Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Human Acts by Han Kang

68 reviews

makennadykstra's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Torture, Hate crime, Medical content, Body horror, Death of parent, Genocide, Murder, Police brutality, Violence, and War

panicpoet's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Sexual violence, Death, Alcoholism, Violence, Torture, Police brutality, and Gun violence

Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

ledablanca's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-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? No

4.75

"Is it true that human beings are fundamentally cruel? Is the experience of cruelty the only thing we share as a species? Is the dignity that we cling to nothing but self-delusion, masking from ourselves the single truth: that each one of us is capable of being reduced to an insect, a ravening beast, a lump of meat? To be degraded, slaughtered - is this the essential of humankind, one which history has confirmed as inevitable?"

Beautiful prose but harrowing. This took me two months to finish. I intentionally spaced out my reading of this book because it dealt with a deeply upsetting subject matter on political violence and its aftereffects. Please check trigger warnings before reading this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Police brutality, and Violence

cyberhavok's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Infertility, and Suicide

midnightcroissant's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

A searing exploration of brutality and its legacy. Harrowing as it is lyrical, this is a thought-provoking tribute to the survivors and victims of an event little-acknowledged outside Korea. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual violence

gokurakuji's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense

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

4.25

another book i wanted to enjoy more

i went into the book with a preconceived notion of what the structure would be like based on the summary but my prediction(?) was OFF. so i think that threw off my enjoyment.

but the horrifying knowledge that this book is based off history that i had 0 prior knowledge of (minus the name “gwangju uprising”) was frightening.

but the last chapter? it really made me come to appreciate the book as a whole.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Alcohol, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Torture, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Blood, and Violence

rockin_robyn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Violence, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Torture

sugarloaded's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This was my third Han Kang book (I had read The Vegetarian last year and Greek Lessons a couple of months ago). Han Kang writes magnificently. This is definitely a book that will stay with me. Really heavy on a lot of triggering topics. Please tread carefully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Torture, Gore, Confinement, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, and Sexual violence

paperboundwords's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

3.5

This was a difficult read emotionally. Loved the writing style - every person has their own style in this book, they are first and foremost individuals bound by the same horrific events. And I say person not character, because these snippets are based on people who lived those moments in Gwangju. Not all is fact, but all is real and raw.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Death, Mass/school shootings, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Torture, and Suicide

emmalouisereads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is quite a tough read. It portrays the atrocities of the event very vividly.

The book uses different writing styles, such as some chapters being in second person (although not the same consistent ‘you’ throughout), and one chapter told from the perspective of one of the dead. Although these were interesting, I personally found it quite hard to follow the plot because of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child death, Suicide, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Gore, Body horror, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, War, Confinement, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Alcoholism