Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

45 reviews

ericispublius's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, and Abortion

Minor: Death of parent

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

---

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.

bookobsessedmommy's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Whew. This was both depressing and validating.  This reads like narrative non-fiction, where we see and every woman's journey alongside the statistical realities of life for women in South Korea in that time. Jiyoung's decent into madness isn't preempted by anything particularly extraordinary or traumatic, but instead by incessant misogyny and the cumulative effects of recurring demoralization. There is a lot that is culturally unique (from my American perspective) but so much of this book has a broader appeal to the plight and experiences of women everywhere. It is short, but it packs one hell of a punch.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Gaslighting

sari_lyr's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

Minor: Abortion

zgreyz's review against another edition

reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Classism

bek_p87's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

A short, simple story about a woman living under patriarchy. The power in this book comes from its ordinariness, its relatability for EVERY woman. It makes me want to scream. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting

melina_30's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Wow. I think it's brilliant that we learn at the end, that

this story is written by Jiyoung's therapist which explains the clinical and detached writing style. Also I'm in shok how the therapist didn't learn anything from the experiences of women in his life. Both his own wife and his patient Kim Jiyoung share their stuggle with mistreatment by men in their life and society in general but he doesn't seem to understand why they struggle which becomes clear with the description of an employee who had to quit her job at the clinic due to the same reasons his patients consult him. The last sentences of the book had me in shock: "Even the best female employees can cause many problems if they don't have the childcare issue taken care of. I'll have to make sure her replacement is unmarried." One last slap in the face... After everything he heard from his patients and his own wife this is his solution??

Amazing book that everyone should read.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Mental illness and Gaslighting

Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol

anh_read's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

A novel about being a woman in South Korea. However, it is universal story, as women from other countries and cultures suffer under similar situations. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Body shaming, Mental illness, and Gaslighting

Minor: Bullying

quirkko24's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

Plot: 4.5★
Prose: 4.5★
Pace: 5★
Concept/Execution: 5★/5★
Characters: 4.75★
Worldbuilding: 4.75★
Ending: 5★

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Abortion, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Vomit, Death of parent, and Alcohol