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A review by spellboundchapters
Kim Jiyoung, née en 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The story starts when Kim Jiyoung, a 34 year old stay at home mother, experiences strange symptoms : she starts to impersonate other women's voice/mannerisms out of the blue. We then go back in time to when she's a young girl and follow her for her whole life until present day (i.e. 2016). Through her life, we have a depiction of women condition in Korea, especially of all the struggles experienced by them at different stages of their lives and at different time periods (from the 80s to the 2010s). This book is fiction but everything that happens is actually backed up with facts (wether it's historical events or social studies), so it's kind of a non fiction book in novel form.
Reading this book, I was sometimes annoyed at the events, but mostly sad and angry. Although it takes place in Korea, and some things are specific to what Korean women experience, majority of the things are pretty universal and will speak to women all around the world. It covers a variety of topics, from the different treatment of male vs female foetuses (which made my blood boil), and then of boys vs girls at home between siblings, or at school (e.g. girls have more rules concerning their outfits as boys) ; street harassment ; victim blaming ; job discrimination ; salary inequality ; maternal leave ; new technologies bringing out new ways to make places feel unsafe for women...
I was wondering why the tone lacked so much emotion, but at the very end it all made sense (it was like an unexpected plot twist lol).
What I loved the most about this book is the fact that the protagonist wasn't "the woke one", it was just an ordinary girl/woman and that makes it even easier to relate to her. I think it's the case for majority of women to not question gender inequalities when growing up and that it's not something that comes "naturally" when being raised in an environment where we're being told that "it's just how things are"... And that's exactly what happens in this book. (idk how much of what follows is considered spoilers, so i'm hiding it just in case you wanna go in this book completely blind)Before going to school, Kim doesn't question the difference of treatment between her little brother and her and her sister, and she only starts to really notice this and to find it unfair when her schoolmates are talking about it.
Another thing I liked is that Kim marries "one of the good ones", to show that yes, life at home is easier than if her husband was an absolute misogynistic jerk, but at the end it doesn't change that much things in her everyday life... She is still the one having to quit a job she loved against her will and then being judged for it by society.
I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone. It's books like these that help move things around and help us move forward in the right direction.
Reading this book, I was sometimes annoyed at the events, but mostly sad and angry. Although it takes place in Korea, and some things are specific to what Korean women experience, majority of the things are pretty universal and will speak to women all around the world. It covers a variety of topics, from the different treatment of male vs female foetuses (which made my blood boil), and then of boys vs girls at home between siblings, or at school (e.g. girls have more rules concerning their outfits as boys) ; street harassment ; victim blaming ; job discrimination ; salary inequality ; maternal leave ; new technologies bringing out new ways to make places feel unsafe for women...
I was wondering why the tone lacked so much emotion, but at the very end it all made sense (it was like an unexpected plot twist lol).
What I loved the most about this book is the fact that the protagonist wasn't "the woke one", it was just an ordinary girl/woman and that makes it even easier to relate to her. I think it's the case for majority of women to not question gender inequalities when growing up and that it's not something that comes "naturally" when being raised in an environment where we're being told that "it's just how things are"... And that's exactly what happens in this book. (idk how much of what follows is considered spoilers, so i'm hiding it just in case you wanna go in this book completely blind)
Another thing I liked is that Kim marries "one of the good ones", to show that yes, life at home is easier than if her husband was an absolute misogynistic jerk, but at the end it doesn't change that much things in her everyday life... She is still the one having to quit a job she loved against her will and then being judged for it by society.
I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone. It's books like these that help move things around and help us move forward in the right direction.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Abortion and Body shaming