mimikyutie 's review for:

The Hole by Pyun Hye-young

3.75

challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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While the pace can occasionally slow and turn to a trickle as it switches between narrative past and present, the plot is gripping, tense, and filled with lurid details. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Medical trauma, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment

Minor: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts

The point-of-view character is involved in a car wreck at the beginning of the book that leaves him mostly paralyzed, unable to walk, talk, control his bladder, or do anything independently. His mother-in-law eventually takes on the role of caretaker, but in the wake of her daughter’s death she starts to piece together something about her troubled marriage with the main character and turns spiteful, neglecting his care. There is a scene in which the word “cripple” is used in a derogatory way as well as a scene in which the main character’s genitals are exposed against his will and in front of other people so that mother-in-law can replace his catheter bottle.

Eventually, mother-in-law (seemingly) begins to intentionally neglect the main character’s health, sabotages his career, isolates him from friends and colleagues, and conspires to kill and bury the main character for having an affair with a coworker and a student of his and for being a shady guy overall. Her attempt that is presumably successful, as the book ends with him having fallen in.