Reviews

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

the_literarylinguist's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sofiapaginas's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

andy_acid's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

sarcasticnerdette's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

gdswitchblade's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

karleigh25's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Eating disorder, Death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Self harm

bookdsolid's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

perillaleaf's review

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

jess_mango's review

3.0

Hmmm. odd, dark, weird, perplexing book.

The Vegetarian tells the story of Yeong-hye, a young lady from Seoul, Korea, who after having a bizarre nightmare, decides to become a vegetarian. Not only a vegetarian, she seeks to live a more plant-like existence, doing things like sunning herself naked. Her decision confuses and even angers her husband and parents. There's some force feeding, psych evals, etc. As her family estranges her, Yeong-hye sinks deeper into her plant-based fantasy.

This book is mostly told from the perspective of characters other than the vegetarian. The book is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on Yeong-hye and her husband The second section is mostly about her brother-in-law who sees her as a muse for his art. The 3rd section shifts the focus to Yeong-hye's sister and her relationship with Yeong-hye. Through all of these various perspectives we see how Yeong-hye is viewed with anything from disdain to wonder and fear. There are a lot of feminist messages in here about the subjugation and objectification of women.

This book counts towards the Reading Women 2020 Challenge task #2: a book translated from an Asian language

sarahpuedeleer's review

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0