Review | Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 [CC]

[@maroua9279]

Great review I'm currently reading it, i just got to the adolescence period, and i can say that what you said is so right. I was able to relate to it in so many ways, if not personally, a classmate or a neighbor would pop in my mind.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Right?! It's just filled with all these experiences that we've all gone through or know someone who has gone through. I hope you love the rest of the book as much as I did!

[@MarianaQuesada]

I’m really interested in this book. I’m dipping my toes into Korean culture so it would be a great way to hear the untold truths hidden behind media. Also, living in a highly patriarchal country, I want to see how much I’ll relate to it.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Oh, if you do read it, I would 100% love to hear your thoughts on how that relates to Mexican culture. That would be such a cool video idea too!

[@MarianaQuesada]

@@ThatsSoPoe oooh yes!! I ran out of ideas for new videos so that's perfect

[@anabelen3813]

Just finished reading it today and I'm so glad I finally did! You really managed to pinpoint all the things that I liked from it :) I was a little perplexed with the ending and needed some time to digest it, but I was able to think everything over again thanks to your video. I was also wondering what you took from the ending :) It was, honestly, a punch in the gut for me. Because we finally get a male person being confronted with her story, but it doesn't change anything. He still acts as if he had never heard it and even at that point doesn't try to understand his own wife. And we don't need to talk about the last interaction... It was kind of like a reality-check for me. - Ana

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Yes, exactly!!! A gut punch is exactly what that ending was. It was such a dark ending that really just showed how male-centric the entire thing was in the end, and how society just disregards everything that women go through. Really brutal, but really strong ending!

[@hbanana7]

I have a lot of female friends who hate the book and the movie b/c they just don't want to be labeled as feminists. Common opinion is that this book would be more believable if it was set in an earlier era. However, I remember into my adulthood, how differently girls were treated. Aborting female fetuses was very real and prevalent, so much so that the government outlawed doctors from telling expecting mothers the gender of their child well into 2000s. It is very much a hated book in Korea bc it has been labeled as man-hating, megalian book, when it obviously isnt'.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

That actually makes a lot of sense. The book really criticizes systemic sexism in the modern era, and I think that probably feels very threatening to a lot of readers (whereas a historical era they could distance themselves from). I think in India it's still outlawed to tell parents the gender of their upcoming children because of issues of female feticide. Sexism is very much alive and well... And it's interesting how much people dislike the label of feminist and get so upset about feminist works. I guess internalized misogyny does a number of many people!

[@hbanana7]

@@ThatsSoPoe what is often said is that since men lose two years of their lives in the military, any and all suffering of the female gender is justified. 🤦‍♀️ there are many sexists sayings like, "women are weak, but mothers are strong," "you should marry a man that loves you more than you love him," "affirmative action hire is unfair for men...." and so on.

[@SluggishReader]

Gotta say, FOMO motivated me to purchase this book and I loved that it became a memorable book for me. Ooh that ending!

[@ThatsSoPoe]

I suppose sometimes everyone has it right! 😂

[@aloneinmidnight]

i just finished reading it and had to see someone talk about it. great review, the final couple pages in particular really made me so angry lol

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Right?! That ending was just so perfect, and so infuriating.

[@antyodayaeducationhub4225]

How many pages are there in your book?

[@jonathonglover6488]

By chance, I finished Raymond Chandler’s ‘The Big Sleep’ and this book today. Whereas Chandler’s novel is dripping with physical violence and blatant misogyny , it was this book’s representation of the, as you call it, micro-aggressions and socialisation of women, that really hit home. Obviously, there is no place in society for Chandler’s outdated misogyny. But it is so blatant that it feels removed from reality. Nam-Cho’s novel hits like a ton of bricks about the inequality in society for women. It is a book that will be a wonderful resource for teachers all around the worlds going forward. Thanks for the review.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

I know exactly what you mean about more blatant sexism somehow not having the same impact as the more subtle sexism that permeates every aspect of life for Kim Jiyoung. It was so well done!

[@bookwhimsy]

MY copy just arrived and I can’t wait to dig in.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Yay!!!! I really want to hear your thoughts on this one. I think you'll have a ton of really interesting things to say!

[@thoughtsandwanders8866]

Hello. Thank you for this review. ❤️❤️❤️ This made me read the book. Thank you. Have a great day. New subscriber here.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

So glad you read the book! It was such a good one. And thanks for subscribing! 😊

[@leeah8419]

I added this to my TBR, great review!

[@ThatsSoPoe]

I hope you love it as much as I did!

[@SpringboardThought]

Great review! Totally agree with you.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Thanks! 😂 Surprised to see your comment here - did you just finish this?

[@SpringboardThought]

@@ThatsSoPoe it was suggested in my feed and I’d read it a while back haha!

[@ThatsSoPoe]

@@SpringboardThought Ah, that makes sense! For some reason, this is perhaps one of my most viewed/searched for reviews. Must be that the book is super popular, so it gets suggested as well. 🤷

[@SpringboardThought]

@@ThatsSoPoe ah yeah, the algorithm loves it!

[@booksatthebottomofthestair8446]

Great overview and analysis

[@ThatsSoPoe]

Thanks! 😊

[@justemefa]

Just read it and I LOVED it. A rational feminist novel

[@ThatsSoPoe]

It's so good!!