Reviews tagging 'Classism'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

38 reviews

feelincelestial's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

A very engaging read, left me wanting more of these women’s stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

siebensommer's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Miscarriage, Sexism, War, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

vaykay's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

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

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

I would like to read this one in physical form, so that I can take my time with it. It feels like a such a different world that I don't know, and I also want to translate every Korean word in it. But I thought it was really interesting, and I'm excited for more from this author. I love this group of girls, so similar and also different, just trying to find their survival. Very interesting read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Suicide, Violence, and Grief

kaybee23's review against another edition

dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Infertility, and Miscarriage

rionstorm's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Miscarriage, Sexism, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Infertility, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Pregnancy, and Classism

daniellekat's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

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

2.25

This was the definition of OK. I didn't hate reading it, but nothing about it was particularly compelling. The author made some strange choices in the writing and structure of the book (i.e. no Sujin POV, ending the book mid way through the cycle of character POVs, so many odd paragraph breaks, etc.) I thought the general content of the book was interesting, especially since I'm far removed from South Korean culture, but I felt like Cha was trying to cover too many topics. As a debut the writing was solid, but the overall book could have been more tightly edited. The open-ending makes me wary of recommending this but I'd probably pick up Cha's writing again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Miscarriage, Suicide, and Death of parent

sex work

marleen02's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

rexpostfacto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

dark emotional hopeful relaxing sad slow-paced

• 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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, and Classism

Korean beauty standards, beauty standards