Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

116 reviews

mumintr0llet's review

dark slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Blood, Misogyny, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Medical content, Self harm, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts

anenome's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Vomit, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Body shaming, Confinement, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Toxic relationship, Rape, Abandonment, Body horror, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

seekerxr's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

This was...certainly a book!

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexism and Medical content

Minor: Vomit

tangerinejellies's review

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Suicide

laurbretz's review

medium-paced

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

3.0

This has been on my TBR list for a while, but it was only ok. The two parts told through male POVs was  interesting, as we have no idea who Yeong-hye is until her sister's section. She is "insane" and "self-centered to her husband for becoming vegan (why was the title translated to vegetarian?) which makes you wonder what is left out of the narrative through the inherent unreliability of a male character who doesn't value or care for his wife and feels justified in his treatment of her. Veganism as a metaphor for female agency is obvious in her family's treatment of her, where she is treated as a criminal for her refusal to eat meat. The second male character's POV has her as an object of desire---she is an object for all the men in her life and it's little wonder she goes crazy. Her descent to madness is kinda yellow-wallpaperesque in that I felt I might have reacted the same way in their positions. I like the ambiguity of the dreams, and the dreams are the only place we get first-person insight into Yeong-hye. However, I was still a little bored while reading, so even though I appreciate the book it wasn't my favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape, Sexism, and Domestic abuse

mbhcad's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I’m not entirely sure what this novel is about, but that doesn’t stop it from being gripping the entire way through. Han Kang creates a subject whose very existence upends the lives of those around her, laying out like spilt entrails the inescapable violence of patriarchy. Yeong-hye, the titular housewife-turned-vegetarian, is constantly manipulated and violated by the men around her who have decided her expression of autonomy is an unbearable offense. A spectacularly written read that left me feeling hollow, but not in a bad way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Body shaming, Blood, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Rape, Gore, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Body horror, Suicide attempt, and Forced institutionalization

abicaro17's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This is hard because while I enjoyed the symbolism and literary quality of this book, it also contains numerous instances of gratuitous violence, eating disorders, and abuse. I came into this book thinking it was a horror book based on the cover and implications in the synopsis. It is a horror book but not like I thought. The way women are treated in this book is the truly horrifying part. Rape, abuse, sexualisation, more rape etc. I really enjoyed the intentional slow decent for Yeong-hye into having zero control over her life despite every attempt to prevent it. I think the execution is just so violent that this book is soured for any attempt at resolution. Especially when the resolution is the sister abandoning her child?! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Abandonment, Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Infidelity, Misogyny, Body horror, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexism, Gaslighting, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Eating disorder, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Physical abuse

elnr00's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Eating disorder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

courtney_scott1025's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

I understand why some people may not enjoy this book. I don’t understand why people don’t like this book based on ‘no one would treat a vegetarian that way in real life’ or other ‘unrealistic’ things in this book. I could not put this book down. I loved that it was told through 3 different people in the main characters life. It was definitely horror, and I would closely read the content warnings, because it is a heavy book. But, I would recommend this book wholeheartedly. It is so sad in the best way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Animal death, Sexual violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Grief

aisclaradm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.25

I liked much of it, but I think the story was too far-fetched and had no satisfying ending. It seemed to be building up to something incredible, but it left me wanting. Beautiful story at times and an interesting premise, but it was lacking too much to rate it higher. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Body horror, Animal death, Infidelity, Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Self harm, and Dysphoria