Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

82 reviews

mbhcad's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I’m not entirely sure what this novel is about, but that doesn’t stop it from being gripping the entire way through. Han Kang creates a subject whose very existence upends the lives of those around her, laying out like spilt entrails the inescapable violence of patriarchy. Yeong-hye, the titular housewife-turned-vegetarian, is constantly manipulated and violated by the men around her who have decided her expression of autonomy is an unbearable offense. A spectacularly written read that left me feeling hollow, but not in a bad way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexism, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Body shaming, Blood, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Rape, Gore, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Body horror, Suicide attempt, and Forced institutionalization

raspberrymai's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Violence, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Self harm, and Infidelity

Minor: Vomit

undersea's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Wow. I’m not totally sure what I just read. This book is weird even for the weird book girlies. This is a crushing look at mental illness and being a woman in an extremely patriarchal society. This book made me sad in a kind of desolate & hopeless way, but overall I’m glad I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Body shaming, Body horror, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicide attempt

samihami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I couldn’t find sense in it. +3 stars for the creative narrative style and the theme of culture, traditions, and going against them. -2 because it seems

like vegetarianism is a sign of mental condition (since Yeong-hye ends up having an ed, attempts suicide, dissociates completely, and exhibits unusual behaviour) and because it just didn’t make sense to me. The dream inputs in the beginning were confusing, the characters seemed to have been quite one dimensional and Yeong-hye’s mental state just felt out of place and a little but silly. 

 
Though I must say I enjoyed the depiction of

marital SA as that rarely gets acknowledged or represented and isn’t commonly shown so realistically as it is The Vegetarian.

Overall it’s okay but wouldn’t recommend it to someone out of nowhere or reread it. 

Keep in mind that this can be triggering for some. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Body shaming

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Abandonment

komaedacoffee's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Vomit, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

khakipantsofsex's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

i am really trying to think if there's anything i got out of this book, and i'm coming up blank.
i can't even say it was interesting because i was often bored. it was undeniably disturbing, but that alone doesn't make for a good read. it often read like, "they did this. then they did this. this is what they did." the writing fell so flat that i didn't highlight a single passage. and maybe it went over my head but i couldn't extract any meaning from it, either. after reading others' reviews, none of the mentioned themes held any weight for me, except for patriarchy. just an unpleasant, unenlightening slog. it earned one star because the first part of the three was my favorite, and at least i can say i have a favorite, even though i wouldn't say it was good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Blood

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Gore, Abandonment, and Body shaming

Minor: Ableism, Dementia, Alcohol, and Cursing

ozzy_999's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

i hate men and this was very, very sad

overall unsatisfying end with a lot of men abusing their power and the psychological effects it has in the women in their lives were mostly highlighted in the last part of the book.

if you were told this was a horror novel you were lied to. it’s not NOT horror but i wouldn’t describe it as such.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Body shaming, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

yerulp's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Animal death, Blood, Gore, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Eating disorder, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Blood, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse

loustat__'s review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment