This novel examines topics of beauty, class, the place of women, friendship, and art through the lives of five women who are connected in various ways, set in Seoul. I believe it is set in present day but because of the extreme plastic surgery felt more like near-future.

I've read several books by female authors set in Korea in the past few years but they were works written in Korean and for Korean audiences (Han Kang, Kim Sagwa, etc). That writing tends to cover similar topics but in a more surreal, sideways, and violent way. The storytelling in this novel is more straightforward, told in the way of books like Big Little Lies, where there is a piece of information (or pieces) withheld from the reader, revealed gradually, through rotating points of view.

It took me a while to find the rhythm of it as it felt like I struggled in the first 40% to stay connected (arguably this could also be quarantine brain) but after that I felt like the pace picked up and I understood the characters more as individuals, making the rest fly by.

It took me a minute to get into this. That's mostly because there is no real "plot" to this novel. Sure, there are little stories happening all at once but this is primarily a character-driven novel as it is told from the perspective of four women, interconnected through histories, friendships, and living in the same office-tel. Once I realized that, I think I began to appreciate this story more for what it was - and what a story it was! This is a powerful character study in Korean culture as well as the lengths women go to be "beautiful." Also, the dynamic between men and women and just how little power/influence/say women have, especially when they don't have the pedigree or family or wealth or beauty to be considered something. That said, this isn't a book that made me weep - oh no. Our narrators - Ara, Kyuri, Wonna, and Miho - have been through it and have gone to great lengths to become the women they are and I admire them, so much, for it. They are strong, but they are even stronger together, and they help each other find agency over their own lives in whatever way they can.

This is such an important novel, one that would make an excellent choice for Book Clubs and one that will be flying off the shelves. Also - I learned that the number 4 is considered unlucky in Korea, much like the number 13 in the US. I couldn't help but notice that there were four narrators ..... that could also be a total coincidence and I'm totally overthinking it....

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
3.5/5

This novel follows and is narrated by four women living in contemporary Seoul, Korea, and follows their lives.

I knew that plastic surgery, appearances, and celebrity are important aspects of Korean culture, but I did not know how much of an impact they made until I read this book. I was intrigued by how some very specific aspects of characters’ faces are described and how they perceive themselves. I enjoyed how this novel followed these four women and their individual stories which intersect in some instances - although I did have a bit of an issue remembering which character had which backstory.

I did hope that there was going to be a bit more of this novel - I felt as if there were story lines and commentaries brought up but merely skimmed the surface rather than diving deeper into them.

Overall, this was a compelling read which I would recommend!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the e-book.

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If I Had Your Face tackles the impossible beauty standards and sexism prevalent in Korean culture. The novel follows the intersecting lives of four women trying to better their lives and social standings. They worship K-pop icons while saving for their own life-changing plastic surgeries. They struggle with the feeling of being stuck in a restrictive social class and complicated feelings towards motherhood. Each woman has moments of triumph and heartbreak as they learn what can and cannot change their positions in life.

Can you thoroughly enjoy a novel while being equally horrified by it? That’s how I felt reading If I Had Your Face. This novel really dives into modern Korean culture’s obsession with celebrity and beauty in a way that shocked me. I really enjoyed the character-driven plot and the way that every woman’s story stood alone while intersecting with each other. There is not a strong plot here, so those who need a more traditional plot line might want to skip this one. I hope you don’t, though: If I Had Your Face is captivating and heartbreaking. Thank you @randomhouse Ballentine and @netgalley for my advanced readers copy. If I Had Your Face is out now!

An interesting exploration of beauty and the lengths one goes to pursue it. It was interesting to learn more about beauty from another country's standpoint and how prevalent cosmetic surgery is in South Korea.

One of my goals this year was to read more books about different countries and cultures. I chose to start IF I HAD YOUR FACE for this reason and was not disappointed. It’s told through the perspective of four young women trying to survive the impossible beauty standards and hierarchical society of Seoul, South Korea.⁣
⁣
This one was really interesting both for the story itself and how different the writing style was. The characters are all connected, but the chapters are not linear and each one felt almost like a short story. It’s an uncomfortable and heart-wrenching read, but it’s a truly eye-opening look into the plight these women endure. My only complaint about this novel is that I wish it had more chapters. I wanted so badly to know how each woman’s story turned out. Pretty good complaint for a book, I suppose!

‘If I Had Your Face’ is a fascinating, well-written novel told in the perspective of four women in South Korea that live in the same apartment building. I found the characters and their stories mesmerizing, even though I didn’t necessarily like them. I felt like a voyeur viewing their lives and struggles with poverty, misogyny, and unrealistic beauty expectations. The single characters tended to view their lives in a short-term lens as they assume their future prospects are bleak due to dramatic wealth disparity.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for providing this ARC.

4.5/5 stars, rounded down because the part that annoyed me was the ending so I have some residual annoyance.

This book gave a fascinating insight into the Korean beauty industry and how much physical appearance has woven itself into Korean culture. The characters and the situations they faced were horrifying yet strikingly human, and Cha's crisp, skillful writing style, mingling insight with sarcasm and blunt brutality, elevated this to an excellent read.

Full review coming soon on my blog!

If I Had Your Face is an engrossing tale of how female friendships impact the lives of women, and how they often save them from the worst of the world's sorrows, with a look at modern Korean culture and how it's cultural expectations further shape women's roles and lives. Following the POVS of Ara, Miho, Kyuri, and Wonna, each woman's narrative unveils many of the individual desires, needs, and struggles that she lives with, and in turn, shows us some of what their culture enforces women to endure - the sexual appetites of men who see them as toys, the pressures of a society that places wealth and beauty over all else, the constant jealousy and competitiveness with others, and the impact of abuse that is thrown under the rug. Cha's strength lies in her lines that ruthlessly examine the fixation with fame, money, beauty and power - her thoughts on these points are bitingly good. Each character is distinctly her own, but the writing style doesn't allow us to see all of these women's lives - just a peek. Personally, I wanted more backstory for each one that the length of the book didn't allow, but the impact the writer wishes for still hits, if not as emotionally resonant. Even so, this is an extremely addictive novel that will keep you turning the pages to glimpse more and more of each character's lives as you learn to care about both them and the bonds they share. I'd give this 3.5/5 stars!

This book starts out like a Korean Friends or Sex in the City, but ends up being a fierce social commentary about contemporary Seoul and how women struggle to fit in. At heart, it’s a stirring story of friendship.

This was a completely different kind of book for me, but I am really glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone to read it. Told in the perspective of three South Korean women, the story reveals how beauty and wealth influences the women of this country. The book made me uncomfortable at parts because I had no idea some of these things that were happening in such a developed country. It was definitely an eye opener. I found myself caring for these women and wanting to help, but obviously not being able too. I think If I Had Your Face is an important book to read to educate your self on what is happening to other women in this world.

Frances Cha wrote an amazing character driven story about the harsh realities on the importance of physical beauty women face in contemporary Korean culture.

For any young woman coming-of-age, having eyelid surgery and facial reconstruction was just a normal way of life, and expected if you were not born to meet the standards of what they see as beauty. Having a beautiful face is what you will need to get yourself accepted into the society in order to find a better job, to marry well, to keep your friends, and affects your every being and is confronted with this head on at every turn. To be successful in life, you must conform to the beauty standards at all cost or face being shunned.

Through the eyes of these characters, the reader experiences the hardship and double standards women face in the Korean culture. This book really hit the most important topics, and was written with heart and brutal honesty.

Cha wrote complex characters that defined the culture, the hardships and the emotional conflicts of the cultural norm. This book was very well written and I enjoyed it a lot.

I highly recommend this book.

I was ready to love this one but I ended up only liking it. It made me very sad for many different reasons, especially how surgery is seen as something that you HAVE to do and that is actually a very scary thought. I do know that that is a sad reality however in Asia. The girls did seem to muddle together at one point and I couldn't tell them apart because there wasn't much personality but I did love their solidarity and looking after one another. I also do think there were too many stories going on at once, I think I would've liked this better with maybe 3 girls instead? Overall, I did enjoy this and I do love the cover as well.

The subject of this novel, pervasive plastic surgery in Seoul, is fascinating. The author digging into that through the points of view of four fictional women effected by these beauty standards, was distinctively insightful. The start of the stories was a little difficult to follow in an e-format because of the shifting perspectives and not being able to easily flip back and forth.

This is a very propulsive and compelling novel about the Korean beauty industry that makes me want to pick up more than a few long-form articles about plastic surgery in Korea. It is an incredibly bleak take on Korean society, and I found myself wondering more often than not just how accurate of a representation this is, so I'm going to try to hunt down some reviews by Korean folks just to get a better sense of context.

As for the novel itself, I enjoyed it a lot, particularly the characters, of which there are five, though we only see the POVs of four of them. One POV, Wonna's, felt a bit extraneous to the actual narrative, as she doesn't know the other four characters very well, and I feel like her POV could easily have been extricated to make room for more of the other girls, because the novel feels almost unfinished. The ending is incredibly rushed and abrupt, to the point where I found it startling.

This is the kind of literary novel that doesn't have much of a plot or a "point" but focuses more on character and character arcs; I think each one of these characters could have an entire novel dedicated to her.

Overall an enjoyable, if extremely bleak, 3.5 star read!

QUICK TAKE: I know very little about South Korean beauty culture, so I was fascinated by this book and the lengths young women will go to in order to achieve an unattainable standard of beauty. Cha does a nice job of differentiating 4 different female characters with their own unique traits and secrets.

So good. A very interesting look at social constructs of a culture I admit I don't know much about. The overlapping lives were well thought out with each woman having a unique voice and insight to being a part of the same the city with different backgrounds. Highly recommended.

3.5 Stars

Cha's debut features the interconnected stories of four young Korean women living in the same apartment building as they try to survive in a harsh culture with strict unspoken standards of beauty, decorum and class. Ara and Kyuri are from low class backgrounds. The lives they've carved out for themselves are precarious, one mistake and they could lose everything. Miho comes from a similar background. Due to her artistic talent she has more opportunities, but is also dangerously naive. Wonna is more middle class, but also suffers from societal constraints as she and her husband attempt to start a family. Tying them all together is Sujin, who is recovering from a total facial reconstruction. Once she has the perfect face, her life can truly begin.

I found the lives of these women, particularly Kyuri, very engaging. Their stories are intense, they truly live on the knife's edge between a function life and total destitution. Each chapter focuses on a different character. As the stories progress we see how each woman's past has impacted their current lives. There are some parts that are difficult to read, but in the end it's worth it. My only gripe is that the book is too short, I could have used a few more chapters!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book told the story of 5 women that are all connected in some way, who are living in South Korea. The women are hairdressers, artists, and one working at a brothel type place. The story gave a glimpse into the culture, specifically with their focus on beauty and the lengths they go to modify their appearances, even facial surgery being common.

A unique book and I’m glad I found it.

I began this book with no knowledge about what it was like to be a woman in South Korea. I know that here in America (especially if you watch any of the Real Housewives shows) there is an emphasis on being thin and not aging. I had no idea that other countries were as obsessed with beauty as us, even more so.

This is the story of a group of women, all living in the same apartment building. Kyuri works at a room salon, where she drinks and entertains businessmen. Miho, who is an artist, is her roommate.

Then there is Ara who is mute and who is obsessed with a boy band and her roommate Sujin who has major plastic surgery in the hopes of being beautiful enough to work in a room salon.

Finally, Wonna, a newly married woman who watches the other girls comings and goings with envy as she tries to become pregnant.

What was most fascinating and heart breaking besides the room salons where women basically cater to the every need of wealthy businessmen is the obsession with plastic surgery. Eye surgery and jaw surgery involving shaving the bone to make the shape of the jaw more attractive. It’s even more disturbing that these are done on young girls, girls who think they aren’t attractive unless they change the way they look.

The book alternates it’s point of view through Kyuri, Ara, Miho and Wonna.
It was a fascinating if disturbing read. The ending came as a complete surprise - not that something drastic happened, more that nothing happened. It just ended. One page I was reading the story and the next was the acknowledgment. I kept flipping back and forth, thinking I had missed something. In that sense, this is a very character driven novel. You are there to read about the characters and their lives, not necessarily following a beginning, middle or end that is plot driven.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley.