Reviews tagging 'Miscarriage'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

113 reviews

vildanda's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I listened to the audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it. The exploration of womens lives in South Korea and the different challenges they face was insightful and lead me down a rabbit hole wanting to find out more. I enjoyed how each perspective was read by a different narrator, it really helped to capture the characters emotions and perspectives. It was a little confusing to begin with however it eventually becomes clearer. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence and Child abuse

Minor: Rape, Miscarriage, and Suicide

daniellekat's review

reflective fast-paced

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

2.25

This was the definition of OK. I didn't hate reading it, but nothing about it was particularly compelling. The author made some strange choices in the writing and structure of the book (i.e. no Sujin POV, ending the book mid way through the cycle of character POVs, so many odd paragraph breaks, etc.) I thought the general content of the book was interesting, especially since I'm far removed from South Korean culture, but I felt like Cha was trying to cover too many topics. As a debut the writing was solid, but the overall book could have been more tightly edited. The open-ending makes me wary of recommending this but I'd probably pick up Cha's writing again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Sexism, Alcohol, Misogyny, Classism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Suicide

sex work

marleen02's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Misogyny, Bullying, Medical content, Alcohol, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Classism, Body horror, Body shaming, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Suicide

Minor: Violence, Miscarriage, Xenophobia, and Sexual content

michelle_bernice92's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Body shaming

Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Suicide

slaywithsteph's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful relaxing sad slow-paced

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

3.75

I would live my life so much better than you if I had your face.

Following the lives of four Korean women, this book is a slice-of-life without much plot. There’s little character growth but ample character exploration.

As a non-Korean, I cannot say if the author successfully details the obsessive — and sometimes surgery-heavy — world of Korean beauty standards, but it feels realistic to me.

However, what really brought it down for me was the book felt unbalanced in that I’m not sure why Wonna’s story existed in this. It’s not that she wasn’t interesting; it’s that she felt out of place with the other characters. Though, I do love the concept of a girl down the hall being included, it just felt like her entire storyline was so jarringly different, it felt like she was piece-mealed into the book. Maybe a fourth POV could have tied her in better? But I digress. 

I went in with zero expectations, and so I was startled by several moments throughout the book. It took me until the final chapters to even realize this was likely a slice-of-life book, so I spent a lot of time wondering where the plot was going to come in.

Overall, I think Cha succeeded in what she wanted to do with the three main characters, and I very much appreciated how relaxing this was to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Classism, Body shaming, and Miscarriage

Korean beauty standards, beauty standards

sangsmiles's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, and Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse

prism_'s review

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Classism, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy

Minor: Infidelity and Infertility

thania's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.25

It was a fast paced and enjoyable read, I wish the author continued to write more beyond the ending she gave. Overall, it was a satisfying book that gave us a glimpse into the dark side of Korean society.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual content and Miscarriage

rileydobereading's review

medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Miscarriage, Infidelity, and Grief