Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Atos Humanos by Han Kang

84 reviews

kenyoncannotread's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

One of the hardest reads for me, emotionally, ever. Check the content warnings first, but this will be one of the best books you’ll ever read if you pick it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

wong_jyi's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.75

It is stunning in its ability to weave the darkest and cruellest aspects of human nature with truth and brutal honesty, but also, with hope.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Alcohol, War, and Classism

lisvxdro's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

I was given this book by a coworker and a companion during my time in South Korea. On the surface level, I was a bit conflicted as I didn’t have enough information on the Gwangju Uprisings. But that’s the beauty of this book. Han Kang uses real-life stories and create a sort of nonfiction-esque novel where we learn about the issues of that time through the eyes of multiple characters. Each character, having some connection to the boy Dong-ho, adds to this sense of shared experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The closest thing to this is like Babel. 

Han’s writing style for this book does well to give you impactful introspection in a way that’s not familiar in the west. By spending the entire 1/3-1/2 of the chosen chapter setting up that chapter’s character worldview, the rest is the truth revealed in the most honest way possible. This book stings, it’s raw and often picturesque to the point that it might make you queasy. But the book is worth the read.

Favorite chapters: 
-The Boy’s Friend read like a very dark and doomed Miyazaki story. I felt hopeless after.
-The Prisoner was definitely a hard one to get through, especially the reveal at the end with the young boys. Such innocence lost.
-The Boy’s Mother: I felt empty and deeply emotional. This chapter reminded me of my own fears.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, War, and Injury/Injury detail

claireh6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug abuse

emilosophy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

this book was hard to pick up once i put it down. and i had to put it down often because of the graphic or horrifying content that was hard to take in. the writing style was interesting (different POVs, including “you”. though judging by the prose, you sometimes cant tell these are all different people talking, different people’s thoughts. the only one that felt clearly like a different voice was the mother’s pov, written in what i assume to be “dialect” translated over to english). the descriptions of violence, corpses, nightmares, sensations, etc, are extremely vivid and feel real. some chapters/POVs were more engaging than others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

bubbles23b's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

rockin_robyn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

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

mcfay's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, and Suicide attempt

keiiiiiiii's review against another edition

challenging dark

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Physical abuse, Torture, and Police brutality

Moderate: Mass/school shootings