I couldn’t put down this book by Frances Cha! It was eye opening to read about these four Korean women, their background and how it shaped their current lives. Plus honestly I was shocked to learn much more about Korean culture and how much women have to go through. I highly recommend this book and will be extremely looking forward to more of Cha’s novels..

What originally drew me to this novel was the gorgeous cover. It’s so simple, but really striking. Also, I have been going through a bit of a Face/Off resurgence lately, and the title made me think of that movie. Don’t worry though, the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

I don’t usually dig on contemporary fiction all that much, but I will make exceptions. In this case, it was a combination of the very vague Face/Off connection, and the fact that it takes place in a culture outside of my own. I know remarkably little about Korea, other than that I love to eat at Korean restaurants here in America, and I am completely mad for Korean horror films. This book felt like it might be a good chance to easily learn a bit more about South Korea without a backdrop of monsters, ghosts, or serial murderers. Or any of the various aspects of psychological horror. You know, just a sort of slice-of-life look.

I was not disappointed. This is Cha’s debut novel, and it is really something to behold. I had a little trouble getting into it at first (because again, this genre is not really my thing), but once I did, I was hooked. I found each of these four women utterly fascinating. Each has their own demons to wrestle with, but they are all very strong women.

One thing that does bother me about the book is that there are a couple of plot points that feel unfinished. For example, Ara commits an act of brutal violence at one point against a spiteful assistant at her salon which, after it takes place is just never brought up again. What happened there? Was the girl okay? Did she tell anyone? Were there any consequences?

The other one that really sticks out for me is Miho’s entire story. She had such a detailed backstory, but the book ends before she gets any sort of real payoff. Did she do the things she said she would with/to Hanbin? Did he end up having to suffer any consequences for his actions? Did he ever even find out she knew?

All in all, this was a really enjoyable, well-written story. I just wish that a few loose threads had been tied up.

This comes out next week, so if contemporary or women’s fiction is your thing, I’d say give this one a shot. Despite my two minor complaints, I definitely enjoyed this story.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

If I Had Your Face is the astonishing debut novel about a group of young women navigating life in the Gangnam district of Seoul by Korean-American Frances Cha who also wrote for CNN International in Hong Kong and Seoul. Amid the backdrop of Seoul’s beauty industry, there is extraordinary pressure to conform to western notions of beauty. This quest for extreme beauty informs the novel as it provides us with the quotidian life of the four main characters. It is story about female friendship but one that is wholly informed by consumerism and obsessive beauty culture. Before reading this book, I knew scarcely about the beauty industry in South Korea and the extent to which the social class hierarchy circumscribes South Korean life. The book is both disturbing in its depiction of extreme beauty culture and also highly entertaining.

The novel is told from alternating perspectives of the four main characters: Ara, a hairstylist who is a mute derived from a childhood accident; Kyuri, a room salon girl which is a high-class party host who often goes on “dates” with her wealthy clients; Wonna, a slightly older office worker who resides in the same officetel (studio apartments in downtown Seoul) as the other main characters; and Miho, a visual artist who is dating an extremely wealthy young man; and the secondary character (non-narrating) Sujin who is wholly enamored of Kyuri who has gone to great lengths to “improve” her natural beauty. As the story unfolds, Kyuri, who we learn has endured numerous facial surgeries including the common blepharoplasty (addition of a second eye fold to make the eyes appear more open) and a jawline shaving to make her face appear less angular, is helping Sujin who has just undergone facial surgery.

The representation of the four women residing in an officetel, or a small studio apartment that is sometimes rented as a workspace or to be close to work in downtown Seoul, offers an accurate rendering of the beauty industry in Seoul. According to the Business Insider, South Korea has the “highest rate of plastic surgeries per capita worldwide as there are more than 500 facial plastic surgery clinics in the Gangnam district of Seoul alone. Medical tourism is a thriving industry where the vast majority of Korean women obtain a blepharoplasty as some of the characters in the novel underwent. The Huffington Post further notes that apps and websites cater to plastic surgery as it is not uncommon for a high school graduate to receive a planned surgery as a graduation gift as approximately 30% of South Korean women have undergone plastic surgery.

In addition to the beauty industry, the book sheds light on the rigid social hierarchy in South Korea. All the characters in the story occupy a middle/lower-middle strata with the exception of Miho’s boyfriend, Hanbin who is very wealthy. Life for the four women is alternately exciting and simultaneously pitiful. Ara lost her voice when she was brutally attacked as a troubled preteen and though she has a rushing clientele in her hair salon she is enamored with a Taein a member of a K-pop boy band. Yet it is actually the characters Kyuri who seems the most melancholy. She has obtained the most success with multiple facial surgeries and a job as a high-class salon room girl but behind that veneer she seems sad as her evenings and nights are spent on repeated benders. As the story progresses, Kyuri’s ascent to a 10% (the highest rank of salon rooms and the least obscene) room girl is detailed. Once I understood her earlier life, it was not difficult to sense her sadness and dislocation.

Themes of patriarchy, misogyny, childhood abuse also inform the story. There is one line in particular that seems to epitomize the way in which some wealthy Korean men objectify women through entreaties to the salons and also as the center of their relationships with their girlfriends. In characterizing one of her regular salon clients whom she has routine sexual trysts with, Kyuri notes, “I don’t know at what age men become assholes—boyhood, teenage years? When they start earning some real money?” This is part of the crux of the problem that is lifted out by this book. Restrictive gender roles for women, unrealistic notions of beauty, and low rates of marriage and childbirth create a maelstrom of life for twenty somethings in South Korea.

The stratified social classes reminded me of some of what is evident in the 2020 Oscar darling Parasite (2019) by Bong Joon-ho, which depicts a wide chasm between the two families, the wealthy elites, the Parks and the lower-class financially strapped Kims who reside in a shabby basement apartment worlds apart physically and economically from the Park clan. While If I Had Your Face has none of the trappings of the dark comedy behind Bong Joon’s award winning film, it does demonstrate a similar sort of economic stratification. For example, despite Kyuri’s seeming success in her industry, she is financially indebted to her “madam” and also indicates the fleeting nature of her cosmetic surgeries that require “refinements.” And perhaps that is Cha’s prescience----while beauty culture might appear to be a social leveler it is still just a façade of upward mobility. I found the book both engagingly written and enlightening. It was definitely an unputdownable read.

Thank you Net Galley for providing me with an e arc for an honest review.

I think I have found a book to add to my favorites-of-the-year list. This was so compelling, and from the first chapter I wanted to know everything about these characters and their stories.

If I Had Your Face follows four women living in an office-tel in Seoul as they live their lives, work, and struggle. It is very slice-of-life which I really enjoyed. This reminded me in many ways of one of my favorite k-dramas Hello, My Twenties. Although they have different aesthetics and feels, I found myself being drawn to the characters and their stories in the exact same way.

I loved this book and will be thinking about this one for many, many days to come.

I really wanted to love this book. The writing is beautiful, but unfortunately, that just wasn't enough to keep me engaged. The only thing that kept me coming back to the book was the writing: Cha is very talented. I really can't stress that enough! If you like eloquent sentences, this is for you. That said, the storyline was difficult for me to follow, and I found it difficult to connect with or understand the characters. I was really excited to read a book that took place in a different culture and about one so totally foreign to me. I love books that take me to new places, teach me new things, challenge my worldview, and invite me to engage with a diverse cast of characters, but I was just unable to full immerse myself in this story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this eARC.

If I Had Your Face tells the stories of four Korean women all living in the same apartment building, facing sexism, impossible beauty standards, and, generally, life.

First off, thank you to Frances Chan for writing a book set in Korea! I was so glad to read a book set outside of the United States or Western Europe. This novel gives outsiders a glimpse of facets of Korean culture and the pressure women face. Pressures to be the perfect daughter, to be beautiful beyond possibility, and to make it by in a delicate and difficult social system.

I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, though I had a hard time keeping track of them. I believe the point being made in the novel was more powerful because we saw similar struggles and hopes in each of the four women we followed.

The glimpse into the everyday life of these four Korean women felt fresh and unique, but I wish I had another 100 pages or so with the characters. The abrupt ending left me somewhat unsatisfied and wondering where their stories would go, leading to my lower rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Moving, compelling, and impossible to put down. Not just a glimpse inside of a society or class structure but that of humanity and the bonds we forge.

i loved this book so much, as someone who has never read anything based in south korea. this was exactly what i was looking for. you really relate to each character and what they are going through despite each one being in a different circumstance.

i can't recommend this book enough.

If I Had Your Face, a novel about young women in Korea, fascinated me. I couldn't put it down and finished in one day. The book focuses on five young women who live in a small apartment building in Seoul, although it is told though only four of them. The story tells of the obsession with beauty and plastic surgery, super rich vs ordinary working people, the value of women in modern Korean society. Each of the main characters are so interesting, not all are likable and they are all flawed. This book will be a great book club read. There's so much to discuss.

Due to the structure of the S. Korean economy which is comprised predominantly of family-run mega-conglomerates (chaebols) and the huge importance placed on ancestry, as is apparent in the widespread use of only a handful of surnames, for many in S. Korea class equality and economic mobility have become a thing of fantasy. If I Had Your Face follows four young women living this reality with unflinching honesty.

Ara, Miho, Wonna and Kyuri live in the same office-tel complex in Seoul are different in as many ways as they are similar. They have chosen very different lives for themselves, a hairdresser, an artist, an office worker and a "room salon girl"—a woman who serves as a waitress/companion, and often an escort, in clubs all over S. Korea. What they do share is a troubled childhood due to varying circumstances that have stunted most any prospects for their futures.

It's painful and claustrophobic to watch these young women struggle with their pasts and to witness their attempts to make a better life for themselves, and for each other, in their own ways—hard work, plastic surgery, relationships with those of higher social standing. But I also loved to see their relationships develop and the support the were able to provide for one another. I really appreciate the author's raw and realistic (from an outsider's perspective) portrait of life as one of the majority of women living in S. Korea. The characters were beautifully realized and so genuine I couldn't help feeling and hoping for them. The story was also incredibly gripping, especially admirable given that it is largely character-driven, I could hardly put it down and read it in just two sittings.

I think what partially made this book work for me was having recently read Three Tigers, One Mountain by Michael Booth: a very enlightening nonfiction that was the perfect primer and macro view to compliment this more micro and personal story. I would definitely recommend reading them in conjunction if you are at all unfamiliar with the subject or want a deeper dive!

I'm really so impressed with If I Had Your Face and I will definitely be on the look out for future releases from Frances Cha!

A strong set of characters with beyond interesting circumstances. If I Had Your Face is a fascinating look at female friendship, expectations of women, and beauty standards in South Korea. I really enjoyed the read and can't wait to read more from Frances Cha!

Kyuri, Miho, Ara and Wonna all live in the same building in Seoul. Though they all come from different backgrounds and live different lives now, all of them cling to each other as they battle daily against a patriarchal society determined to break them.

IF I HAD YOUR FACE is the story of four women encountering and dealing with the beauty and societal standards imposed on women today. The war is waged on them from all fronts, ranging from parents anxious that a disability will harm marriage prospects to feeling forced to undergo extensive facial surgeries to keep a job that's based on looks.

There isn't a whole lot in the way of plot - instead, it's an extended portrait of these women. Though I did enjoy getting to know each character, there was still some attempt at a narrative arc near the end of the book that fell a bit flat for me while also feeling rushed, like the author was trying to have it both ways. Still, it's quite a compelling look at the way misogyny burrows into women's lives, even women who consider themselves to be independent and liberated.

Thank you to Penguin Random House International for a copy of the arc in exchange for an honest review. #prhpartner #partner

If there was one culture I am so painfully knowledgeable about, I would proudly say it was Korean. I was obsessed about Korean culture (kpop, kdrama, food, etc) for about 12 years of my life. I've been in Seoul too many times for extensive periods, got to work with Koreans, made friends with Koreans and met their family, I'm pretty sure it's a clear picture that I can probably survive in Korea.

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha shows clearly all facets of life in Korea. You have those people who are obsessed about Kpop idols, driven by consumerism, trying to fit in society's unrealistic standards of beauty, and so on. It is so painfully accurate and real, I couldn't tear myself away from the book. It also blatantly shows how Korea is a very misogynist country. I've experienced this myself, and my best friend who lived in Korea for 6 years have told me endless stories of this as well.

Frances Cha's debut is a character driven novel, it is told is chapters from the perspective of 4 friends living together. It is not even a linear story, but small patches of their life and what they mean to each other. Kyuri is a "salon girl" determined to make a name for herself, extremely unapologetic about her means of earning a living and having multiple surgeries to achieve the perfect face. Wonna who is damaged by her past, and is worried about her family and her future, and to protect her daughter from experiecing the same things she went through in the past. Miho who is a smart artist, fresh from New York and is in a complicated relationship with her womanizer boyfriend. And Ara, who lost her voice and is working as a hairstylist, completely obsessed over a kpop idols and hopes to meet him.

It's not a story that's gonna give you a closure, any sort of ending, but is more of a lens into the life and struggles of being a woman in Korea.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of If I Had Your Face.

I was intrigued by the premise and great title so I was excited when my request was approved.

Told by four different women and their individual perspectives, readers are offered insight into the high beauty standards set by Korean culture and society; the patriarchal hierarchal society and the bombardment of K-pop and social media and how it affects how women judge themselves against stardom.

I enjoyed the insight into Korean culture, though nothing I read was new to me. I'm pretty educated about Asian cultures and I was already well informed about the rise of plastic surgery in Korea, and many Asian countries.

High beauty standards, societal assumptions that women should marry and procreate and the boys' clubs men are expected to partake in, but women never should, can be found in all cultures.

It was hard to like any of the characters; there was decent character development but I couldn't identify with anyone.

There's not much drama and suspense, but there are internal issues the characters grapple with, how to adapt to a culture that demeans women, that only care about their wombs and their marriageability, how to survive in a world, whether by keeping your mouth shut and your head down or selling your body to pay off a debt that never decreases, or having a child because people and society expect you to.

By the end, it doesn't look like these womens' paths will change; their journeys are immutable, they will not progress further than they already have. At least, they have each other.

But, do they?

The relationships the women has woven between each other feel fraught with sorrow, frayed with suffering, weak, not strong, just like the women themselves.

I was hoping for a cohesive narrative about one or two characters about their personal struggles and what they learned from it, and how they became stronger as a result.

The writing was good, but the story wasn't what I expected.

A stirring look at contemporary Korea through the eyes of 4 women, IF I HAD YOUR FACE is a fresh debut from an amazing author. We follow the lives of these woman, who are connected by friendships and living in the same apartment building, as they contemplate beauty standards, motherhood, prostituting oneself, and violence. The book can be shocking at times, especially once you learn what a salon room is, but it seems extremely true to life and mirrors exactly what young Korean women are currently going through.

We learn a lot about their backgrounds and origin stories, and there is a sense of a plot, but it is mostly a peek into these day to day lives with a beautiful, if not completely satisfying ending. The heartbreak that each of the women face is different, but equally valid. I was a bit taken aback by the competition and beauty standards depicted in the author's telling of Korean women's lives. Plastic surgery is clearly rampant, and horrifying, and it made me sad to see much of their self-esteem wrapped around how much better it would be "if I had your face." It's a tough look at Korean culture, by a Korean author, and by no means is it flattering. I found it hard to put down, and learned a lot about Seoul and South Korea, and I'm so glad I picked it up.

I loved this book. It was completely engrossing, the characters seemed so real, and the writing flowed very well. I sat down and read it in two sittings. This book isn't plot driven and the characters are only tangentally related. As a lover of all things k- (beauty, pop, drama) I was primed to already enjoy the look into modern Korean culture and the expectations it places on women, but it exceeded my expectations considerably.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. A story of 5 women who all live in the same building, have their own problems and find a way to be jealous of each other in their own way. This story is set in Korea and a lot of words don’t translate but I learned a lot about this country. If you are looking for an uplifting story though, this isn’t it.

I absolutely loved this book. It spoke to me on so many levels and I learned a lot about the hopes and dreams of women in South Korea along with its culture. The book centers on four female characters, three of whom are close friends and one an acquaintance.

Kyori is a beautiful woman who transformed herself after multiple plastic surgeries. She works in a 'room salon' where only the top 10% of beautiful women are hired. Her job is to entertain men and drink with them. She usually gets drunk but that is her job. The men are mostly business men who need time away from their wives. Sometimes, Kyori's work presses her to go further with the men and perform sexual favors. On her days off, she brings things to her mother who has no idea what kind of work she does. Kyori is deeply in debt for her surgeries and has no idea how to pay them off.

Miho is Kyori's roommate. She was brought up in an orphanage and won an art scholarship to study in New York. She is engaged to Hanbin who comes from one of the richest families in the country. She stole him away from her friend Ruby and feels guilt and shame about this. Miho is naturally beautiful and wears no makeup, a rarity in South Korea. Hanbin is jealous when Ruby speaks with other men but he also has a roving eye. It is obvious that his family does not approve of Miho.

Ara is a hairdresser who has been mute since she was a victim of a violent accident when she was a child. She is obsessed with a Korean pop star and it's usually all she can think about. She is saving her money so that her roommate can get plastic surgery on her face and become beautiful like Kyori.

Wonna is married and lives downstairs from the other three, Her childhood was horrific. Raised by her grandmother after her father left South Korea for a job, she was emotionally and physically abused throughout her childhood. Marrying was a way out for her. Currently she is pregnant and it looks like she will be carrying the child to term after three previous miscarriages. The problem, however, is that she doesn't believe she has enough money to raise a child.

This novel of interconnected short stories shows with clarity the impossible standards of beauty that Korean women strive for. It also shows the deceit and betrayal of men which is very common there. Women marry for status but love is often not the motivation. Survival is what keeps these main characters connected as none of them thrive. I give this book my highest recommendation.

Book Review
Rating System: 5:Loved It 4:Really Liked It 3:Liked It 2:Just OK 1:Did Not Like It 0:DNF

"If I Had Your Face" by Frances Cha
Publication Date: April 21, 2020
Genre: #fiction
Synopsis: see comment section
CW/TW: miscarriage, child abandonment, infidelity
Rating: 4.0/5.0
1-Word Review: en·gross·ing
/inˈɡrōsiNG,enˈɡrōsiNG/
adjective
•absorbing all one's attention or interest.


4.0/5.0
“If I Had Your Face” is a debut novel by Frances Cha, a former culture editor for CNN who has lived in the US, Hong Kong and South Korea. This novel is set in Seoul, South Korea and details the engrossing, engaging and ultimately intertwined lives of several young women living in the same apartment complex. I read this in one sitting and was completely hooked from page one. I was transported to South Korea and fascinated by the topics touched on in this novel (Korean beauty, K-Pop, room salons... to name a few). How Cha seamlessly jumps from each narrator, timelines and settings is indicative of her evident talent as an author. I really enjoyed this debut novel.
Disclaimer: I know very little about the Korean culture in general so I can in no way say whether or not this is an accurate representation of the topics covered. Thank you to netgalley and Ballantine Books for my ARC.

Why not a 5/5...
•The ending felt abrupt, leaving one or two of the character arcs feeling unfinished to me.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone. It was fascinating.

4 dazzling stars for this book!

Wow. This book was something. I was immediately hooked when I started the book because I have such little knowledge about women living in South Korea.

I think it's important to know going into this book that this is a book about people, there's no real climax, there's not one specific thing the story builds to. You're just reading about the daily lives and struggles of 5-6 women living in South Korea.

It's also worth nothing that this is not a happy book. I felt quite melancholy the entire time I was reading it. But that is also a testament to the author's writing, that I was able to feel the emotions of the characters despite how depressing it may have felt.

Like I said, I knew nothing about the extreme standards of beauty women face in Korea. As a feminist, and a woman that has never had a desire to get plastic surgery, the world of plastic surgery in South Korea was so intriguing to me. I literally had no idea of the standards that women are held to, and extremes they put their body through to attain a certain level of beauty.

Needless to say, after reading this, I went down the rabbit hole of plastic surgery before-and-afters. And let me tell you, jaw surgery sounds painful AF.

The writing in this story is top notch and the characters are so broken and beautiful. I both did and didn't want the story to end. I was ready to move on to something less depressing, but I fell in love with all the women in the story, and felt so hard for their struggles.

I would highly recommend that you add this book to your 'to read' shelf.

A big thank you to Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/NetGalley, for the ARC and wanting my honest opinion!