Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Hole by Pyun Hye-young

13 reviews

meaghanelizabook's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Excrement, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity and Infertility

candiemarsh's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-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

3.0

This was a smooth and fast read. Translation was done well and it did invoke some strong feelings. The flow of writing gave some leeway to readers to make their own assumptions, and although the conclusion was quite obvious, the author still allowed it to be somewhat open-ended. However, I did feel like the background stories of the characters were not strong enough to reason why they did what they did and came out as rather vague. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Car accident, Excrement, and Medical trauma

Minor: Infidelity and Death

rorikae's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

‘The Hole’ by Hye-Young Pyun is a short novel that details the life of a man paralyzed after a horrific car accident that killed his wife. His mother-in-law begins to take care of him but things aren’t quite as they seem as she begins to dig a hole in the garden his wife created. 
The Hole is a very quick book that I wish had been more suspenseful. We get a lot of meditations from the main character about being stuck in bed after the accident and the horrors of feeling out of control. I think this could have been ramped up even further. I was expecting more outright suspense and a threatening atmosphere but it was much slower and methodical of a book. The writing itself is good but I feel like this book could have benefited from creating more atmosphere. The last few chapters did exactly what I was expecting/hoping for and the end is sinister. I wish that this had been more present throughout the rest of the story since it is clear how well the author can create this sense of dread and suspense from the last few chapters. 
This is much more literary fiction in the first half/two thirds of the book and I wish that the suspenseful/horrific aspects had been ramped up to more quickly.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Car accident, Confinement, and Grief

apollinares's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.25

A very short, very gripping story of a now-paralysed car crash survivor in the care of his mother in law, whose daughter had died in the same crash. I happen to find the

"caretaker turns out to be abusive"

trope particularly uncomfortable, and I also suffer from HORRIBLE second hand embarassment, so this novel felt like a personal little torture device. The audiobook was uncomfortable to sit through, and the claustrophobic atmosphere that's present throughout the story through its use of Oghi's senses - mainly him hearing things through the door, and the tactile sensations he does feel described in the vivid way of a character with no other outlet or focus - kept that sense of dread right up until the very end.

I've seen this trope done better, I've seen it done worse. I really liked the clues that hint at the wife's goals peppered throughout the book, as well as the broader cultural context. I also enjoyed the cinematic storytelling. I could picture some of the scenes as specific film shots - this would make great suspense film. Kind of reminded me of Bong Joon-ho's Parasite.

Alternating between Oghi's post-accident existence, primarily characterised by loneliness and neglect, and flashbacks to his marriage, the way the layers of the plot peel back slowly to reveal what was going on, really sat with me. It's not overly hand-hold-y, and I'm surprised at how uncomfortable it made me. Not even scared or upset, just so, so uneasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Medical content, Death, Confinement, Chronic illness, Sexual harassment, Grief, Gaslighting, Excrement, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity

sgonzo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Confinement, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Body shaming, Car accident, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, and Medical content

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Grief, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Infertility

Minor: Suicide

rosesofthespring's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Emotional abuse, and Medical content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Racism, Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Infertility, and Infidelity

Minor: Death of parent, Fatphobia, and Misogyny

parasolcrafter's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Ableism, Car accident, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, and Medical content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcohol and Body shaming

this is gonna be a book i remember for a long time. fucked me up

lady_ness's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, and Grief

dalmavatai's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

This book was just... weird. The atmosphere was definitely tense and ominous, and for a while, I enjoyed the psychological lens of describing the characters, but slowly and steadily it got quite dense and description-heavy. It was also a bit hard to follow on audio because everyone is either referred to by an initial or by their relationship to Oghi (e.g., mother-in-law). I expected that the ending would still redeem this book for me because I've heard from other people that it's quite dark and twisty, but sadly that wasn't the case. I thought it ended at quite a bizarre point, it felt like the story got cut off abruptly. A forgettable read personally. I do think if you go into this book knowing that you probably won't be shocked and it's kind of the slow-burn of seeing everything unfold that's supposed to appeal to you, then you might like it better than I did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Ableism, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts