Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

17 reviews

henrytinker's review

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• 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

I really enjoyed the first section and thought this was going to be a 5 star read, but it began to get very repetitive as it went on despite the perspective changes. e.g. the numerous descriptions of Yeon-Hye's body and how unknowable and mysterious she is because she's mentally ill. It's also very ableist to frame mental illness as a choice to 'let go' of societal expectations, and that's not even getting into all the descriptions of the patients at the hospital and what a 'problem' they are for the staff and family members.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

jamesdavid's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Blood, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Dementia, Eating disorder, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Ableism, Gore, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

kaiulanilee's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Ableism

Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

feranmi's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Part I known as The Vegetarian was excellent, was terrifying and disturbing and the same time but WTF was Part II. The change was jolting and very unpleasant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Blood, Self harm, Rape, Animal cruelty, Dementia, Vomit, Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, and Body shaming

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Sexual violence

Minor: Gaslighting, Gun violence, Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, and Infidelity

mermaidsherbet's review

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, and Ableism

Moderate: Sexual assault

thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

femmenova's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.0

I was so in shock when I found out that this was written by a female author because I was cringing at how the male and female characters were written. Every male character was either a rapist or an abuser - from the protagonist's rapist husband to her abusive father. Every female character was either so submissive or unloved yet independent. The only redeeming part about this book was how the sister-in-law immediately yelled at her husband for raping her sister - she knew that her sister who was mentally ill cannot consent to the sexual advances that he made. The bond between the sisters was also interesting to read about, though I wish it was developed from the beginning and not just from the middle part. The entire part about her husband which is in part two could have easily been scrapped away, it was unnecessary violence to me. 

Maybe I'm just tired of reading schizophrenic people being abused and hurt and vilified as a schizophrenic person myself. Maybe that's just why this book is just a generous 2 star or me. Objectively, the writing was not bad. The pacing was fluid. There was just so many things to dislike about the plot that I simply cannot rate it higher than that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Ableism

If you have a psychotic mental illness as I am, this book can be quite triggering at how they treated the main character. She is raped twice by her own husband and her brother-in-law, throughout the book. She is then abused by her father and abandoned by her parents.