If I Had Your Face
Frances Cha
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
If I Had Your Face
Frances Cha
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Cha’s background as a former travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul serves her well as she vibrantly brings the city and country to life. And her excellent depiction of how difficult it is for young South Koreans to get ahead will likely resonate with American millennials and members of Gen-Z for whom home ownership, professional advancement, and a debt-free adulthood seems elusive, especially now. There are, however, a few instances when the novel attempts to incorporate one too many familiar Korean headlines (K-pop obsession, the country’s low birth rate); and some plotlines feel a bit underwhelming once finally realized. Thankfully, these are minor exceptions in an otherwise powerful and provocative rendering of contemporary South Korean society, one that might be considered bleak if not for the women themselves, who occasionally surprise with their compassion and bravery..
If you’re on a post-Parasite hunt for more South Korean culture, Frances Cha’s fascinating debut novel is just the ticket.
Frances Cha’s debut is filled with biting commentary about the position in which women find themselves in modern South Korea. With such an onus on appearance and social rank, women’s lives come to be dominated by envy, and our main characters are no exception. Each one of them, through their narratives, seems suspended in space, desperately grabbing out for something unreachable, believing that getting a hold on that whatever is missing will fill the hole inside of them. Ms. Cha’s debut has the potential to provide a window into South Korean culture for the uninitiated, highlighting its richness as well as its problems. The book, for all its sharp wit and acerbic asides, is breezily and delightfully readable, perfect for a one-sitting binge. Wanting only for more differentiation between the character voices and a separate perspective of the group’s keystone friend, Sujin, Frances Cha has given us a novel to write home about..
... a fierce social commentary about gender roles, class divisions and, yes, plastic surgery in South Korea.
When you begin reading If I Had Your Face it isn’t difficult to see why it comes garlanded with praise on high from the literati.
... vivid.
As former travel and culture editor for CNN in Seoul, U.S.-Hong Kong-South Korea-raised and Brooklyn-domiciled Cha writes exactingly of what she knows in her first novel. With unblinking focus, she confronts some of the darkest consequences of contemporary gender inequity by targeting the erasure of female individuality by oppressive beauty standards and expectations.
...[a] disturbing look at the unrealistic beauty standards placed on Korean women.
...[a] winning debut.