Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

53 reviews

nenaveenstra's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-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

Ik vond het interessant om te zien hoe herkenbaar sommige aspecten van dit boek waren, terwijl andere dingen een totale cultuurshock vormden. Ook in de Nederlandse vertaling is het Zuid-Koreaanse gevoel gebleven, en ik had echt even het gevoel alsof ik ergens anders was. Ik vond het mooi en verdrietig om te zien hoe erg de hoofdpersoon worstelde met zijn eigen identiteit, en de liefde die hij niet van zijn ouders had gekregen leek te zoeken bij willekeurige mannen. Ik moest af en toe echt even het boek wegleggen om te reflecteren op mijn eigen leven.

Een minpuntje vind ik dat het boek is opgedeeld in vier verschillende delen, en dat die delen lijken geschreven voor een publiek dat de andere delen niet gelezen heeft. Daarmee bedoel ik dat er soms dingen overbodig worden uitgelegd, omdat je dat letterlijk tien bladzijden geleden nog gelezen hebt. Misschien zijn ze eerder in een ander format gepubliceerd?

Ook vind ik het taalgebruik soms wat simpel. Dat ligt niet aan de auteur, maar aan de vertaler - die heeft ongetwijfeld zijn best gedaan om zo trouw mogelijk te blijven aan het origineel, maar daardoor voelde het soms wat clunky. Ook stonden er heel veel referenties in naar dingen uit de Koreaanse popcultuur die niet werden toegelicht voor de lezer, dat vond ik jammer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Homophobia

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abortion, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual content

himangi's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Abortion, Addiction, Homophobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Vomit and Stalking

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, and Sexual content

Moderate: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Cancer, Gaslighting, and Terminal illness

Minor: Abortion, Cursing, Child abuse, Vomit, Death, Classism, Outing, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Grief, Infidelity, and Blood

liv_txt's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Fatphobia, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, and Sexual content

thedaydreamreader's review

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

It took me 3 mos. to finish this book. Considering its length, it should have not taken me that long. However, the book's premise needed me to put days in between while reading it than binging the whole book. 

Overall, it felt like reading someone's musings. It felt like a friend writing to you about what's happening in their lives, though in third person. The story was relatable in the sense that it can be anyone you know. It's believable, even the thoughts of the main character. 

Did it leave me any feelings? No. I neither feel satisfied nor sad with the ending. It just left me relieved, even contemplative, of how fickle love can be in a person's life. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer and Homophobia

readingqueerly's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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

5.0

Where do I even start. This book is phenomenal. And that's coming from me, a person who isn't usually interested in contemporary literature. I feel like I could relate to the main character so well. Some issues he went through were very recognizable and we're things I'm going through as we speak even. The way relationships are depicted, be it platonic or romantic or familial, is so incredibly realistic it becomes painful and painfully relatable. I've always loved character driven stories. And this truly is top tier for me. The MC is so deeply flawed, I disliked him at several points. Yet it just made me want to keep reading. 
Despite my grudge against this Dutch translation, I will be scoring this with the full five stars. Those last few lines made me CRY.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Religious bigotry, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Homophobia, Abortion, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts

wlarianna's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia

Moderate: Cancer and Child abuse

mmefish's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad fast-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

4.5

I took out a low, foldable table from under the bed and wiped the dust with a wet wipe. No matter how much I wiped, there was still dust—how very much like everything else in my life.

Rain still falls during the late rainy season, as do tears even when it's too late.

I have a soft spot for books like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Homophobia, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, and Abortion

Minor: Religious bigotry, Death, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

morebedsidebooks's review

slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Cancer, Car accident, Abortion, Forced institutionalization, and Chronic illness

scifi_rat's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Cancer, and Chronic illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Medical content, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Transphobia, Misogyny, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Fatphobia, Outing, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts