Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-hee

19 reviews

robinks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.25

The concept was cool, but in practice, I didn’t like how the book was arranged. Each chapter was a random combination of commentary and conversation, making it hard to follow at times, and it was unclear what the timing of the sessions looked like relative to each other. Also, the last chapter suddenly switched gears into short essays, which I didn’t like. Additionally, as a therapist myself, Sehee’s therapist was giving so much advice and perspective packaged as truth that I did not agree with.

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loinereads's review against another edition

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I got so BORED.

I really wanted to go through with this book as I am going to therapy myself, I thought it would be comforting to hear about someone else’s trauma and difficulties with self esteem and anxiety.

But the main character’s problems felt very frivolous to me. I absolutely lacked empathy and even though I can understand the extent of help this book could bring to some people, it’s just not for me. 

I feel very respectful still towards the author because it mustn’t have been easy to keep track of all these sessions and confide through a book that can be read by so much. 

As I listened to the audiobook, I just felt like I was feeling worse than ever (when in reality not at all! I am fine considering everything I’ve been through) but I kept comparing my own experiences to the ones told in this book and I kept making me feel worse.

I think it’s definitely a book for people who know something’s wrong with their approach of life and social engagement and want to have a starting point of understanding the causes and maybe even get some tools to deal with their existential dread but It might really be boring for people who understand their trauma and already have some tools to deal with them.

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buttongirl22's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

This was a retrospective look at working through one’s issues through therapy. It was heavily relatable and enlightening to read. I found myself seeing my own behavior and thoughts reflected back through a more clear lens. I really enjoyed Baek Se-hee’s writing and candor in this sensitive subject. 

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sarah984's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

3.0

I think this was a really courageous thing to publish but the book itself is not organized very well - it's transcripts of therapy sessions and some seemingly unrelated short essays - and the psychiatrist honestly didn't seem very helpful aside from prescribing medications.

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ausra's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0


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emmareeser's review against another edition

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3.0


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danimcthomas's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

3.25


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onlyonebookshelf's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

4.0


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ellaticonstellation's review against another edition

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dark hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I liked this memoir. It opened my eyes to the Psychology of making choices; that how we see ourselves is reflected in how self-esteem we have. Confidence is a choice and having a middle ground is okay to not be tied to the extremes of black and white. Life is complicated and having just two choices didn’t make sense. Sehee, Unnie, thank you for sharing your life and experiences with us, it’s not easy, but you did it. This book opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities and realizing that I need to focus more on the positive side because negativity can ruin a person. Overall, I was enlightened by this book.

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icarusandthesun's review

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.25

since this is a memoir/self-help book, how much i enjoyed it was directly proportional to how much i related to the author and her struggles.
so note that my rating conveys just that - how much i identified with the author - and not necessarily how good the book was from a literary or objective point of view.

for me, this was a very insightful read.
while i couldn't relate to every single thing the author struggles with (obviously), i did find quite a few of my own problems and struggles represented. 
the therapist's answers and reflections weren't life-changing in and of themselves, but the combination between them and the author's ("the patient's") conclusions made for very thought-provoking chapters and situations. 

inspiring if you dare to apply all of this to your life and actually try to 'self-help'.

i do need to mention though that some aspects of the book were a little repetitive, which makes sense, obviously, because one can only have so many struggles to mention and those don't go away once you check them off of your imaginery checklist, but just wanna mention it for the sake of your reading experience.
however, since the book is only around 200 pages long, i think you should be more than fine.

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