Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha

69 reviews

feelincelestial's review against another edition

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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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boop123's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

3.5

If I Had Your Face tackles on the prevalence and normalization of plastic surgery in Korean beauty standards, the inherent misogyny that exists in Korean society, and the value of women to settle down and have children despite the declining economy. Not much plot goes on here and it is definitely focused on character analysis of each woman who are struggling with their own thing given their socioeconomical climate but is still somehow intertwined with each other proximity and emotion wise.
 
Despite the thought-provoking insights you can dissect from this book given that a subject like this is very common in today’s society, I still find some of the characters underdeveloped. Shoved aside for the most part and is only remembered in the end. Specifically, I find Wonna’s character to be underdeveloped and there’s really not much to work with her as her struggles seem to be straightforward and concise. Though she has a few chapters dedicated to her and her history, it honestly doesn’t give that much to the table unlike Kyuri and Miho. 

Anyways, if you’re looking for a more character-driven story, I would recommend this but I wouldn’t read if you’re not a fan of alternating POVs (especially with a lot of characters). 

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saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

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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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serendipity421's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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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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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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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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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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daniellekat's review against another edition

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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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marleen02's review against another edition

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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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