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caitlindoesntread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Car accident, Drug use, Infidelity, and War
magnoliophyta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Incest
laurenvoice's review against another edition
3.0
The Head ⭐⭐.5 - I was not quite sure what to make of this story. I neither liked nor disliked this story; I left it feeling indifferent. However, I have questions about how unconcerned the family was about this head randomly appearing.
The Embodiment ⭐⭐⭐.5 - okay, wow that ending! This story was full of judgmental people judging a situation that had nothing to do with them. Also, whilst reading this story, I realised that no one in this Twilight Zone themed book questions anything!
Cursed Bunny ⭐⭐⭐ - this one had quite a slow start. However, it picked up the pace during the curse part, although the ending to the curse part was quite rushed. The ending to the story seemed meh.
The Frozen Finger ⭐⭐⭐ - this story was a mix of being predictable yet having no clue what was happening. There are a lot of questions.
Snare ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I liked this one a lot. It was gory and weird, which is right up my street.
Goodbye, My Love ⭐⭐ - stories about AI aren't really my sort of thing.
Scars ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 - this is my favourite story in this short story collection. I found this story engrossing and sad. However, I did find the ending a bit weird; nonetheless, I loved the rest of the story.
Home Sweet Home ⭐⭐.5 - not sure what was going on here; it felt like a haunted house story.
Ruler of the Winds and Sands ⭐⭐⭐ - again, this was not really my type of story. However, the imagery used in this story was good.
Reunion ⭐⭐⭐ - this was a ghost story with quite the ending.
Overall, I did enjoy this collection of short stories. Bora Chung tackled the darker themes of her story well and included some beautiful imagery that set the scenes in some of these stories.
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Slavery, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, and Excrement
hellokittikovacs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Blood, Animal death, Death, Pregnancy, Rape, Self harm, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Slavery, and Physical abuse
charleyroxy's review against another edition
5.0
As an important note, I will include a list of content warnings below because it is long. If you are squeamish about bodily fluids you won't make it past the first story. There is gore, abuse, animal cruelty, suicide, and more so be prepared. I loved finding this quote of Chung's from an interview about her writing to give you an idea:
"I don’t feel scared at all when writing horrific or gory scenes. I think it’s because my intention is more to imagine what an ordinary person wouldn’t do or wouldn’t react to, of that twist in the character’s behavior. Aside from making up a fun plot, you’ve got to make the unusual reactions of your characters believable if you want to convince your reader. I think the power of writing is in this ability to make the reader believe. I wanted to see how far I could push that in my writing. That’s all I was trying to do, and it’s amusing to me when people say my characters scare them."
Graphic: Abortion, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Pregnancy, Torture, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Incest, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual content
While there is not a miscarriage exactly, in The Embodiment there is a scene that would be quite triggering to those who have had the experience.