Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

62 reviews

niles_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

5.0

Another great read at the start of the year!

The title portrays it as a book about a mentally ill woman who turned vegetarian, but it is so, so much more.

From discussing different ways someone can handle abuse to what it means to be a good mother, this book really makes you realize how different each person is and how differently we operate.

The blurb definitely doesn’t do it justice.

This book managed to disturb me with the dog scene; beware that there is animal abuse in it. 

A 5 star read! It is a hard book to recommend to someone, but a definite must read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Abandonment

tyras_bookshelf's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Very vivid and creative but also so so distributing!! 

 

I couldn’t finish part 3 at first because outside of watching Yeong-hye waste away, I couldn’t figure what the point of it all was. Like the story stared to drag. 

 

I was really into it at first even though Yeong-hye husband’s was absolutely terrible. I thought her strange behavior was gonna be because she was running a crime ring or something interesting and ironic since her husband viewed her as boring and average. But actually she’s devolving into psychotic fits. 

 

These dreams and nightmares about meat eating and memories from her childhood completely make this character into a simultaneously erratic and stoic person. 

 

Then we get into part two, and the brother in law also starts kinda normal before he lets his baser nature and obsession get the best of him. Like can you imagine marrying your wife but wanting her sister then actually going through with cheating even while you know that sister is ill? Absurd. And he was a terrible father, even before his obsession with the sister. 

All the dads/husbands were pretty terrible, so maybe that’s social commentary about patriarchy. Idk. 

 

So Yeong-hye’s part was about disconnecting from something central to her—her relationship with meat—and like pushing something away. But it being told her husbands POV takes away her autonomy that she doesn’t recover through the book. 

 

While the brother in law’s section was about indulgence and like stepping into something. He was so persistent in his pursuit to create art, and slake his lust at the expense of everything else. 

 

So the main characters of these parts are both at extremes but then the sister is a thread between all three parts. She’s just kinda there; caretaker, jilted wife, “the good sister” etc. 

 

All of part 3 made me want to throw up so I had to skip to the last few passages. It felt like part 3 was a different book entirely from parts 1 and 2. 

 

While I don’t understand the message or goal of the book, I’m left with a few things: 

 

How tragic illness can be on a family when someone’s body can betray them so intimately and completely. 

Angry at how In-hye could blame herself for every terrible thing that happened in the story-- husband‘s adultery, Yeong-hye sickness, her father’s abuse. It felt so unfair that the most gentle character has to deal with so much heartache and responsibility, also cannot see how valuable she is to her family. 

 

Very odd book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

ladynavalon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

withlivjones's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.5

It felt unfinished and kind of underwhelming. I was expecting this book to be more weird than sad but it ended up being more sad than weird. There are some parts that are very well-written, some that are pretty graphic and disturbing, and some that don’t make much sense at all. Part of me wanted a chapter from the perspective of Yeong-Hye, just to know what was actually going through her mind. 

Maybe I just don’t have a high enough IQ to understand this book - I’m still curious to read more Han Kang in the future, though. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Medical content

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

everyonespal's review

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

gregory_glover's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

I know I am probably in the minority, but I really only got invested after about 75% of the way through.  Then I found the ending abrupt and unsatisfying.  Perhaps that is necessary, given the subject matter and the approach (highly visually symbolic and atmospheric).  A combo of Kafka and Plath.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

smallwhitepills's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Vomit, Dementia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

smallwhitepills's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

jessedithgc's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit

lavendelchen's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Das Buch war so gar nicht, was ich erwartet hatte. Düster und verstörend, hat es mich trotzdem so sehr gepackt, dass ich es in einem Rutsch gelesen habe.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis