Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

32 reviews

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

neens_m's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage

aubigney's review

dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

I found this book extremely depressing to the point that I couldn’t finish it. I got to the sex worker’s affair and simply stopped reading. It was like everything good in life had been taken away from me. She was also extremely drunk and blacking out when the affair started, which makes me think the author is normalising sexual assault and passing it off as simply an affair instead of someone taking advantage of a sex worker who is much younger. I don’t know why someone would write a book like this except that they themselves were extremely miserable and going through it. The prose was not good so it wasn’t worth finishing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

sakisreads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

3.5

✨ Thrifted ✨

This book has a bit of a slow start so I wasn’t sure how much I’d get into it… But I’m glad I persevered! 
Based around Ara (a mute woman who works at a hair salon), Kyuri (a room salon worker), Miho (an artist whose move back to Seoul is fraught with relationship complications), Sijun (Ara’s protective best friend) and Wonna (the woman who lives in the apartment above the girls), this book had the resonance of ‘Girl, Woman, Other’. We explored beauty, family, feminism, and so much more!
I gave it 3.5 stars because it was, as mentioned above, a bit of a slow burner but once you got into it you couldn’t stop 👏🏼 

Some of my favourite moments included are below 👀

When Ara shoved that assistant Cherry’s head down the toilet, I somehow felt vindication for her 😂

I loved when Miho finally realised Hanbin was not the prince she needed and she was able to find power in her ‘cliché’ moments (e.g. Cutting off some of her hair, deciding to leak photos to the paps…) 🙊

I am also a huge fan of Korean food so all of their descriptors of kalgukksu, KFC etc. made me hungry 😅

Content warnings included below!
Thank you ✨

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Grief, Miscarriage, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, and Fatphobia

arieslofi's review

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

risemini's review

dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Infidelity, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, and Sexism

amrithi's review

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Alcoholism

nasima's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Pregnancy

Moderate: Medical content, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

grunbean's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

4.5

I wasn’t sure when I this was picked for my book club’s monthly read, but I quickly fell in to this novel.

I think it’s best not to say too much, as I think the journey I took with the characters in their chapters was the best part of this book. What’s important (and not too revealing) to know is that these complex women have lives that bring them together in the end. And there is something beautiful in how Frances Cha has done this. The women aren’t perfect, and there are ideas I would challenge, but that’s what makes this book so real. 

If you have experienced what it is like to live as a woman in society, this book will strike a chord. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Medical content, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Dysphoria, and Infidelity

adriaxlife's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Violence, Bullying, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Physical abuse, and Child abuse