Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Human Acts, by Han Kang

48 reviews

miaaa_lenaaa's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad 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

5.0

Reflections on death and attempts at burying memories so as not to have to relive them conflicting with those who see no other option but to relive them

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Confinement, Death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, War, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Cancer, Police brutality, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Mental illness, Child abuse, Injury/injury detail, Sexual assault, and Body horror

lenaschrn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, Police brutality, Death, Gore, Child death, Injury/injury detail, and Violence

madamenovelist's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Grief, Vomit, Torture, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Injury/injury detail, Cursing, Medical content, and Mass/school shootings

bargainandbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I went blindly into this book based solely on the beautiful cover and my goal to read more translated books. This book shook me to my core. How can a book about such a horrific historical happening be written in such a beautiful way. I devoured the book and was left utterly crushed by each characters chapter. I loved the way everyone was connected, and still showed different aspects of the time and how it affected the people and the community that was left grieving. Brilliant. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Infertility, Injury/injury detail, Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief

angievansprang's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? No

4.0

A harrowing account of the Gwangju Massacre from a cast of characters all connected by the death one young boy - Human Acts by Han Kang will tear your heart apart. Despite the horrific content of this story, I found Kang’s descriptive writing to be beautiful and unique. Her descriptions of death and death-adjacent experiences is like none other I’ve read before. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death, Child death, War, and Torture

Moderate: Gore and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault and Rape

mathildelestrange's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Brutally written but with depth.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, War, Gore, Grief, Death, Genocide, Police brutality, and Violence

tomoonarmy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

“should this book really be rated?”, is what I asked myself after finishing this book. The events portrayed in this book so gruesome that it’s hard to believe that they really happened. 


“have their souls also escaped their bodies, flying away like birds?”

“There will be no forgiveness.”

“our soldiers are shooting. They’re shooting at us.”



I think that this book is an important piece of literature that many people should read (check the trigger warnings before tho!!), therefore I gave it a rating bc in today’s society I think people are more likely to read books with good ratings. So pls keep in mind that this rating isn’t about the story contained inside, more so for the writing and the importance of the story itself. 

If you can, please read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Gun violence, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Infertility, Death of parent, and Injury/injury detail

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Child death, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/injury detail, and Kidnapping

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Body horror, Child death, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Grief, Vomit, Blood, Death, Dementia, Drug abuse, Gore, Infertility, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death of parent, Injury/injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, and Gun violence

eline1701's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I think this one will stay with me for a long, long time. It was an incredibly heavy read. To say it was beautiful is not quite right either, it's gruesome and nauseating and upsetting. The writing, though, is beautiful. While I haven't read the Korean original, it felt like the translation was done with a whole lot of care, and I really appreciated the informative translator's note at the start, which explained the political situation in South Korea in the years leading up to the Gwangju Uprising (and I was very endeared by the way they admitted to drawing inspiration from the Yorkshire accent in "translating" the Gwangju dialect). The writing is merciless when it comes to the descriptions of violence in particular, yet also beautiful and contemplative at times, without feeling flowery or pretentious. I also loved the way in which all three single person points of view (I, you, she/he/they) were alternated throughout the novel, which made it all feel even more immersive and intense. 

As for the novel's content, despite the horrors that were described, the graphic descriptions always felt justified - never sensationalised, never allowing anyone to romanticise any of it. And at the same time, there was  a certain tenderness to it, especially for the different main characters, who are all so deeply human. 

Spoiler

Speaking of the characters, I thought the connections between them all were so masterfully done. For Seon-ju, it took me embarrassingly long to realise it was her, but when I did it hit me right in the chest. And Dong-ho as the red thread tying them all together when initially his focus is only on his friend... yeah. 

All of that said, I don't know if I'd recommend this book to anyone. It really is just very heavy and very graphic (see below, yes, all of those are described in detail again and again), to the point where I had some restless dreams from it. It's also a bleak book, as it doesn't only cover the events of the Uprising, but also its longlasting, ongoing aftereffects, without much of a message of hope. Still, I'm grateful to have read it though and to know a bit more about Gwangju, South Korea, and the Gwangju Uprising. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Police brutality, Rape, Torture, Blood, Death, Sexual violence, War, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Suicidal thoughts

ka_cam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

A beautiful and emotionally challenging read, and informative if you like me don’t start with much knowledge about the Gwangju Uprising. The method of exploring voices of different people connected to the uprising and a death of a child, including a spirit voice and the child as well as those more loosely connected, ended up feeling very tender rather than the loose-ends feeling that Can come from that style. Very moving and upsetting content. Highly recommend checking content warnings, highly recommended read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Gore, Injury/injury detail, Sexual assault, Violence, Body horror, Police brutality, Child death, Grief, and Rape

Moderate: Gun violence, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Self harm, and Medical content

Minor: Alcoholism

peppers_books's review against another edition

5.0

very beautiful writing. incredibly heartbreaking and real and raw. there was an ache in my chest the whole time, especially in his friends' and moms' chapters. it was like my heart was being squeezed and it never let up. it's a tough read, but i'm glad i read it and i'll definitely read it again in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child death, and Confinement