Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Human Acts by Han Kang

14 reviews

misuki's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Death, Torture, War, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

krystalgaia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

So heavy.. reminded me of the martial law period in my own country. This book is a very good exploration of the effects of dictatorship in a state, as well as the multiple perspectives of those who lost their loved ones in the fight for justice.

Sufficiently gory, did not overdo the depiction of trauma.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Police brutality, Sexual assault, War, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Physical abuse, and Torture

Minor: Suicide

lisvxdro's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

I was given this book by a coworker and a companion during my time in South Korea. On the surface level, I was a bit conflicted as I didn’t have enough information on the Gwangju Uprisings. But that’s the beauty of this book. Han Kang uses real-life stories and create a sort of nonfiction-esque novel where we learn about the issues of that time through the eyes of multiple characters. Each character, having some connection to the boy Dong-ho, adds to this sense of shared experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The closest thing to this is like Babel. 

Han’s writing style for this book does well to give you impactful introspection in a way that’s not familiar in the west. By spending the entire 1/3-1/2 of the chosen chapter setting up that chapter’s character worldview, the rest is the truth revealed in the most honest way possible. This book stings, it’s raw and often picturesque to the point that it might make you queasy. But the book is worth the read.

Favorite chapters: 
-The Boy’s Friend read like a very dark and doomed Miyazaki story. I felt hopeless after.
-The Prisoner was definitely a hard one to get through, especially the reveal at the end with the young boys. Such innocence lost.
-The Boy’s Mother: I felt empty and deeply emotional. This chapter reminded me of my own fears.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, War, Child abuse, Death, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Confinement

sugarloaded's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was my third Han Kang book (I had read The Vegetarian last year and Greek Lessons a couple of months ago). Han Kang writes magnificently. This is definitely a book that will stay with me. Really heavy on a lot of triggering topics. Please tread carefully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Torture, Gore, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual violence

mcfay's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Torture, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Death, Confinement, Alcoholism, and Blood

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Reflections on death and attempts at burying memories so as not to have to relive them conflicting with those who see no other option but to relive them

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Confinement, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Cancer, Police brutality, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Body horror

madamenovelist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Grief, Vomit, Torture, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Medical content, and Mass/school shootings

amna_a's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gun violence, Child death, Death, Police brutality, and Genocide

Moderate: Rape, Torture, and Violence

luman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

A heartache put into prose that deserves to be heard, some places gave me goosebumps, some caused my eyes to feel heavy with the feeling of brimming tears that never really came and just sunk deep into my heart.
I don't feel like I can comment much on this as it is souch a delicate story but I loved everything about the way it was handled: the intertwined different persepctives that connected in one way or another, the usage of 1st person and lastly, the inclution of the writer's experience as well.
In some ways, I could relate these events to Lithuania's own history and the writer's experiences to my own feelings of wanting to keep the memory of all thes brave people alive and the desperate wishing to be able to go back in time and make the suffering go away, to protect everyone somehow or at least let them know that it will all not go in vain.

All in all, I am getting more and more sucked into this topic and also am planning on checking out other Han Kang's works as well, if this was anything to go by.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Emotional abuse, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Death, Confinement, Child death, and Child abuse

dioinysus's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

Moderate: Child abuse and Sexual violence