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marjoleinvanderspoel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
alicekorchard's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide
syllareads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide
anh_read's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Es ist definitiv kein einfaches Buch. Man sollte sich definitiv die Triggerwarnungen unbedingt vorher durchlesen. Ansonsten lässt sich das Buch gut und schnell lesen.
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infertility
Minor: Suicide
kenyoncannotread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
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
emergencily's review against another edition
5.0
- a set of interconnected stories revolving around different characters as they live through the bloody gwangju student uprisings & subsequent massacres in 1980, and the aftermath of its grief and trauma throughtout the decades.
- extremely visceral & raw, with a focus on bodies -- examining the marks of both physical and intangible violence left on the body, what we do with the bodies of the dead (washing & dressing, family burials, dumping in mass graves), and how we remember those bodies. there's a chapter told from the perspective of a corpse as the soul watches its own body being dumped into a mass grave and beginning to decompose
- all about emotion, memory, grief and loss. the book really makes you feel the loss of these young protestors and the emptiness they leave behind in the lives of their loved ones and in the collective nation
“After you died I could not hold a funeral,
And so my life became a funeral.
Oh, return to me.
Oh, return to me when I call your name.
Do not delay any longer. Return to me now.
After you died I couldn’t hold a funeral
So these eyes that once beheld you became a shrine.
These ears that once heard your voice became a shrine.
These lungs that once inhaled your breath became a shrine.”
Graphic: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Police brutality
lisvxdro's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
feleesi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual violence and Suicide
claireh6's review against another edition
- 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
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
moonshine__'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide and Torture