Reviews

Europa by Han Kang

lowercase_em's review

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.25

jackalop3's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

roses_are_rosa's review against another edition

4.0

 Han Kang’s writing just gets me every time. This short story is beautiful. 

nemra's review against another edition

3.0

what it is we want from ourselves and each other?

spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition

2.0

『에우로파』 ("Europa") by Han Kang (한강). Translation by Deborah Smith.

j_hx's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

zhy's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

nemra's review

3.0

what it is we want from ourselves and each other?

cortega55's review

emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Han Kang as always has some of my favorite writing that I’ve probably ever read but what stops me from giving this a higher rating is that I just wanted the characters fleshed out a bit more, especially about In-ah as a character, though maybe Han Kang was being intentionally vague so the reader could draw their own conclusions. Additionally, the vignettes within the story made the timeline a little confusing :/
But In the end I highlighted so much and I LOVED the themes that it brought up of sexuality and gender and trauma and how people persevere through the hardships caused by those things in this very short story. I would LOVE to read this as a full novel and really delve deep into the lives of these characters.

meganjjang's review

4.0

This was really interesting if not slightly too short. I liked how it showed a relationship where neither of the pair wanted to overstep their friendship but also both clearly wanted more from each other, surrounded by a bunch of outside factors making each of their lives a little more complicated. There were a couple bits where the detail was lacking but I always enjoy Han Kang books and would love to read more of these little books!♡