

The stories of symptomers were interesting and engaging, but they end about 2/3rds through.

To me it is well worth reading for the different (South Korean) cultural viewpoints on modern life and the idea that it could be causing evolution into a new species.

Content warning for eating disorders, body horror, body shaming, and torture.

I read this from the Digital Library of Korean Literature which permits anyone to make an account:
library.ltikorea.or.kr/aboutLibrary

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Body horror, Eating disorder, and Body shaming

thehutonfowlslegs's review

dark funny fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Torture, Body horror, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

ani00's review

dark inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

interesting book. i really like these sort of weird, almost disjointed stories so i enjoyed this book too, but i get how someone who isn't a fan of this style wouldn't like it. i really enjoyed the symptomers stories and i didn't think the narrator was too bad either. the last part of the book definitely had a pretty drastic tone shift and the end was pretty confusing to me, i had to sit back and think for a bit after i finished it. i think everything fits and flows pretty well though. so maybe it isn't that unsatisfying? 

anyways yeah interesting weird book not everyone's cup of tea but it was pretty much mine 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Eating disorder and Fatphobia

plomm's review

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Body horror, Blood, Eating disorder, Excrement, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture

emilylouise_g's review

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

The book focuses on “symptomers” - people who turn into something else, fall asleep for years, split in two, etc,

but as the book progresses we can see that they aren’t so much medical mysteries but rather people suffering from capitalism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Fatphobia, Bullying, Body horror, Terminal illness, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Excrement and Eating disorder

Minor: Vomit