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vaykay's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
rexpostfacto's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Violence, and Xenophobia
slaywithsteph's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
I would live my life so much better than you if I had your face.
Following the lives of four Korean women, this book is a slice-of-life without much plot. There’s little character growth but ample character exploration.
As a non-Korean, I cannot say if the author successfully details the obsessive — and sometimes surgery-heavy — world of Korean beauty standards, but it feels realistic to me.
However, what really brought it down for me was the book felt unbalanced in that I’m not sure why Wonna’s story existed in this. It’s not that she wasn’t interesting; it’s that she felt out of place with the other characters. Though, I do love the concept of a girl down the hall being included, it just felt like her entire storyline was so jarringly different, it felt like she was piece-mealed into the book. Maybe a fourth POV could have tied her in better? But I digress.
I went in with zero expectations, and so I was startled by several moments throughout the book. It took me until the final chapters to even realize this was likely a slice-of-life book, so I spent a lot of time wondering where the plot was going to come in.
Overall, I think Cha succeeded in what she wanted to do with the three main characters, and I very much appreciated how relaxing this was to read.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, and Classism
Korean beauty standards, beauty standardsleannanecdote's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ashley_turch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Medical content, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism
Moderate: Cursing, Infertility, Violence, and Death of parent
daria_mm's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Alcohol
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Eating disorder and Miscarriage
arieslofi's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
Moderate: Child abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
alicelalicon's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism
dylanrea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I love Frances Cha’s writing style - I hope she writes more books!
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Death of parent
milanaradic's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexism