Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Kim Čijong — ročník 82 by Cho Nam-joo

10 reviews

kaylaswhitmore's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

BIG oof. Reading this only a couple days after the 2024 election results was certainly a choice lol.

I find myself, upon finishing the book, recalling so many moments during my korean-american upbringing listening to my mom process how she wished she weren’t Korean, how she forbade me to marry a Korean man, how she never wanted to return to Korea… Some of those sentiments have changed for her since then, though not all, and as a 26yo married woman, fast approaching the time to begin a family, I found this book a really harrowing and brutal memoir of Korean society and patriarchal society at large. Yes, Korea is unique to its own culture and atmosphere—but sadly, even as an American, I could relate to far more than I wanted to be able to.

I can only imagine how many little nuggets of gold were lost in the translation of this book from Korean to English. Still, Nam-joo’s unflinching portrait of misogyny and motherhood is both chilling and humbling. It brings to light questions of progress, how to bring about progress, even who can truly drive progress. And the end is unapologetically realistic. But even then, the thread of hope—of feminine unity—that persists throughout her narrative gives hope. It’s all the women along the way that hold us up, bring us to the light. It’s the women who are afraid, yet still speak, the women who are small, but make themselves big that inspire us. We can be that for each other, and one day, the fight won’t be so hard.

I highly recommend this read to women and men of any background, though unfortunately, the men who need to read it most will probably not bother.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Miscarriage, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Infertility, and Classism

rnbhargava's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

This book is as informative as it is engaging and heartbreaking. I’m mostly leaving it at 4.5 rather than a 5 because there’s always another side or opinion to any highly accurate fictional depiction of a certain time period

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism

The whole narrative of this novel is about ways that women in South Korea aren’t valued, even abused in their professional and personal lives by various males in their lives. From fathers, brothers, partners, husbands, coworkers even if they’re subordinates to them or generally younger (age is a big thing in Korea in interpersonal relationships) This book is fantastic, especially given its brief length. Jiyoung could be any woman you know and she just wants to be valued and acknowledged as a person but she isn’t just because she’s a woman, a hard worker, a mother, among any number of things she could also be. Fantastic novel.

tigertheory's review against another edition

informative sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

bananaknife's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was inspiring and maddening that this was the case not that long ago and still is the case now. Some things I had heard before, some I experienced to a degree, some I feared and still do fear. A great modern and alternative view on gender roles, portaging the rebellion of women through the ages and what that looked at felt like. And I found comfort in hearing things I felt and worried about felt by others in a different country, culture, and time. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Fatphobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

5.0

I loved this book. It was a hard-hitting and painful story and so many times, like Kim Jiyoung herself, I wanted to scream and hit something at the sheer injustice and unbearable awfulness of it all. 

I really appreciated how the author chose both to include the main character's personal experiences and also to mention facts and statistical data about the general conditions of women in South Korea. 

I also really liked the writing style, it was quite direct and matter-of-fact when it needed to be, but at the same time there were many beautiful passages with a more lyrical style that captured so well Jiyoung's feelings and that really moved me. 

A wonderful and powerful read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Stalking, Abortion, and Alcohol

Minor: Death, Fatphobia, and Vomit

lyd41's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny

Moderate: Fatphobia and Stalking

Minor: Infertility

lexyo0o's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

lish_e's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

It’s sad that this book is so relatable. Also, it’s weird to rate this book, as the topics and stories are so real. 
The author uses statistics with citations to proof her point and to show, that the story of Kim Jiyoung isn’t uncommon. A lot of the experiences the main character has aren’t specific to South Korea and happen to a lot of women around the world. When I talked about this book, sadly a lot of women could relate and experienced something similar.  
A hard-hitting book that I highly recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Stalking

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Medical content, and Abortion

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

the_literarylinguist's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Abortion

emptychurches's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

• 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: Misogyny and Sexism

Minor: Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Medical content