A review by travelseatsreads
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Se-hee

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3.0

 I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is a part memoir, part character study and part 'what to avoid when looking for a therapist' guide. 

Within the pages Baek SeHee honestly and unreservedly gives the reader an insight both into her transcripts with her therapist but also more interestingly her thoughts surrounding these transcripts. Baek SeHee shares her ongoing issues with her mental health including issues surrounding self-esteem, body image, anxiety and depression. What I found fascinating was Baek SeHee's ability to portray the general malaise that can come with lingering depression, the feeling of absolute numbness and impassiveness that simultaneously exists with the innate longing for nice things and comfort. 

The book is at its best when Baek SeHee is discussing her thoughts, especially within the vignettes that make up the epilogue. The centre chunk of transcripts become quite repetitively irritating but that's solely down to a very lazy therapist rather than Baek SeHee herself. Reading those sections honestly felt like a guide of what to avoid in a therapist and I found them quite frustrating.

Overall I found it an enjoyable and interesting read but would have loved to see much more of Baek SeHee's own thoughts and writing. She's definitely an author I will keep an eye out for in the future.
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