If I Had Your Face: A Novel
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Beschreibung
Beiträge
4,5 Sterne
I really enjoyed it. A story about 5 women living in Seoul and finding their ways in a world that is dominated by beauty standards, money and men. They are all very different and yet so alike. Their stories are sad, tragic, empowering and beautiful at the same time. I always wanted to read the next and the next and the next chapter to learn more about their past and present and was positively surprised by the ending.
4 stars This is very much a slice-of-life kind of book and if I had to compare the reading experience to some other book, it would be Memorial by Bryan Washington. What the two books have in common are the multiple perspectives and how you get to know the different characters and their backstory. There isn't a lot of plot and it doesn't lead to anything specifically. What you do get are 4 different POVs from women, living together in Korea and their experiences in their daily life. What the book does really well is bringing up so many very important topics without shoving them in your face. There is a lot of talk about sex work and beauty standards / focus on appearance in Korea, but also race, class, sexism, misogyny, toxic relationships, abusive family members, dealing with guilt, suicide, poverty, growing up in an orphanage, bullying, unhealthy relationships with food, jealousy, not wanting children and what society expects from women. One character is mute and her perspective was particularly interesting to me because I've never read from a POV like this. I was a little confused about all the characters at first and had to write down how they connected. I liked the structure of the story. Will be thinking about this one again and again.
4 stars This is very much a slice-of-life kind of book and if I had to compare the reading experience to some other book, it would be Memorial by Bryan Washington. What the two books have in common are the multiple perspectives and how you get to know the different characters and their backstory. There isn't a lot of plot and it doesn't lead to anything specifically. What you do get are 4 different POVs from women, living together in Korea and their experiences in their daily life. What the book does really well is bringing up so many very important topics without shoving them in your face. There is a lot of talk about sex work and beauty standards / focus on appearance in Korea, but also race, class, sexism, misogyny, toxic relationships, abusive family members, dealing with guilt, suicide, poverty, growing up in an orphanage, bullying, unhealthy relationships with food, jealousy, not wanting children and what society expects from women. One character is mute and her perspective was particularly interesting to me because I've never read from a POV like this. I was a little confused about all the characters at first and had to write down how they connected. I liked the structure of the story. Will be thinking about this one again and again.
TW: child abuse, violence, misogynistic language / attitudes, adult content, suicide / suicidal ideation, alcoholism, assault, abuse, miscarriages, cheating, some descriptions of plastic surgery Meine Meinung: If I had your face erzählt die Geschichte von vier Frauen, die ebenfalls alle in einem Wohnkomplex in Seoul wohnen. Jede hat eine interessante Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und zu erwartende Zukunft. Was die Zukunft betrifft, ist dies mein größter Kritikpunkt, denn der Plot lässt bis kurz vor dem Ende auf sich warten und das Buch endet in einem riesen Cliffhanger. Alle vier gehen unterschiedlich mit ihren Situationen um, wobei deutlich wird wer wie aus seiner Realität flüchtet, seine Träume hegt und somit das eigene Leid verdrängt. Die wahrscheinlich wichtigste Botschaft von Frances Cha ist, der Zusammenhalt bzw die Freundschaft der Protagonistinnen, welche sie dadurch den Rücken stärken. Die deutliche Kritik am vorherrschenden Frauenbild kommt gelungen und hart rüber. Trotzdem war es eine tolle Geschichte über Schönheitsideale, den Zwang der Ehe, neue Perspektiven und den Druck einer Frau in Südkorea.
Really wished this was longer! Such an engaging story, loved all the different perspectives and the discussion of misogyny in South Korea. Especially liked following the salon girl and her roommate's plastic surgery journey. I appreciated the author not showing the latter in neither a positive or negative light, one can read between the lines and form their own conclusion. In a society, where looks are an integral aspect to move ahead, one can hardly condemn the people at the bottom for doing whatever's necessary to achieve their goal.
While the book deals with many important topics, such as beauty standards, sexism and family from a perspective of four different Korean women, I felt very underwhelmed.
The beauty standard in south korea is maddening. This obsession... it baffles me.
It's basic human nature, this need to look down on someone to feel better about yourself. Going into it, I was really excited about this book because the premise here on Goodreads sounded really promising. The book is divided into four diffenrent POVs, the problem is that these four women all sound exactly the same. Another issue is that there wasn't much coherence. It could have been any women in Seoul because there was barely any interaction between these four. It felt like this book was going nowhere and there was a big focus on the girls' past rather than the present and their current lives. Because of this, there was no real plot. [b: If I Had Your Face|52696537|If I Had Your Face|Frances Cha|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1591107164l/52696537._SY75_.jpg|65690455] was very bland and monotonous and offered little to no insights into Korean culture. It's very superficial without any character development or anything of importance.
4 stars This is very much a slice-of-life kind of book and if I had to compare the reading experience to some other book, it would be Memorial by Bryan Washington. What the two books have in common are the multiple perspectives and how you get to know the different characters and their backstory. There isn't a lot of plot and it doesn't lead to anything specifically. What you do get are 4 different POVs from women, living together in Korea and their experiences in their daily life. What the book does really well is bringing up so many very important topics without shoving them in your face. There is a lot of talk about sex work and beauty standards / focus on appearance in Korea, but also race, class, sexism, misogyny, toxic relationships, abusive family members, dealing with guilt, suicide, poverty, growing up in an orphanage, bullying, unhealthy relationships with food, jealousy, not wanting children and what society expects from women. One character is mute and her perspective was particularly interesting to me because I've never read from a POV like this. I was a little confused about all the characters at first and had to write down how they connected. I liked the structure of the story. Will be thinking about this one again and again.
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AlleBeschreibung
Beiträge
4,5 Sterne
I really enjoyed it. A story about 5 women living in Seoul and finding their ways in a world that is dominated by beauty standards, money and men. They are all very different and yet so alike. Their stories are sad, tragic, empowering and beautiful at the same time. I always wanted to read the next and the next and the next chapter to learn more about their past and present and was positively surprised by the ending.
4 stars This is very much a slice-of-life kind of book and if I had to compare the reading experience to some other book, it would be Memorial by Bryan Washington. What the two books have in common are the multiple perspectives and how you get to know the different characters and their backstory. There isn't a lot of plot and it doesn't lead to anything specifically. What you do get are 4 different POVs from women, living together in Korea and their experiences in their daily life. What the book does really well is bringing up so many very important topics without shoving them in your face. There is a lot of talk about sex work and beauty standards / focus on appearance in Korea, but also race, class, sexism, misogyny, toxic relationships, abusive family members, dealing with guilt, suicide, poverty, growing up in an orphanage, bullying, unhealthy relationships with food, jealousy, not wanting children and what society expects from women. One character is mute and her perspective was particularly interesting to me because I've never read from a POV like this. I was a little confused about all the characters at first and had to write down how they connected. I liked the structure of the story. Will be thinking about this one again and again.
4 stars This is very much a slice-of-life kind of book and if I had to compare the reading experience to some other book, it would be Memorial by Bryan Washington. What the two books have in common are the multiple perspectives and how you get to know the different characters and their backstory. There isn't a lot of plot and it doesn't lead to anything specifically. What you do get are 4 different POVs from women, living together in Korea and their experiences in their daily life. What the book does really well is bringing up so many very important topics without shoving them in your face. There is a lot of talk about sex work and beauty standards / focus on appearance in Korea, but also race, class, sexism, misogyny, toxic relationships, abusive family members, dealing with guilt, suicide, poverty, growing up in an orphanage, bullying, unhealthy relationships with food, jealousy, not wanting children and what society expects from women. One character is mute and her perspective was particularly interesting to me because I've never read from a POV like this. I was a little confused about all the characters at first and had to write down how they connected. I liked the structure of the story. Will be thinking about this one again and again.
TW: child abuse, violence, misogynistic language / attitudes, adult content, suicide / suicidal ideation, alcoholism, assault, abuse, miscarriages, cheating, some descriptions of plastic surgery Meine Meinung: If I had your face erzählt die Geschichte von vier Frauen, die ebenfalls alle in einem Wohnkomplex in Seoul wohnen. Jede hat eine interessante Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und zu erwartende Zukunft. Was die Zukunft betrifft, ist dies mein größter Kritikpunkt, denn der Plot lässt bis kurz vor dem Ende auf sich warten und das Buch endet in einem riesen Cliffhanger. Alle vier gehen unterschiedlich mit ihren Situationen um, wobei deutlich wird wer wie aus seiner Realität flüchtet, seine Träume hegt und somit das eigene Leid verdrängt. Die wahrscheinlich wichtigste Botschaft von Frances Cha ist, der Zusammenhalt bzw die Freundschaft der Protagonistinnen, welche sie dadurch den Rücken stärken. Die deutliche Kritik am vorherrschenden Frauenbild kommt gelungen und hart rüber. Trotzdem war es eine tolle Geschichte über Schönheitsideale, den Zwang der Ehe, neue Perspektiven und den Druck einer Frau in Südkorea.
Really wished this was longer! Such an engaging story, loved all the different perspectives and the discussion of misogyny in South Korea. Especially liked following the salon girl and her roommate's plastic surgery journey. I appreciated the author not showing the latter in neither a positive or negative light, one can read between the lines and form their own conclusion. In a society, where looks are an integral aspect to move ahead, one can hardly condemn the people at the bottom for doing whatever's necessary to achieve their goal.
While the book deals with many important topics, such as beauty standards, sexism and family from a perspective of four different Korean women, I felt very underwhelmed.
The beauty standard in south korea is maddening. This obsession... it baffles me.
It's basic human nature, this need to look down on someone to feel better about yourself. Going into it, I was really excited about this book because the premise here on Goodreads sounded really promising. The book is divided into four diffenrent POVs, the problem is that these four women all sound exactly the same. Another issue is that there wasn't much coherence. It could have been any women in Seoul because there was barely any interaction between these four. It felt like this book was going nowhere and there was a big focus on the girls' past rather than the present and their current lives. Because of this, there was no real plot. [b: If I Had Your Face|52696537|If I Had Your Face|Frances Cha|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1591107164l/52696537._SY75_.jpg|65690455] was very bland and monotonous and offered little to no insights into Korean culture. It's very superficial without any character development or anything of importance.
4 stars This is very much a slice-of-life kind of book and if I had to compare the reading experience to some other book, it would be Memorial by Bryan Washington. What the two books have in common are the multiple perspectives and how you get to know the different characters and their backstory. There isn't a lot of plot and it doesn't lead to anything specifically. What you do get are 4 different POVs from women, living together in Korea and their experiences in their daily life. What the book does really well is bringing up so many very important topics without shoving them in your face. There is a lot of talk about sex work and beauty standards / focus on appearance in Korea, but also race, class, sexism, misogyny, toxic relationships, abusive family members, dealing with guilt, suicide, poverty, growing up in an orphanage, bullying, unhealthy relationships with food, jealousy, not wanting children and what society expects from women. One character is mute and her perspective was particularly interesting to me because I've never read from a POV like this. I was a little confused about all the characters at first and had to write down how they connected. I liked the structure of the story. Will be thinking about this one again and again.