Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

저주토끼 by Bora Chung

79 reviews

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

The translation from Korean to English is a bit off at times. However, that does not dim the bizarre beauty of this collection. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Pregnancy, Blood, Gore, Ableism, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism, Abortion, Abandonment, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, Sexism, Violence, Death, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Medical content, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Torture, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Infidelity, Gaslighting, Bullying, Physical abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Grief, Kidnapping, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Miscarriage, Vomit, Stalking, and Suicide

Be aware that there is characters slowly dying, hunger, starvation, c-sections, blood clots, mob violence, financial struggles, mentions of Nazism, and destruction of cities and families.

spookyweirdo's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

A short but challenging read. Some stories are thought provoking, others are strange, still others are truly weird.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Suicide

bxnnny's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

2.0

what a strange little book. some of these stories had some interesting concepts that i wish could be expanded upon while others were just silly and weird. the writing style often felt very juvenile which also sometimes made it a little hard to take seriously. a lot of it felt like some kid writing an r/nosleep story, trying too hard to make it weird and unsettling/scary. still, some of them had potential. i just don't think this was really for me though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

Moderate: Vomit and Violence

Minor: Incest

the first short story is very heavily involved with fecal matter. all stories deal with dark subject matter. there is lots of death, abuse, and animal cruelty.

akj_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

"Parents who destroy their children's lives, who suck the life out of their children's futures, not only for the sake of maintaining their own illusions but also to zealously expand them into the lives of their children - such parents can almost be understood from the perspective of obsession. Following the words 'Be grateful I raised you' is the implied clause 'instead of killing you or leaving you for dead.' They probably mean it, too." ("Reunion")
 
Story Ratings:
1. "The Head" 5/5 stars⭐️
 2. "The Embodiment" 5/5 stars⭐️
 3. "Cursed Bunny" 5/5 stars⭐️
 4. "The Frozen Finger" 3/5 stars⭐️
 5. "Snare" 4/5 stars⭐️
 6. "Goodbye, My Love" 4/5 stars⭐️
 7. "Scars" 5/5 stars⭐️
 8. "Home Sweet Home" 5/5 stars⭐️
 9. "Ruler of the Winds and Sands" 5/5 stars⭐️
 10. "Reunion" 5/5 stars⭐️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault

olliepopop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Torture, Abandonment, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, and Child death

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Incest

fox_at_the_circus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

The short stories in this book are a really nice mix of magical realism, fantasy, scifi, horror. I enjoyed how every story brought you to its own world with its own characteristics. 
The different stories all adress and discuss trauma each in their own way and metaphors and within their genre, it was a really good read. I also appreciate, that in "Reunion" the narrator actually mentions trauma and what it does/can do to people. I don't see this direct mention a lot in horror stories, and it was a nice surprise while fitting into that story well. It also was a nice conclusion to the book, summarising the theme of this book at the end.
My favourite stories of this collection are "The Frozen Finger" for it's pure horror vibes that unfold throught the story, and "Scars" for main character and the growth he goes through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Child death, Suicide, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Dementia, Car accident, Death of parent, and Incest

kaimju's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Opisem tej książki powinna być długa lista trigger warnings. A tak poza tym, Bora Chung zdecydowanie umie w opowiadania.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Gore

Moderate: Miscarriage, Body horror, Excrement, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Slavery, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, and Child death

Minor: Car accident

emk5's review against another edition

dark sad tense

3.25

It was certainly cursed?? Mostly just disturbing and unsettling. I tried to add all the CW's but definitely might have missed some. Would not personally recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Death, Pregnancy, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Minor: Incest

sauvageloup's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.75

I whistled through these very disturbing little stories. 

pros:
- they're definitely gripping, and the writing style is sparse but clear and evocative, with the descriptions being vivid.
- the stories felt self contained and satisfying overall, even as many ended in tragedy.
- the last book of short stories I read, i struggled to jump from one story to another, maybe because they were so different and by different people. this one wasnt like that at all, and i had no problem reading straight through, pretty much.
- i liked the variety in length and themes of the stories, from birth horror, to supernatural, to fantasy fairy tale and modern criticisms on feminism and capitalism. i think i mainly read very on the surface and didnt look hard at metaphors and such, a reread might help me see this more.
- I liked the sheer imagination though and how Chung makes you care for characters who often arent even given a name.

cons: 
- the first two stories especially, but a lot of them overall, were pretty horrible and graphic. they did their job in making you feel things! but it reminded me too much of just horrible nightmares and intrusive thoughts and I wouldnt read those two again.
- I also felt there was generally a lack of hope in the stories, but that's personal taste I guess.

overall, well written and gripping but too horror for me and dont think I'll seek out more of her work, but I might reread this in time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Infertility, Car accident, Incest, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Child death, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Terminal illness, Bullying, Medical trauma, Sexism, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Torture, Pregnancy, Body horror, and Vomit

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

bribellej's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Favorite Short Stories: Reunion, Snare, and Goodbye, My Love
The short stories were very hit or miss for me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Suicide, Body horror, Child abuse, and Violence