Review by magicalghoul - The Vegetarian

magicalghoul 's review for:

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

4.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Clubs de Lectura 2025: Enero

How do you navigate the weight of life and all the patriarchal violence inflicted on you, without going... mad? Without detaching yourself from reality and wanting to turn into a tree, like Daphne did?

The first two parts enraged me so (not because the text was bad, the characters and situations just feel so real and it was obvious we weren't meant to sympathize with the men) while the third and last part almost brought me to tears.

While reading the first part I thought that yeong-hye didn't have a community, that even her family favored the men in her life. By the third part it's apparent that she had In-hye all along, and the struggle of the sister to keep that bond afloat pained me so much.

Content Warnings