Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

캐비닛 by Un-su Kim, 김언수

13 reviews

suzyreadsbooks's review against another edition

2.0

some interesting themes but there was a lot of fatphobia, and with the plot completely shifting in part 3, there really just didn’t seem to be a point by the end

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Fatphobia, Sexism, Blood, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

ginbat's review against another edition

5.0

Maybe I’m being too generous with a 5/5, but even with the ending I’m just a sucker for a strange book, and this book was strange. Villa incognito vibes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Fatphobia, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, and Excrement

Torture at the very end but it’s pretty hardcore:

main character gets his fingers and toes cut off

bullying a gal from the middle and on about her being ugly/quiet/fat

ancestrallizard's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

Minor: Misogyny

eggplantia5's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

3.75

I found this a little hard to get started but then I was hooked. I loved the descriptions of the different symptomers - kind of wish there were more. I find that many of the books from Korean authors I've read have main characters who are very unsympathetic and they don't care that they are unlikeable. And while they do grow, it's different from how American or British authors would have a main character grow. 

The ending was a little rushed - I found the torture scene really horrifying despite its relative brevity, and that kind of overwhelmed the ending for me. I wish we understood the role that Jeong-eun had to play a bit more.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Plot: 3.75★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 4★
Concept/Execution: 4★/4.5★
Characters: 4★
Worldbuilding: 4★
Ending: 3.75★

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

flamesocks's review against another edition

funny reflective sad slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cursing, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

exuberantlybuds's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

chocolate_pondue's review against another edition

emotional funny informative mysterious reflective relaxing tense 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

5.0

This book surprised me from beginning to end. It starts off very funny, lighthearted, and strange. It's the story of a man, Mr. Kong, who, through extraordinary yet mundane circumstances, becomes a secretary for someone who handles cases of humans dealing with strange phenomena. The writing style is very matter-of-fact despite the strangeness of the content, so it gives it adds a layer of magical realism to a story that constantly points out how unrealistic everything is. Mr. Kong fights this role he's in at every turn, considers the people he's helping a pain in his side, and relays their stories with disinterest. Yet somehow, he is still drawn to them and in turn, so are we. I loved reading this book. The individual stories were so interesting. Some were funny, some were sad, and some were just plain weird, but each one was told in this dull, imaginative voice that just kept me wanting more. I even enjoyed reading about his everyday life. Seeing these people through Mr. Kong's eyes and hearing their stories in his voice was engaging because I felt like a lot of the things he thought, I would have thought as well. Any normal human would have thought of them, and I really enjoyed that a lot. 

I will say there are some things I wasn't very into. There is a lot of judgment for particular characters, a couple of which there are a lot of bullying, fatphobia, and body shaming. Having lived in South Korea for a bit, I understand the thin cultural layer around this, but it was still offputting because it's something that shouldn't happen to anyone, anywhere. The end definitely had a tone shift which I had to take a moment to appreciate. I was shaken when I finished because so much of the novel was light-heartedly that I didn't think it would end up where it did. But once I took a second to soal everything in, once again it was a realistic ending to an unrealistic situation. I couldn't think of another way it would have ended and still have been satisfying. It doesn't have a particular plot. It's very much like a slice of life/character study. So if you enjoy those types of novels and strange tales, I think you would really love this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Death, and Fatphobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Kidnapping

tiredrabbit's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious medium-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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Torture, Blood, Excrement, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

mikaelarose's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

The beginning of the book is slow… it almost feels like a collection of short stories… but in the end it all comes together and really pays off… great ending 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail