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lydiamcleod's review
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Sexism, Child abuse, Self harm, and Death
traciereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Eating disorder and Rape
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
lilnormbean's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual content and Child abuse
sashasghost's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
rape is also explored through part 2 with both Yeong-hye and In-hye. you see rape from the rapists perspective so it's very cold, not truly acknowledging the pain they've inflicted.
mental illness is prevalent. it's an accurate depiction of the pain, so it's rather brutal, especially in part 3. you only get glimpses into Yeong-hye's perspective and only in part 1. it's very isolating.
it's by no means an enjoyable read in most people's common meaning of 'an enjoyable book'. for me, there's appreciation in the carefully painful choices Kang made. framing the perspectives through the unloving husband, the obsessive brother-in-law, and the struggling sister. they're different perspectives of cowardice, different types of cowardice.
In-hye's perspective i personally found more brutal for it's exploration of familial abuse. the guilt, the constant what if's, the growing up too soon.
it's a very well written, painful little book.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Rape
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Suicide
Minor: Child abuse
horrorclassics's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, and Eating disorder
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Body shaming
arieslofi's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Medical content, and Rape
Moderate: Child abuse and Ableism
Minor: Abandonment
dawntin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexual content, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Child abuse
benthewriter's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Rape, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
itsnat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Animal cruelty
seekerxr's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a difficult read. You definitely need to pay attention to the CW's and maybe even do more research on them before deciding to pick this up, because i went out of my way to look for them and I still got shocked by a few things. There were certain scenes in this book that made my stomach twist and they didn't have anything to do with the expected gore you'd think of just from the plot summary.
Overall though, this book didn't quite meet my expectations. I think my main problem is that this book was not in the main character's (Yeong-hye) perspective pretty much at all, except for a few little snippets. We get pretty much the entire story from outside perspectives; her husband, her brother-in-law, her sister. I feel like it took a lot of the oomph out of the story.
It would've been a much more compelling book if we saw it from Yeong-hye's point of view, so we can witness the descent of mental state firsthand. Watching from the outside just made every change seem bizarre, which was probably the point of making that decision about the POVs, but it only made the story confusing in my opinion. It made it all less enjoyable because I just wasn't sure what was going on for half the book.
One thing I did like, though, was the part in her sisters (In-hye) point of view. I think the author captured the frustration and grief of having a loved one struggling with mental illness really well. It was heartbreaking to watch In-hye just watch her sister get worse and not being able to do anything about it.
The ending, to keep it non-spoilery, was very unsatisfying in my opinion.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Animal death
Moderate: Sexism and Medical content
Minor: Vomit