Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Hole

This did not hit me as a horror. I understand it was meant to make you iffy in the feeling of being helpless in the hands of another. Having no say in what is done to you and your own body. And it definitely had me wrinkle my nose in disgust at times. But it didn't leave me as unsettled as I expected it to, I guess??

This was entertaining enough though. Especially the last couple of chapters really picked up the pace.

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brucethegirl's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

2.5

It's the ableism as body horror for me.

But at the end of the day, the translation was excellent, the main reason this is 2 not 1 star. The way the translator was able to convey subtle aspects of Korean culture so brilliantly was honestly masterful. With only a single hiccup where they had to explain the relation between the different meanings of the word chagi.

I'll also admit that there were certainly aspects of this book that I really enjoyed, and that could have made me really love it- the things that kept me from DNFing in the face of the disgusting ablism. Most notably was the way the sexism and also the disintegration of their marriage was portrayed. It was clear if you read between the lines, but subtle enough I could see how it would be missed. But even from the first few pages, the hints are already there. It's how we're led to empathize with Ogi through the terrors he faces when he doesn't even recognize himself as the monster of his story.

But then that brings us to the real issue with the book. The way the real horror is so reliant on the ableism, not in the horror of how another could treat someone this way, but in the horror of losing control of his own body and being at the whims of another. Too often ableism is used as a means of horror, the way a reader can find themself in a state of horror without a monster having to be present. A different level of body horror that I just can't stand. Yes, the way his mother in law treats him is messed up, but its the lack of him being able to do anything as she forces his condition to worsen that makes the reader want him to triumph even as the horrors of his own actions are revealed.

There was so much promise in this book, ruined by the need to make disability horrific. That easy way out used to force a reader to observe a body at not fully functioning capacity in order to make them uncomfortable. That aspect was too much for me.

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lady_ness's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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dalmavatai's review against another edition

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dark 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

3.0

This book was just... weird. The atmosphere was definitely tense and ominous, and for a while, I enjoyed the psychological lens of describing the characters, but slowly and steadily it got quite dense and description-heavy. It was also a bit hard to follow on audio because everyone is either referred to by an initial or by their relationship to Oghi (e.g., mother-in-law). I expected that the ending would still redeem this book for me because I've heard from other people that it's quite dark and twisty, but sadly that wasn't the case. I thought it ended at quite a bizarre point, it felt like the story got cut off abruptly. A forgettable read personally. I do think if you go into this book knowing that you probably won't be shocked and it's kind of the slow-burn of seeing everything unfold that's supposed to appeal to you, then you might like it better than I did.

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