Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

32 reviews

vixenreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It has a great commentary on beauty standards and gender politics for women in South Korea. 

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helliepad's review

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The story is so short but it's like buying an assortment of donuts in one donut box. You get to enjoy all of them even if you wanted more. I am also very fond of the theme that it's women looking out for other women in this world. We have each other's faces, etc.

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outersgrace's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5


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jasram's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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luluzza's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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markbos's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0


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heynonnynonnie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

  Hated|Disliked|Liked|Loved|Favorited 

Look I'm a sucker for a good female friendship book. I'm also a sucker for a good non-American/English culture immersion. And this book Delivered on both fronts.
Pros: strong female characters who have hopes and dreams and make mistakes and hard choices and sometimes you agree and sometimes you don't and I love them dearly. I loved how the four POV characters were extremely nuanced and sometimes typecast the other POV characters. Like it's easy to say that Miho is a daydreamer and isn't practical and sometimes the other POV characters will remark about how naive she is. But then Miho will get the reins and we'll see how she broke down every decision in her chapter. I was so excited to learn about the background story for each character. And I was so excited to see them support each other throughout the book. But even with this shiny, hopeful friend group, the author did a magnificent job of explaining and showing how cutthroat the world is for them. One thing that really strikes me is how carefully many words were used to give a non-Korean reader the exact impression of what happened. Words like "service" in the context of the room salons contrasted with the clinic. It's a subtle but thrilling difference. 
Cons: A lot of what builds each POV character is their back story. The author carefully alludes to this or that to keep the reader interested in the beginning. But this kind of leads to a middle section that can drag a tiny bit because the book takes a passive shift. A lot of the character arcs are about finding hope and support, so the arcs are also at a stage where they aren't taking action. The two issues compound in the middle of the book. As a result, it can feel like not much of the actual story occurred. I think the book both is and isn't slice of life. Or at least, I think that the initial sections seem like a set up for a meatier plot, but the book ends up slice of life. I felt satisfied with the way the book ended, but I can see how someone else may be left expecting more. 

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strrygo's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

can't think of the last time i've been so emotionally invested in the life of a character, let alone 4 of them! all of their voices r so distinct nd i felt sad to leave them when the book ended :') the commentaries were rly interesting and it was complex in the way the women interact with the world/each other, the relationships they built nd the expectations they were each trying to meet..or grapple with not meeting, but each of their experiences also seemed incredibly universal? i think bc they felt so real (flaws nd all) 
super glad i got to reading it !

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98romantic's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really loved this book. Somehow, though I don’t feel like it’s enough to tag the book as hopeful, I finished the book with a feeling of hope for all four of the narrating characters (and Sujin). I didn’t laugh much, and overall the tone was serious, but not to a crushing extent.

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aza_lea_3's review

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It was a really good experience, the book is striking of humanity in a both uneasy and beautiful way

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