Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

3 reviews

angorarabbit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• 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

5.0

TLDR: Anything I write is trite compared to this book. I would advise taking it slow and reading something lighter in-between sessions. 

 

A masterclass. It is not just about how others react to the diet a family member but a visceral depiction of the effects of childhood abuse and mental illness on the individual and family members. 

 

There are 4 points of view: Yeong-hye, her husband, brother-in-law, and sister. In the end all four are devastated, though perhaps the husband is the least affected. It is a book that will stay with me for a long time and haunt my dreams.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest and Alcohol

I skipped 5 paragraphs 25% of the way in due to graphic animal abuse/killing. The protagonists thoughts include disturbing depictions of slaughter and molestation of animals. There are graphic depictions of food including meat.

violetlantern's review against another edition

The characters are all horrid people that are peak selfish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

kcelena's review

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

For quality of writing I would give it 4🌟, but I did not enjoy this one. Not enough focus on our main female protagonist and too much focus on justifying men being truly terrible human beings. The second half was slightly better than the first. People with eating disorders should be VERY careful with this - only go into it if you are in a strong and safe place in your recovery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Toxic friendship