Reviews with content warning for Violence - 저주토끼

As with most short story collections there are a few I bounced off, but the ones that clicked I bloody loved.

The Head might be my favourite (I read the collection in two legs with a long gap between but I thought about The Head most weeks).

If you don't mind a collection that hops between genres, isn't afraid to delve into body horror and the horrors of bodily autonomy and capitalism you'll enjoy.

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tianaaaa's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Very strange stories yet oddly fascinating and not a boring read. It's a unique book that includes fantasy, horror, science fiction and fairytale aspects.
I don't understand why people are complaining about how disgusting it is - you picked up a horror book, what did you expect? The book explores themes like the patriarchy, capitalism and unusual creatures in unsettling detail.

My favourite chapters was:

The head - a creature being made from the leftovers of a woman's toilet and it invades and ruins her life

The embodiment - A women who got pregnant despite taking birth control and was told that she would have to find someone willing to be the father in order for the baby to be alright and healthy however she is too late and just gives birth to something that is sort of described as a massive blood clot. Interesting take on societal pressures and how a child not having a father figure may not be normal whist also showing pressures of a single mother.

Cursed Bunny -Very interesting an satisfying to read. A greedy business eventually gets teared to the ground because of the sheer amount of rabbits eating documents.

Scar - The longest chapter in the book being about 52 pages. I was sort of confused about the ending but it sort of gave the meaning where a monster doesn't need to be horrifying to indity, sometimes it can be disguised as a man. The chapter itself is quite sad but it's action packed so it's still a gripping read.

Least favourite:

Ruler of the winds and sands - a princess tries to help a prince with his curse but gets stabbed in the back, a story about self discovering. I just thought it wasn't as interesting as the others and just seemed as a cliche fairytale.

Goodbye, My love - Sort of reminded me of a black mirror episode as it was a sci-fi horror. Basically, a woman has 3 robots in her house but the first one no longer works so the woman wants to have her replaced by another and so she tries to order another. However, the other 2 robots help the old robot and they just stab the woman because they explain how they don't like being replaced. Whilst I didn't hate this chapter, I did find it quite underwhelming and I just thought it wasn't very unique.

There are other chapters but this review would be too long to write about every one. In my option, not every chapter was interesting and just did have that cliche plot which made it a less unique and gripping read however Bora Chung still managed to cover a variety of genres such as greed, patriarchy and abuse in a unsettling but also sometimes humous way.

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musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

A collection of strange and disconcerting stories, Cursed Bunny is unsettling, but addictive!

This book was so strange, but I was so into it!! The first story opens with quite a concept so the reader is prepared for everything that comes after, but I will say that story would also probably turn off a lot of readers…it was something else.

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valjeanval's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Well this is a weird and wonderful little collection which I'll be thinking about for a long time. It's definitely got more horror elements than I'm usually comfortable with, but I think it's a prime example of using genre to explore the way we function in society. "The Embodiment" in particular is going to stick with me, I feel. It's almost Kafka-esque in its surreality, and the translation, while pretty sparse, serves the subject really well. An awesome collection if you have both a strong heart and stomach.

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