eliza20barnes 's review for:

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

4.0

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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What a fantastic exploration of South Korea’s treatment of women by trying to reclaim bodily autonomy… Such a clever way to frame one woman’s constant mistreatment by the men in her life and the slow descent into madness - rejecting the human form to find a more resilient plant form. I thought it was fucked up and I enjoyed that, my favourite being the Mongolian Mark section (very Crash, very sexually depraved and fucked). I definitely wanted a bit more from this book, but there was something special and deeply moving about hearing from In-hye’s perspective and how it could’ve been her in Yeong-hye’s place, but I still wanted more depraved, maybe more magical realism?