Reviews tagging 'Death'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

19 reviews

laurenpage's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Physical abuse, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicide

outersgrace's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Death of parent

himangi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

sunny_not's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed it, it depicts the issues that women and especially Korean women face quite well. It highlights their different experiences and different hopes which was quite interesting. However I didn't give this a higher rating since I'm not a huge fan of open endings and there were many questions left unanswered which is also not my cup of tea. Overall I would recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, and Alcohol

aza_lea_3's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

It was a really good experience, the book is striking of humanity in a both uneasy and beautiful way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Sexual content

phobosm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Infidelity, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, and Violence

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

talkbookswithangela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-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, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Suicide, Blood, and Pregnancy

pagesfromhome's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

I have to note that this book is INCREDIBLE, but it contains a lot of triggering content that could be really difficult to work through, so make a note of the content warnings before diving in!

Ultimately, Cha does a masterful job of bringing you through the lives of 5 Korean women as they work through what they crave for their lives. Through the voices of 4 different narrators (the 5th character, Sujin, while important to the story is not given her own chapters), you build up their history together to better understand who they are, where they come from, and how they're carving out a place in this world. By the end, you're rooting for all of them to get everything they've ever hoped for.

What I really loved was how real the whole story felt. I found myself completely lost in these characters' lives and simply wanting to be out to dinner with them. I can't speak to how realistic it is about Korean culture given that I'm a novice in that education, but it felt like you were watching friends live their lives...even if you didn't always love the choices they made.

All in all, I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for a piece of realistic literary fiction that focuses on the power of relationships and fate in your life, but again, be wary of the content warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death and Suicidal thoughts

kiczcock's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming

Moderate: Sexism and Toxic relationship

Minor: Death, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Vomit