Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

63 reviews

kellyofcali's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.25

I enjoyed this novel, which used a group of a few young women to paint a picture of existing as a young woman in modern-day Korea...a world of inequality, plastic surgery, but also moments to hope and strength. I quickly became invested in the characters' lives, and my main gripe was that the ending fell a bit flat, leaving it more of a vignette than a full narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Bullying, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexism, Body shaming, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Miscarriage

arieslofi's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Eating disorder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Vomit, Violence, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Infertility

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicide

chiar_'s review against another edition

reflective 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Misogyny, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Classism, and Infidelity

Minor: Miscarriage

catandherbooks's review

informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

Took me a while to finish this book, life (and other books if I'm being honest) got in the way but at last I did and it was good. Reminded me of Kim Nam Joo, Born 1982, in a way. The ending felt abrupt, especially after spending so much time with this book on my "currently reading" tab but I think I liked it. Maybe. I'm still working on finding out exactly how I feel about this one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Medical content

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual harassment

courtneys317's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy, Suicide, and Child abuse

ionamcewan's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

A haunting often harrowing book that is ultimately a message of how to live in the day

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Suicide, Sexism, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Body shaming, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Body horror, and Sexual content

vintovka's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

3.5

So, the thing you need to understand about IIHYF is it's painfully short. I doubt it has more than 70k words, while having five main characters and four p.o.v.'s. So. Yeah.

The book got surprising amount of events and things happening on its pages, but not a lot of character development.  Most of it is ambigiously left off screen. Did Ara realise something about the nature of parasocial relationship and consumption? Does Wonna have a chance of actually being a good mother in the future, or will her trauma ruin any of her children? Will Miho get over her friend's suicide, and what will it do to her? Will Seunjin regret going down the route of debt and prostitution? I don't know. I can only guess. Which kind of leaves me wondering what even was the point. 

I love reading about the good, the bad and the ugly of different female experiences, so I was excited for this book. It gave of vibes of kind of an antithesis to girls' fairy tales and female wish-fullfillment fantasies. It's not _not_ that, but because it's not anything at all. I got attached to the characters and their lives, but the ending left me stumped. What did the book want to say? What was the point of me reading all that?

The book's redeeming qualities are being short and having good, flowing prose, but in the end, IIHYF is a snapshot of how it sucks to be a poor south korean woman, and it doesn't have anything more than that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Classism, Pregnancy, and Cursing

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Ableism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, and Abortion

eilatan6991's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Infidelity

Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, and Child abuse

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

jokehelldo's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Sexism

Moderate: Alcohol, Body shaming, Infertility, and Sexual harassment

sydapel's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Probably the most interesting book I read so far this month, particularly in the unique characterization of the five women who make up the novel. It's another book that offers a stark and often startling depiction of female friendship, this time through the lens of Korean culture. To me, the dialogue is where the book shines the most, how the conversations between the women exemplify the harsh, but also soft ways in which they care for one another. Where it loses me a bit is in the number of competing voices and a long wind up to a rushed finale. I would have ultimately liked to stay a bit longer in this world, even just to experience a bit of a cathartic end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, and Infertility

Minor: Suicide