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A review by booksjessreads
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-hee
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
I was never really bothered about reading this book, but then it came in as a new book for my library and didn't have a queue of holds, so I took my chance and read it. Because of my previous apathy for the book, I didn't really go into this with any expectations, and I did come out of this book having an appreciation for the authors experience, as well as prompting my own self-reflection. I also do enjoy translated fiction, especially when written by women. This did give a good insight into the impact of Korean society on women's mental health.
I think this was a really easy-to-read memoir and it was very fast paced, which concerned me in areas that it was so quick to get through, despite the heavy subject matter. I appreciated that each chapter was not just dialogue between the psychiatrist and the author and was broken up with an introduction and an analysis of the conversation afterwards.
Despite this though, I did also feel the memoir to be quite average. Not that this book is supposed to be astounding, groundbreaking, or full of fancy prose. However, if it hadn't been so easy to read, I would have just DNF'ed. It also just felt very samey to a lot of the mental health memoirs and fiction that is already out there. There is supposed to be a second book coming out next year, but I feel like this is better as a stand-alone, and it certainly didn't grip me enough to want to read the second one.
Overall, an average memoir, but I would suggest it as a good read for those new to translated fiction with regards to Korean society and mental health.
I think this was a really easy-to-read memoir and it was very fast paced, which concerned me in areas that it was so quick to get through, despite the heavy subject matter. I appreciated that each chapter was not just dialogue between the psychiatrist and the author and was broken up with an introduction and an analysis of the conversation afterwards.
Despite this though, I did also feel the memoir to be quite average. Not that this book is supposed to be astounding, groundbreaking, or full of fancy prose. However, if it hadn't been so easy to read, I would have just DNF'ed. It also just felt very samey to a lot of the mental health memoirs and fiction that is already out there. There is supposed to be a second book coming out next year, but I feel like this is better as a stand-alone, and it certainly didn't grip me enough to want to read the second one.
Overall, an average memoir, but I would suggest it as a good read for those new to translated fiction with regards to Korean society and mental health.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol