2 IN 1: BOOK REVIEW - IF I HAD YOUR FACE BY FRANCES CHA AND A LOOK INTO THE NOT SO PRETTY SIDE OF SOUTH KOREA

This book review is long overdue because I finished this book a while now but nevertheless it’s here and loaded with my opinions and as they say in Spanish,"mas vale tarde que nunca!" (better late than never). Also, since this is a little more than a book review, it's a bit longer than usual but totally worth the read!

So before I dive right into the review, I want you guys to understand why I was really excited for this book and my expectations. I used to be such a huge k-pop fan, you know the 2ne1,snsd,shinee, mblaq,u-kiss era of k-pop and you guys already know, once you get sucked into South Korean music, your curiosity for everything S.Korean heightens. I started to watch variety shows, k-dramas, game shows you know, the works.

Eventually, I started watching documentaries about life in Korea and I even started making S.Korean pen-pals and that’s where my confusion about Korean culture started. On TV, as usual,everything in S.Korea seemed so amazing, amazing fashion, the best education, true love but when you delve deeper you’d start to realize that there may be something toxic behind some aspects of S.Korean culture, I mean, a country doesn’t have one of the highest suicide rates for no reason. So when I read the synopsis for this book I just knew that I had to have it. I had already read various articles about the dark side of South Korea but I wanted to know more and this book really gave me what I was looking for.

"A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossibly high standards of beauty, secret room salons catering to wealthy men, strict social hierarchies, and K-pop fan mania."

-Goodreads

So basically, the book tells the story of 4 South Korean girls who are struggling in their own right with the choices they have made using the cards they had been dealt in life. We are introduced to Kyuri, whose beauty seems to be a major focal point in the book. She works in a room salon, which is basically like an escort-esque service.

If you don't know what a room salon is, I recommend reading this article by Korea Exposé

Room Salons: The Real Moral Scourge on South Korean Society

To be honest, I had never heard about room salons but obviously I imagined that they existed.

I really liked Kyuri’s story because it really addressed the topic of beauty standards in Korea.

I like to think of their standards as one track; not really appreciative of differences,like V shaped

face, pale skin, S line body, big eyes with double eyelids are just some of the characteristics of

the “perfect” South Korean girl. In my mind I imagined Kyuri just like one of those typical

k-drama girls but with way less adoration because as pretty as she may be, at the end of the

day, she is just a salon girl and at the bottom of the totem.

I recommend reading Karin Cho's article on the homogeneous South Korean beauty standards

The Destructive Effects of South Korea’s Beauty Standards

We are also introduced to Kyuri’s roommate Miho. Miho is a talented artist who had come from humble beginnings but had managed to score an art scholarship in New York where she interned for one of the richest Korean girls and eventually ends up in a relationship with her chaebol boyfriend (heir to a conglomerate).

I really love Miho’s story because on the outside she seems the most well off but she constantly overthinks and more or less plans every action she does. You really see the pressures of the classic double life scenario in a sense and I think anyone in a similar situation would relate. The typical sentiment of not feeling good enough for your wealthy significant other or trying to make a good impression on his friends and family but also the never ending sensation of impending doom knowing that your life is not a fairy tale and in a traditional country such as South Korea, the rich goes with the rich and rarely does the opposite happen.I think Miho’s story is one of the most important because it is the exact opposite of the plot of the typical Korean drama where the rich guy fights for poor girl and they end up happily ever after.

A scene from popular rich boy-poor girl Korean drama "Boys over Flowers"

If you are interested in learning more about Chaebol Culture in S.K, this article does an amazing job of explaining it.

South Korea’s Chaebol Challenge

Next we are introduced to Ara. Ara is a bit special because since an accident a couple years ago she has lost the ability to speak. Ara’s story focuses on her struggle living with her disability as well as her obsession with a certain k-pop boy band member. Ara reminds me of those really obsessed BTS fans but like undercover you know? Because she can’t really tell you about it due to her impairment.

Ara also works as a hairstylist and sometimes has problems with people at work taking advantage of her. I think her story was interesting but also new to me because I had never seen any representation of impaired or disabled people before in S.Korean media and I was really curious as to how they are treated in said society. Whereas the impaired are treated with more empathy, the impression I got is that the disabled are frowned up but obviously I can’t make such a general statement from reading one book. This however did prompt me to do some reading on the topic and it seems that my thoughts weren’t too far from the reality.

If you'd like to read up on the treatment of the disabled in South Korea, this article is excellent.

Disabled still face discrimination

Finally we meet Wonna. Wonna is a newlywed who is already struggling with her emotions in her marriage and on top of that she is wondering how she can even have a baby in the difficult Korean economy. Her desire to be a mother is always overshadowed by her fear of not being good enough mixed with emotions of complacency in her marriage. Wonna’s story seems to remind me of a lot the documentaries I’ve seen. The extreme pressure that S.Korean women feel to be good employees,wives, mothers, daughters all at the same time.

It places a spotlight on how cutthroat life is as a working class Korean (especially being a woman) and how things we take for granted or for given and how some things that are seen as a basic right, are frowned upon in Korean society. I’m talking about things such as asking for maternity leave and being judged for it...yeah..crazy!

CNN did a great article on the role of women in South Korea's workforce

South Korea's glass ceiling: the women struggling to get hired by companies that only want men

Although it seems like 4 separate stories, each girl is connected via their struggles but also their desire to see each other do better and achieve more even if it means they themselves can’t. I love that this book touched on so many controversial aspects within Korean society.

The impossible beauty standards and the normality of plastic surgery. The obvious and apparent division between the poor, working class and wealthy classes of South Korea. There is even mention of suicide and disability discrimination. If you are looking to get an interesting but more realistic look into life in S.Korea, then this is the book for you. I am really looking forward to more of Frances Cha’s work and I am so grateful that this book prompted me to dig deeper into the not so perfect side of Korean culture.

If you are interested in reading more about the not so pretty side of South Korea, check out Korea Expose

Buy the book here and here