maddamreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Part 1 The Vegetarian
Definitely a strong but strange opener, the choice to have the story be told primarily through the husbands thoughts is provoking. It touches on themes of duty and expectation for women while also having the reader question “what defines madness.”
Spoiler
You start to empathize with Yeong-hye's desire. How much is it madness and how much is it reaction to her family and husband not respecting her wishes.Part 2 The Mongolian Mark
I hated this chapter so much I skimmed a bit. Talking about lust, need, and the romanticization of living and mental illness. I found the character to be deeply unsatisfactory and one-dimensional, even though it felt like the point was to make the audience empathize with him.
Spoiler
There could have been an exploration of the meaning of sex, the meaning of art, and the meaning of living fully. But all I got was a horny guy having sex with his sister in law “for the sake of art.”Part 3 Flaming Trees
A thorough, honest look at mental illness, how it affects one’s duties to others, and grief for someone still alive. It was very introspective, but it could have been way shorter with the flashbacks. The overall tone is melancholy and helpless-which is perfect. It did not make me turn pages the way the first chapter did.
Graphic: Blood, Eating disorder, Vomit, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Blood, and Sexual violence
May be hard to read if previously suffered from depression and/or an eating disorder.birdafterdark's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Medical content, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Moderate: Infidelity, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Vomit
monserrot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Violence, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Grief, Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Mental illness, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Rape, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Infidelity, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Cursing, Confinement, Body shaming, Animal death, Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism
emily_journals's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I think the first segment of this book was my favorite, I enjoyed the commentary that the author was making about gender and family roles in Korea through the husband's perspective. I also enjoyed the snippets about Yeong-hye's dreams that were included in this segment, and I really wish this was continued throughout the rest of the book.
The second segment of the book is told from Yeong-hye's brother-in-law's perspective and this segment deals a lot with struggling with the failure to live up to expectations, and also with the exploiting and taking advantage of mental illness. This one was a bit weird to me, as the themes seemed to be working against the brother-in-law while the tone tried to make the audience empathize with him. I'm not sure if this tonal vs. theme discord was due to translation or if this was the way it was meant to be, but the discord was very off-putting and made me confused and unsure of what the author was trying to convey in this segment, so I didn't like this segment as much as the first.
The final segment of this book is told from Yeong-hye's sister's perspective and the main themes of this segment deal with the duties of those in proximity to mental illness and the grief of losing someone while they're still alive. The themes of this segment are probably the most interesting in the book, but the sister's voice and inner monologue are quite strange, which might be due to translation but I'm unsure. The way that she switches between different feelings and trains of thought quite suddenly detracted from the story for me and made it really difficult to immerse myself in this portion of the book.
Overall, I think the themes of this book were quite interesting, but I think either the author or the translation didn't have a clear vision of what voice they wanted to portray to the audience in the later two sections of the book. I also really missed Yeong-hye's short interjections in the later two sections that were present in the first section, I thought they added a lot to not only Yeong-hye's character but also to all the characters reacting to Yeong-hye in the first section.
Graphic: Vomit, Body horror, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Blood, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
wellreadsquid's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Vomit, and Mental illness
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Blood, Body shaming, and Ableism
There is Marital Rape in this book so read with caution.thefearlessfrock's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
It's really heavy.kaiulanilee's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Ableism
Minor: Child abuse, Cursing, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
lycheejelly's review
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Terminal illness, Blood, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Infidelity, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Confinement, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Alcoholism, Cursing, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
ioanna_orf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Alcoholism, and Blood
k_aro'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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
meat make woman sad.
Graphic: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Abandonment, Animal death, Grief, Infidelity, Blood, Body horror, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Cursing and Rape
Minor: Alcoholism
uhh... the pivotal character has a sexual encounter which is reacted to as a sexual assault, because the person reacting assumes the pivotal character cannot give consent owing to her mental state. it's really fucking blurry whether it is or not.