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A review by dawntin
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
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.
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