Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

52 reviews

anhii's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny reflective relaxing sad 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? Yes

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective 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

3.5

3.5 stars

This is really a slice of life character study of one gay Korean man and his hot mess of life and various (mostly failed) relationships. There's four 'stories' or sections, each following sequentially (more or less) with flashbacks. 

Young is a fascinating character - often unwilling or unmotivated to do anything with his life besides pursue bad/mediocre sex with random men, earn enough money to pay for the necessities, and ignore his problems by drinking. We get a deep dive into his psyche with the interactions with his mom, the difficulties of being her caregiver, the ups and downs of being in relationships, and the mental stress/trauma of being gay and HIV+ in a society that still has a lot of work to do for LGBTQIA+ equality.

I kept turning the pages of this short novel to find out what Young would do next - and what his next rumination on life would be - because Park's writing and authorial voice was compelling and well realized. I haven't read the novel in the original Korean, but I think Hur did a great job capturing Young's personality and the setting of Seoul (it was basically a character, too). 

Finally, I really appreciated both the author's note and translator's note - they both highlighted the importance of telling queer Korean stories and the power of seeing yourself and your lived experiences reflected in fiction. 

Some quotes that I dog-eared:

"Umma was now lying on the grass and staring up at the sky. She looked incredibly calm. At peace. I wondered if that ninety-nine pound, fifty-eight year old woman staring at the fading firmament was feeling the same way I was feeling. That my life could not be summed up like the neat columns of numbers on a chart, that it could swerve in an unpredictable direction at any time. That the person I though I knew best just because we had blood ties could actually be the most mysterious and unknown. That there were times in life when you just have to stop holding on." (page 126)

"Rain still falls during the late rainy season, as do tears even when it's too late." (page 215)

"Lately I've felt like I'm crumbling away little by little. Like Guy-ho in my memories, I am breaking down and scattering into ashes. The feeling is so clear to me that it's hard to shake it off like I normally would. Sometimes his very existence to me is the existence of love itself." (page 215)

CW: fatphobia and discussions of the character gaining weight (not in a positive sense), homophobia, unsafe sex, cancer, temporary forced institutionalization/hospitalization of a teen, alcohol and unhealthy drinking habits

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mistyyyy's review

Go to review page

emotional inspiring sad medium-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

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ankbert's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted sad fast-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

A mix of lightheartedness and beautifully written emotions. I liked how it quickly switched the mood through just a few lines and it made me feel and reflect. I would love to see this as a movie.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

buchherz_eva's review

Go to review page

The second part of the book just made it impossible for me to enjoy.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

martasshelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

Really enjoyed this book. 
Loved the dry humor and the serious reflective moments.
Also appreciated the writing of different relationships, not only romantic or good ones, like friends and family - Park's relationship with his mum tells us a lot about him.
Park sounds sometimes uncaring, like someone who goes through life lightly but he cares more than he shows. And the book is darker and sadder thank it feels when you think about it. In the end, it feels somehow familiar even if your reality couldn't be farther from Park's.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

marianaribeiro's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

2.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

noahsingh's review

Go to review page

medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

daria_mm's review

Go to review page

challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cheye13's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

2.0

I can appreciate that this book needed to be written, and I appreciate translations for broadening readers' scope of the world, but it remains that this is a book primarily written for Korean readers. As a translation to English, I wish it was a little more than a stream-of-consciousness, (mostly) low-stakes, fictional memoir. My favorite thing about this book is that Koreans can read a story like this in their native language. Americans (me), on the other hand, have plenty of these.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings