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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
amandadelbrocco's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Dysphoria, and Classism
grunbean'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
4.5
I think it’s best not to say too much, as I think the journey I took with the characters in their chapters was the best part of this book. What’s important (and not too revealing) to know is that these complex women have lives that bring them together in the end. And there is something beautiful in how Frances Cha has done this. The women aren’t perfect, and there are ideas I would challenge, but that’s what makes this book so real.
If you have experienced what it is like to live as a woman in society, this book will strike a chord.
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
wellreadmed's review
- 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
Moderate: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Suicide, Violence, and Dysphoria
korio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
None of the woman featured in the book is a particularly likable character, but not unlikable, either - they're all very real and relatable, but also unrelatable. That makes no sense as a sentence, but they all take their turns jumping between "I am this woman" and "I know this woman." When I was reading each woman's POV, if she wasn't echoing thoughts and experiences I felt like I've had myself, then I felt like I could say, ah, well, at least I can say I've met someone like this, or I've seen someone go through this, and none of it stretched the bounds of credulity at all. All the women were living what felt like real, average, everyday lives of women - the book is essentially plotless - but at the same time, it never felt boring or basic or I know all this, skip it.
The reason I think I jumped back and forth with how I felt about it so much was because a couple of the women I found most interesting in the first half of the book were held far back and seemed deliberately kept at arm's length - Ara and Wonna - and I wished to get a lot more from them, while we were getting quite a lot from Kyuri and Miho, who were not exactly BORING, but felt much more... I don't know, it seems almost UNKIND to say common, shallow, or basic. My feelings about both of those things definitely changed in the last third, though.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria
sseoryn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
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