Imagen del autor

Frances Cha

Autor de If I Had Your Face

5 Obras 693 Miembros 24 Reseñas

Sobre El Autor

Créditos de la imagen: Amazon

Obras de Frances Cha

Etiquetado

Conocimiento común

Género
female
Nacionalidad
South Korea
País (para mapa)
South Korea
Lugares de residencia
New York, New York, USA
Educación
Darthmouth College, Columbia University

Miembros

Reseñas

A thoroughly engrossing and superbly written novel! I devoured this in a couple sittings-there was never an uninteresting moment. "If I Had Your Face" follows the lives of 5 young women (4 have POVs) living in modern South Korea in the same apartment building. Each are dealing with the stresses of being a woman and the, more often than not, unfair expectations placed upon them. They are expected to dress, act, look, talk, walk, work, and marry all in very specific ways, and not doing so throws them further into the cutthroat society where they are picked apart or discarded entirely.

I recently had read Robin Ha's autobiographical graphic memoir, "Almost American Girl", and wanted to learn more about life in South Korea, and I thought this was an astoundingly intimate and insightful look into what it's like. Although I knew a little bit about things such as emphasis on plastic surgery and idol obsession, there was so much more I didn't know about or even consider, like how maternity leave is viewed in comparison to the USA, about the room salons like where Kyrui works, and how the adult-child relationships vary. All of this info, in addition to Cha's writing style, made the book super immersive.

(minor spoiler warnings for this paragraph)
My favorite aspect of the book was the friendship that grows between the women. Although at times it is tenuous, it is written with such heart and ferocity! Cha really does a wonderful job at showing the ups and downs of friendship, and that beautiful bond of girls looking out for each other. Each of these women to some extent have experienced that dread of feeling like they have an "expiration date", a time when society will deem them too far gone or too old or too saggy to be worth anything, but ultimately they find comfort, solidity, and happiness in each other, and I LOVE that. I love that the toxic men in each of their lives were shed by the end of the novel and they instead were brought closer to one another.

I would have loved another 100 or so pages in the book, especially because a couple of the arcs felt a TEENY bit unfinished. Overall a little more meat on this books bones would have paid off, but the story is still SO well done. Plus, Cha also made it pretty obvious how things were going to work out so I'm satisfied with that ending! (although I would have loved to see Miho finish her revenge)
"If I Had Your Face" is an absolute recommend from me, and I can't wait to see what Cha does next. I'll definitely be reading it.
… (más)
 
Denunciada
deborahee | 23 reseñas más. | Feb 23, 2024 |
 
Denunciada
rianainthestacks | 23 reseñas más. | Nov 5, 2023 |
Excuse me while I go cry because this book crushed me but also made me hopeful.
 
Denunciada
ejerig | 23 reseñas más. | Oct 25, 2023 |
Loved this story and the characters.

Very well written. I just wished it wouldn’t have ended so abruptly. It left me wanting.I found myself rooting and weeping for the young women. I love stories of women caring and taking care of one another. I wish we did that more in real life. Definitely worth the read.
 
Denunciada
bookburner451 | 23 reseñas más. | Nov 19, 2022 |

Listas

Premios

También Puede Gustarte

Estadísticas

Obras
5
Miembros
693
Popularidad
#36,521
Valoración
3.9
Reseñas
24
ISBNs
23
Idiomas
2

Tablas y Gráficos