Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

41 reviews

nekomata's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

7.71 avg score

This book was challenging to read. Lots of heavy themes and darker tones.
The main theme for me was autonomy; is it truly ours or do we have to make decisions still thinking of how it'll affect those around us? 

The physical and bodily violence is not as horrendous as the violence that goes on within our mind. Most of which are self-inflicted, which is that much sadder to admit out loud.

Watching Yeong-hye's descend into madness through the eyes of those around her was fascinating, liberating, yet heartbreaking all at the same time. The last part told from her older sister's POV, In-hye, was the most difficult to read. Overall, this was an amazing experience, but it's not a book for everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

bxnny's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

arieslofi's review

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism and Child abuse

Minor: Abandonment

anenome's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

abicaro17's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This is hard because while I enjoyed the symbolism and literary quality of this book, it also contains numerous instances of gratuitous violence, eating disorders, and abuse. I came into this book thinking it was a horror book based on the cover and implications in the synopsis. It is a horror book but not like I thought. The way women are treated in this book is the truly horrifying part. Rape, abuse, sexualisation, more rape etc. I really enjoyed the intentional slow decent for Yeong-hye into having zero control over her life despite every attempt to prevent it. I think the execution is just so violent that this book is soured for any attempt at resolution. Especially when the resolution is the sister abandoning her child?! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

samihami's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I couldn’t find sense in it. +3 stars for the creative narrative style and the theme of culture, traditions, and going against them. -2 because it seems

like vegetarianism is a sign of mental condition (since Yeong-hye ends up having an ed, attempts suicide, dissociates completely, and exhibits unusual behaviour) and because it just didn’t make sense to me. The dream inputs in the beginning were confusing, the characters seemed to have been quite one dimensional and Yeong-hye’s mental state just felt out of place and a little but silly. 

 
Though I must say I enjoyed the depiction of

marital SA as that rarely gets acknowledged or represented and isn’t commonly shown so realistically as it is The Vegetarian.

Overall it’s okay but wouldn’t recommend it to someone out of nowhere or reread it. 

Keep in mind that this can be triggering for some. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Eating disorder

Minor: Abandonment

thomasdj's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Abandonment

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

1.0

i am really trying to think if there's anything i got out of this book, and i'm coming up blank.
i can't even say it was interesting because i was often bored. it was undeniably disturbing, but that alone doesn't make for a good read. it often read like, "they did this. then they did this. this is what they did." the writing fell so flat that i didn't highlight a single passage. and maybe it went over my head but i couldn't extract any meaning from it, either. after reading others' reviews, none of the mentioned themes held any weight for me, except for patriarchy. just an unpleasant, unenlightening slog. it earned one star because the first part of the three was my favorite, and at least i can say i have a favorite, even though i wouldn't say it was good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Gore, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Ableism, Cursing, Dementia, and Alcohol

loustat__'s review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Abandonment

maddeesryan's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail