a great debut! you follow four very different women that are part of each other's lives one way or another. the story is like a small snippet into these Korean women's lives and you exit it as suddenly as you enter it. you get to see the importance of plastic surgery and beauty, how it affects everything. It is meant to be the main subject but in my opinion it is not the whole point of the book (unless I've missed something). It sort of feels like a personal biography non fiction but it reads super easy and i thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience

When this book came out a few years ago the premise intrigued me; I liked the interweaving narratives of the four young women and how they knew each other, and I always like reading debut novels that have a lot of buzz around them. Korean fiction has been receiving a lot of attention recently, and rightfully so, for their insightful stories and beautiful writing, and If I Had Your Face is definitely well-written. However, I did find the pacing to be quite slow at times, and I definitely preferred a couple of the girls' narratives to the others, so I wasn't as engaged when reading some chapters. I found the plastic surgery element to be what intrigued me the most, but I feel as though it could have been executed a bit more forcefully in the narrative. I don't mind stories with minimal plots, more 'slice of life' books, but this didn't quite work for me in this case, as I felt that the story was trying to lead to something and then ended quite flatly, unfortunately.

If I Had Your Face is a beautifully written and emotionally gripping debut novel that offers a poignant exploration of contemporary South Korean culture. The novel follows the lives of four young women who live in a cramped apartment complex in Seoul, each struggling with their own dreams and desires in a society that prizes beauty, wealth, and social status above all else.

One of the strengths of the novel is Cha's writing, which is elegant and evocative, bringing the sights, sounds, and smells of Seoul vividly to life. The novel is also filled with complex, fully realized characters who feel like real people with real problems. The four main characters - Kyuri, Miho, Ara, and Wonna - are particularly well-drawn, each with their own distinct voice and perspective.

Another strength of the novel is its exploration of the various societal pressures that the women face, from the obsession with beauty and plastic surgery to the pervasive sexism and classism that permeate their lives. Cha navigates these issues with sensitivity and nuance, painting a vivid and often heartbreaking portrait of contemporary South Korea.

The multiple narrative perspectives can be confusing at times, and some of the plot threads are left unresolved, which may frustrate some readers, but it didn't take away from my experience.

Overall, If I Had Your Face is a beautifully written and emotionally resonant debut novel that offers a powerful exploration of contemporary South Korean culture. Fans of literary fiction and stories about the complexities of modern society are sure to enjoy this haunting and thought-provoking read.

Very insightful into Korean culture. It started off strongly but then lost my interest. So I didn’t really love this one I’m afraid

I started and stopped reading If I Had Your Face a couple of times before I committed to reading it- this isn't a reflection on the book at all, but rather a case that I wanted to do this book justice.

I am glad that I waited as I ended up enjoying Cha's novel a great deal. Told in multiple perspectives, IIHYF follows five women living in Seoul, South Korea and the story is told from all of their points of view. I love a multiple narrative and I thought it worked well here. I also liked that it showed how the beauty industry affects all women with them all grappling with their looks and living in a society where looks, being married and having children are considered priorities. I also liked how these patriarchal ideals are viewed as the suppression that they are.

It wasn't a light read, but not all books are meant to be! I'm glad I came back to it and read it in the right frame of mind.

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha follows the lives of five women in Seoul, South Korea. The story is told by multiple POV's. We meet Kyuri, Ara, Miho, Wonna and Sujin who all live in the same 'office-tel" block and throughout the book, we see how their lives intertwine.

Through these women we are given an insight into the sheer obsession with beauty in South Korea and the myriad of social issues that women face on a daily basis. We are introduced to a world where plastic surgery isn't just a choice but almost a necessity if you are to succeed.

The story also focuses on the power of female friendship which is portrayed very well particularly later in the book. It was intimate and endearing. The story is completely character driven with not much plot but the characters were so well written that the lack of a plot didn't dampen my enjoyment of the story. I thought the book was written with great tenderness despite dealing with difficult subject matters and kept a warmth throughout. A very well deserved 3.75 stars 🌟

For a while, I was unable to pick up another book after reading If I Had Your Face. Because some books just set up camp in your mind and refuse to let in any newcomers. It is not just the plot that demands your attention but Cha’s writing, characterised by her effortless switch from playful to distant in a second between characters, who are all bound by her careful and uniting thread.

This book had so much of an impact on me. I bought my own copy to tab up, despite saying that I would never engage in such a book tube stereotype. It is startling and eye-opening and lingering. It unpicks, with such an unbelievable amount of deft and skill, the impact that the beauty industry has in South Korea and it tears apart the horrors that lie beneath.

Really enjoyed this one! More a character study than a novel with a story line, and I think if I had read it when I was in a better headspace I would have enjoyed it even more. Really interesting though.

this was a heartbreaking story. the moment you start reading you can feel the heavy in the atmosphere, watching and waiting for the story unravel.

i loved the complexity of each girl and it broke my heart to see them struggle. this was a really important book, and one i think every woman should read

This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

We follow a group of young modern women who are friends and neighbors as they make their way in a world that still puts importance on looks, getting married and having children. They all secretly fight their insecurities and wish they were prettier. They think the beautiful women have an easier life, but this is not true. The plastic surgeons are producing a conveyor belt of women who all look the same. Would it not be better to embrace your individuality? They are jealous of others and what they have. Thinking the grass is greener, but actually it's not.

I found this book a bit hard going, there's not much light relief and I didn't warm to the characters. But still an interesting read. 3.5 stars

Kyuri, Miho, Wonna, Ara - four women living in Seoul, South Korea, and all in their own way affected by the current culture's obsession with what face looks like a good, acceptable face, and how young women should act and look like. Kyuri has a face that she's spent thousands on to look perfect but she is horrid debt and under control of her madam and the room salon, Miho is a carefree artist that is naturally beautiful but she's too poor for her rich boyfriend to ever be allowed to marry her, Ara is plain and happy that way, mute due to a childhood accident and obsessed with a K-Pop star. And Wonna is older, and more damaged than the rest, and starting out a pregnancy she is terrified to reveal, revel in or lose.

I ended up really enjoying this book for a myriad of reasons. The writing itself was very pleasant to read, was clear in its intentions and the timeline/pace of the story was fast and immersive. I really felt at times that I was in the rooms with the girls and hanging out with them and listening to their conversations. There was something attractive about them all and I genuinely liked them, faults and all. I wanted to protect them yet at the same time, enjoy life with them.

I feel this book gives a really interesting glimpse at the toxic beauty standards that is so rife in South Korea and Asian culture. I had been aware of some of it before - the skin bleaching, extreme diets and exercise from K-Pop stars (or factories) - but seeing how it affects ordinary girls and how the desire to look a certain way can lead them to an almost 'acceptable' version of prostitution was almost hard to believe. The book also did a good job at really showing the class divide in South Korea too - the difference between growing up rich or being one of the chaebol, and growing up with little to no money - the lack of opportunity people got and how young women had to look at a future where they would never be able to afford their own homes.

I wish we got a bit more - I wonder if we need Wonna at all considering the rest of the book was focused on younger characters in a different stage of life. I liked the female friendship and how they came together near the end but I'm not sure if Wonna's POV gave anything particularly new or striking to the story in comparison to the others. The ending was slightly abrupt but left off with a nice image of women supporting women.

“I would live your life so much better than you, if I had your face”

This novel tells the story of four different women and their perspectives towards South Korea’s beauty standards. As a fan of K-pop and K-dramas, I had a general understanding of how different the beauty standards and woman’s positions in modern day society was in Korean culture. Good looking people are placed on a higher pedestal than those who aren’t as attractive.

My general understanding is that beauty is almost your entire identity, and it matters greatly how you look. The jobs you get, and the way people treat you are based on how pretty you are. It’s a horrific reality that many women face today.

I wished we had gotten to learn more of the women as individuals outside of the main themes. There might have been too many stories to tell, and too many problems to address that the characters lacked depth, in my opinion.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that I did enjoy reading this book. This book wasn’t afraid to address sexism and patriarchal suppression, as well as the suffocating beauty standards that society as a whole place on women from a very young age. I would highly recommend giving this book a try if you are interested in the dark side of beauty standards, especially in a modern day setting.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK) for this advanced reader's copy of 'If I Had Your Face' by Francesca Cha

I received a free e-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[This review will be posted on my blog on 28 April 2021]

If I Had Your Face was a fascinating and compelling read, exploring modern Korean womanhood, sexism, gender roles and expectations, class, financial insecurity and the beauty industry.

Told from four different perspectives, it has a very 'slice-of-life' feel to it. It is about the lives of four women who live in the same apartment block in Seoul. Not only do we follow their present lives, but each character shares significant memories from their past that led them to this point. I felt really invested in all of their narratives, although some were more developed than others. I was also impressed by how distinct each narrative voice was. I was never confused about whose perspective I was reading.

Kyuri is a room salon girl (basically an escort at an expensive club who pours drinks for rich men and chats to them.) She has spent a lot of money on plastic surgery to appeal to the men she sees. She drinks a lot, and she's always in debt due to the pressure to adhere to stringent beauty standards.
Ara is a hairdresser and is mute. She is obsessed with an idol from a boy band, whom she is desperate to meet.
Miho is Kyuri's roomate, and an artist. Despite being an orphan, she got a scholarship to study in America, and has a rich boyfriend.
Wonna is a married woman who lives on the floor below the other girls. She is unhappy in her marriage, and desperately wants a child.

I felt like Wonna's chapters weren't as developed as the others, and it takes a while for it to become clear why she was included. I didn't connect that all four women lived in the same apartment building until a lot later in the book.

In the end I found all four stories to be compelling, and they show a range of experiences of working class women in Seoul. The overall tone is quite dark, and frankly kind of depressing at times, but it ended on a somewhat lighter note, which I appreciated.

I'd recommend for fans of literary fiction, women's fiction, and those who are interested in Korean society and culture (especially through a feminist lens).

Drawn in my the cover alone, I truly had no idea what I was getting into when I started If I Had Your Face but I was fascinated from the beginning.

Set in Seoul, Korea, If I Had Your Face follows four young women - Kyuri, Miho, Ara and Wonna - as they navigate their young lives, each with their own set of challenges.

Written in a very 'slice of life' way, it discusses Korean culture, class and social hierarchy and most engrossing, the obsession of beauty and the surgeries that these women go through in attempt to meet the incredibly high beauty standards.

Unfortunately for. me, I felt like the author tried to fit too many perspectives into too little pages. Wonna's character was far less developed than the others and didn't feel like an integral part to the story. More page time with the other three women could have made this a stronger book overall.

Never the less, I really enjoyed learning more about Korean culture and look forward to reading more of the author's work.

Fantastic. A powerful look into another culture, I loved it. I’m quite ignorant about South Korea and this gave me a real insight into some of the issues that women face there.

I am genetically blessed with what some refer to as ‘good skin’. I never had pimples as a teen and I’ve never worn makeup. My skin routine is essentially washing my face with water and using a supermarket moisturiser when I remember. When I was 42, a cosmetic-surgeon-acquaintance told me that Botox at my age was ‘pointless because the wrinkles were already there’. Apparently you need to start young so that you never have any wrinkles to smooth out in the first place. Thankfully I don’t care about wrinkles and nor was I in anyway offended that the acquaintance assumed Botox was on my radar!

Anyway, this is a long introduction to Frances Cha’s accomplished and fascinating debut, If I Had Your Face.

The story is set in Seoul, Korea and focuses on four young women, each grappling with Korea’s particularly high standards of beauty, strict social hierarchies, and misogynist society – the connection between beauty, money and power is hardly new, however Cha offers fresh perspective.

It’s a character driven novel and although each of the women will stay with me for different reasons, Kyuri’s story was the most compelling. Kyuri, who had had more cosmetic procedures than she could count, is in debt to the manager of the ‘room salon’ where she works, entertaining wealthy businessmen. She works to save for more procedures, hoping to secure a position at a better salon. And the cycle continues. Ultimately she has no economic power and therefore is completely vulnerable.

I’m sorely tempted by the ‘Strapless Package’, which includes Botox for the back of the shoulders, ‘fat kill’ injections for the underarms, and a choice between Healite II LED therapy or cryotherapy… Going down the list, I am reminded I need more armpit whitening and lip edge injections because the little curls on either side of my lips have begun to droop.

The women’s stories intersect in numerous ways. Many of the issues the women face are universal, particularly in regards to complicated relationships, pressures from family, and career decisions. Cha manages to capture both the competitiveness between the women and the emotional intimacy, as well as exploring themes of escaping the past and determining one’s own future.

There are scenes in this book that are shocking – swift and stark, and each mirrored the way ‘incidents’ were handled in the room salon where, in the face of trouble, the women bowed their heads, ‘accepted’ responsibility, and wordlessly watched their debt mount.

Cha positions cosmetic surgery as a necessity in Korea, rather than a vanity. It is a thought provoking perspective on ever-escalating consumerism and, combined with glimpses of Korean popular culture, it makes for a fascinating and unexpectedly gripping novel.

4/5 I look forward to reading more from Cha in the future.

I received my copy of If I Had Your Face from the publisher, Penguin Books UK, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I have reviewed this book very positively on my YouTube channel Drinking By My Shelf - amazing characters and writing