Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - If I Had Your Face

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

65 reviews

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

If I Had Your Face is an introspective, conversational book about womanhood in contemporary Seoul. With four intriguing protagonists who standout from each other personality wise, I can see the multiple POVs being hit or miss. For me, it made the book disorganized and the topics felt a bit surface level. I wished this had been more focused, perhaps even cut a POV or two or make them more interconnected, that way the characters and themes could have more room to breathe.

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xvicesx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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? Yes

3.75

A weird little piece, but somehow oddly compelling. Very nicely written and easy to keep up with, especially as an audio book, with short insights into each girl's life like a moving camera for each chapter.

It's mostly slice of life, which is an acquired taste for the western palate, but the lives of the women featured are interesting and challenging in ways that you do not really expect. Each of them carries scars, some showing more than others, but it ultimately makes their stories very immersive.

I don't know if I'd say I recommend it or not, since I'm unsure how I feel about it, but I'd say it's a good fit for people who enjoyed Convenience Store Woman.

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vaykay's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective 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

4.0

I wish there was more. The pacing was sort of whack.

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kutreen's review against another edition

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dark informative inspiring medium-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

3.75

Usually I don't like books that switch between various perspectives but I loved that all of the characters were friends or knew each other in various capacities and that their lives intersected often. I liked learning about pressures related to beauty, marriage, and women's careers in Korea, as well as about class differences, from women whose difficult childhoods have left them to learn to fend for themselves and make unlikely connections to survive.

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rionstorm's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.75

A kind of sad, kind of gentle slice of life. I wish the book was slightly longer, so we could have seen a bit more of what the girls lives are like once they've all had their development arcs and become more intertwined in eachothers lives.

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soph_ward's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I listened to the audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it. The exploration of womens lives in South Korea and the different challenges they face was insightful and lead me down a rabbit hole wanting to find out more. I enjoyed how each perspective was read by a different narrator, it really helped to capture the characters emotions and perspectives. It was a little confusing to begin with however it eventually becomes clearer.

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