Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

229 reviews

pinkiereads's review

challenging dark tense

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

3.0

veeeryyyyyy strange... i only really liked the last third, from the sister's perspective. everything else i kinda struggled to get through, and it didn't feel like some of the violence - both real and imagined - was necessary. and i would have loved to know more about the dreams and the wife's perspective! i'm writing this months after reading it so i dont really remember oops

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, and Domestic abuse

sarahcothron's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Mental illness, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Animal death, Self harm, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Eating disorder

rachser's review

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

I really wish my version of the cover didn't mention sexuality. It meant I was expecting something that wasn't there. The only sex in this book is non-consensual and the only people we see desiring it are the men doing it.
That said, this book is very effective and was hard to read at times (because it was so well written). I'm not sure why certain plot points were included but overall its a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Eating disorder

hannaheinhorn's review

challenging dark sad 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? Yes

1.5

because many people with mental health are already silenced when telling their own stories, this book rubbed me the WRONG way. i disliked the author’s choice to describe various violent instances (specifically the multiple rapes) by gratuitously showing it through the brother-in-law’s perspective and the husband’s perspective. i’ve read far grimmer stories but this one grossed me out, especially because of the pedophilic overtones when describing yeong-hye’s emaciated body. i feel like the author did exactly what she was trying to critique, which is ridiculous.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Vomit, Physical abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, and Eating disorder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

aiyole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Eating disorder, Rape, Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

whatsophreadnext_'s review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

miafromorchardstreet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Blood

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, and Vomit

dawntin's review against another edition

dark sad tense 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

3.5

What a dark and devastating book! I read this for a class, and was told it would go well with the ecofeminist analysis of literature. It did, though definitely not in the way I thought things would go. The plot was a bit hard to get through at times because of how violent it was: full of family/marriage issues, mental illnesses, and trauma. The narrator changing with each section of the book was interesting. I did not like

the main character’s husband or her sister’s husband’s perspectives

at all, but the drama that unfolded was like a wreck I couldn’t stop looking at. The narrator was never who I wanted to hear from (Yeong-hye gets her small snippets in the form of dreams, but nothing else). I guess that’s a part of the book’s main point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Rape, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Child abuse

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