Frances Cha’s debut novel introduces you to the lives of five women in modern day Seoul with their stories told through four of their alternating voices - and Cha did a great job of it.

While reading I was struck by two opposing things. First, that there are some big differences in South Korean culture and society in comparison to my neck of the woods - Queensland, Australia. Second that there are some big similarities. Aussies worry about finding a partner, having kids, job security, and money. We too wonder if our partner might be cheating and whether we are beautiful enough - and plenty of botox is being injected here in the pursuit of a ‘better self’ and more opportunity. My eyes were thoroughly opened, though, when I learned how widespread plastic surgery is in South Korea. Turns out they have one of the highest plastic surgery rates in the world.

If you’ve ever wondered how room salon’s work, this book will help you to understand. A quick summary: Corporate workers take guests there to entertain and impress them while doing business. The girls drink with them - and they drink a lot! I’m not sure how much grey area there is but sounds like an unhealthy lifestyle. Also many girls end up stuck when they get into debt to management after borrowing for plastic surgery. I guess the idea is to do better by looking better though it all sounds a bit dangerous and circular.

Each character was distinct yet equally compelling as Cha takes you through their life, dreams and backstory. Not all characters are connected to the room salons. Wonna is married and pregnant, Ara is a hairdresser.

I really enjoyed this fascinating novel. Five stars from me.

3.5 rounded up

Cha's debut is a scathing indictment on how women - and, in particular their physical appearance - are viewed within contemporary Korean society. The narrative follows four young women, three of whom are friends and one who lives on the floor below them in their apartment block, and through these women we learn about the pressure to look beautiful above anything else an the importance placed on this.

One character, Wonna, is pregnant and stressed about how she can afford to raise a baby whilst holding down a job; another, Kyuri, works as a "room salon" girl being paid to drink with rich business men; Miho is an orphan who wins an art scholarship to America where she meets a chaebol daughter, Ruby, and becomes enmeshed in her life; and finally Ara, a hairdresser who becomes mute after an accident and is obsessed with a famous K-pop star.

I have to admit to finding the plot a little patchy at times, but I could forgive that for what I found to be an insightful and disheartening look at the position of women in Korea today. Having visited Korea several years ago (and watched my fair share of K-dramas...) the topic isn't new to me, but I thought Cha handled it very well. This will inevitably be compared to Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, although if you're looking for a more plot-driven novel I'd recommend this one of the two.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was written through the perspective of 4 characters who you soon find out all live in the same building and know each other. Through each chapter you learn more about each one and their past and how it has led to them being where they are now. The stories soon connect and you get a much fuller picture. I think it is a great character led novel that will grip you as you learn more about each of these women.

This book was a really good surprise. It is very bleak at times but I loved the various characters and their back story; and I felt the author was trying to depict accurately various female experiences, without judgment, and to show the struggles of so many young women. These young women are all flewed in their own way, and they are all struggling to survive and make ends meet and the whole plot (plot is a loose word, but I did not mind) took me to a world completely different from mine. I really enjoyed it.

I cannot believe that this is a debut book.
This has been a fantastic book which I have devoured in just a few hours.
There is nothing negative I can say about this book. I have absolutely loved it.

My new favourite feminist novel. The author is brave and unflinching, and this novel could be the start of something big. Unsettling, but worth it.

'Even as a girl, I knew the only chance I had was to change my face. When I looked into the mirror, I knew everything in it had to change, even before a fortune-teller told me so." If I Had Your Face' is written from the multiple perspectives of women in their 20s attempting to navigate life in Gangnam and Seoul. Set against a background of unrealistic beauty standards that seem wild even from a Western perspective- where lip fillers are becoming the norm- in Korea if you want to get ahead in life as a woman, it seems that you must have plastic surgery. If you are beautiful you can work in one of the 'top 10%' drinking parlours (a front for prostitution) in which one of the characters works and another character is attempting to break into. From this comes money and hopefully a husband or at least gifts on becoming a rich man's mistress.

I was pulled into the weaving narrative of this story- we learn the different backgrounds and what brought these women together and how they learn to make the best of their situations. These women are bound together and appear to be 'friends' but Cha shows how female friendship sometimes involves a love/hate dynamic and those we are closet to secretly despise us at times. There is major jealousy at every turn here- the most beautiful of the group is envious of the most artistically talented. We all want what we can't have.

Other themes explored within the story include the stigma endured my women forced into prostitution, the eternal question of whether women can have it all (can you work AND be a mother?) and whether money and success as determined by capitalism or living simply is the better life are all touched upon. I wish this book had been longer and the narrative stretched over a longer time period to fully investigate these themes.

Cha brings to life the frantic bustling night life of Seoul and this is the first book I've read set in Korea that makes me want to visit and drink shochu in a packed bar. I would have liked an ending in which the characters narratives were given more finality, but in finishing the story leaving the girls as a group sitting on the steps to their apartment building, we are left to decide their fates for them. If you have a free afternoon this book is definitely worth reading and will give you a punchy introduction to 21st century big city life in Korea,

What an interesting and great first novel!

This novel explores many different aspects of the modern day culture and pressure that exists in South Korea for women especially. Cha talks about many variant subjects such as the pursuit of beauty via plastic surgery, working in room salon (places where you can drink with beautiful Korean girls and can expect to take them to a hotel after), the inequality and sexism still very much present and strong, the societal pressure of marriage and motherhood, etc.

This novel has amazing insights into the culture and I really felt more knowledgeable about South Korean mentality and food after reading it. I recommend this first novel! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy.

A fresh novel about the pursuit of beauty, and how far women may go to get it.

I was intrigued by this story of four women connected by the apartment building that they live in and how their lives become entwined.

Getting a look into the salon room culture, which I had no idea about, was startling. However, the story of the mean madam who claims such a large debt needs to be repaid is a familiar story.

Ultimately, I wanted a bit more of a conclusion to these stories as we had barely scratched the surface of the four women I thought. Thanks to netgalley and Viking UK for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

«If I Had Your Face» is a debut novel, set in modern-day Seoul, South Korea, following four different women who live in the same apartment building. There is Ara, the girl who lost her voice and works in a hair salon while sharing her apartment with her childhood friends Sujin. Kyuri, the girl who works in a “room salon”, a prostitute who made it to the top of that industry. Miho, an artist who is dating one of the wealthiest heirs in Korea. And finally, Wonna, the wife whose relationship is going through a rough time.

In «If I Had Your Face» Frances Cha explores one of the most popular and controversial subjects of modern-day Korea - appearances and plastic surgery. According to many media outlets, South Korea is going through a plastic surgery boom, having the highest number of cosmetic procedures per capita. In fact, South Korea has become so famous for their K-beauty surgeries that it’s one of the top destinations for everyone around the world who is looking to perfect their features - eyes, noses, and chins, in a matter of months (maybe a year) you’ll have that perfect Korean face everyone has been so obsessed about.

If even outside of Korea, we hear a lot about that trend, I can’t honestly imagine the pressure of publicity in Seoul or other larger South Korean cities.

I think this book has come out at a perfect time, to not only raise awareness but also spread the word about the potential “normalcy” of plastic surgeries. It’s slowly becoming a day-to-day necessity for women to change their features, not only for health or self-esteem reasons but also to get more attention to their careers and boost their income.

No matter how much progress we’ve made in the last 50-60 years, women are still very often judged by their looks. I think plastic surgeries are a great tool to use for health reasons, which can be physical or mental health. If a smaller nose or less protruded chin will make someone’s life that much better than that’s the way to go. But I hate seeing plastic surgeries as a marketing tool for career growth, for conquering your place in the misogynistic world!

I also want to highlight that France Cha doesn’t directly attack the K-pop or K-beauty in her book. She lets the readers decide for themselves while providing different perspectives on the subject.

It was interesting to follow these 4 very different girls in their day-to-day life. Frances Cha created very real and unique characters. And even though the story is told from the first perspective, you could immediately see whose story you were following. Each one of them had a very distinct voice and qualities.

I could keep rambling on and on about this book, but to not bore you all, I’ll just say that if you love character-driven Literary Fiction and want to learn more about Asian (more specifically, South Korean) modern-day culture, this book will be perfect!

I thought that this book would be more interesting than it turned out to be. I kept hoping that the story would get better. Not my type of book. Sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A powerful and revealing look at the lives of women in modern South Korea, Frances Cha's novel is a fascinating and involving read. This is the story of four women who live in the same apartment block in Seoul, three of whom are friends and one, a slightly older married woman, who lives on the floor beneath. Initially, this seemed like a book that would focus solely on the three younger women's obsession with appearance, and the several plastic surgery operations that they have either had or want to have.

Kyuri works as a hostess in a 'room salon', whilst her roommate Miho is an artist with an older, rich boyfriend. Across the hall lives Ara, a hair stylist with an unhealthy obsession with K-pop superstar Taein and who, after a shocking physical assault, is mute and communicates by writing in her notebook. Downstairs is Wonna with her husband, newly pregnant but, after a series of miscarriages, afraid that she will lose this baby as well.

As their stories develop - and Cha uses the sylistic device of alternating each chapter with a first-person perspective from each of the four - the book develops into much more than just the superficial. Cha explores the role of women in the workplace, their exploitation in the 'salon' industry, the pitfalls of maternity leave and, above all, the tension between the older and younger generations in terms of expectations and filial duty. And as their stories and relationships reach some sort of conclusion, each of the four is somehow changed and looks ahead to tomorrow with a slightly different outlook.

Once the book got beyond the plastic surgery theme (ok, it's a metaphor for the whole book, I know) I really enjoyed this insight into the lives of a culture completely different to the West. And whilst the end had a kind of Sex and the City feel, as the four women sit outside their apartment block and share a moment, overall this was a really enjoyable, often powerful, novel. Definitely recommended. 4 stars.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

This short novel explores the interconnecting lives of four women in modern day Seoul. Although all different, these women all share one thing in common - a fascination with beauty. The book explores themes such as westernised beauty standards ingrained in society, the perceived perception of what makes a woman beautiful, the superficial nature of what it is to seen as beautiful, as well as the misogyny that is exhibited through all aspects of daily life.

I really liked seeing the parallels between these women from different backgrounds. The novel is structured in such a way that we see more of a glimpse into their lives and daily activities rather than having a tight narrative plot, meaning we really get to examine what affects them on a daily basis. It delves deep into the characters rather than having any kind of overarching story and to really enjoy the novel you need to form some kind of bond with the characters. My personal favourite is Ara. A mute hairdresser, who's nicknamed 'the little mermaid' by her beauty obsessed friend, she loves K pop. Quiet but ruthless.

The prose in this is really lovely, with some wonderful and lyrical sentences, although at times I found the overall flow of the story to feel a little stilted. As I've said, this won't be for everyone due to the lack of plot but I still found it easy to connect to the characters and want to learn more about them. There's an undertone that runs throughout that screams of the gritty underworld and class system in South Korea that still oppresses women and femininity is confirmed to the will of men. It feels unjust and real and very relevant.

‘If I Had Your Face’ provides a fascinating glimpse into South Korea’s culture of achieving perfection through plastic surgery, through the lives of 4 very different women who live in the same apartment building.
Frances Cha has a very economical, clean style of writing which I really appreciated and which really helped to make the strange and sometimes disturbing city in which the women live easier to digest. The ‘room salon’ in which Kyuri works feels totally bizarre and outdated to me as an English woman and yet Cha manages to help me understand why in this society such a role would be highly prized, even as she shows how sexist and fragile their world is.
There are four protagonists, all of whom narrate their chapters in the first person, and Cha manages skilfully to give each woman her own voice. As with any story with multiple threads, I sometimes found myself wishing I was still hearing events from another one of the characters but this did not detract from the story for me.
I was a little disappointed by the book’s final act, and not necessarily satisfied by every character’s conclusion (Miho’s in particular) but again, this didn’t colour my opinion of the book.
An intriguing and very promising debut. I eagerly await Cha’s next novel!
Thank you very much to Penguin and NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am so impressed with this debut novel. We follow a group of very different women who live in an Officetel in Gangnam as they try to live the “best version” of life open to them. It’s messy and sad, weird and funny and I loved every minute of it. The ending was a bit abrupt but it’s ok, I think there was probably no other way to end it. I mean I did not want to leave them either, so maybe the author did not know how to extract herself from them either. I will think about these women for a long time.

This wasnt quite what I had thought it would be. As much as I loved the characters I never knew that plastic surgery was so popular in south Korea. Its sad to think that girls go through this but the story touched on some sad and eye opening parts of this world

Is plastic surgery really such a big deal in South Korea? Sadly it is, as a few pages into this novel I started to look into things I hoped would not be true. South Korea is the plastic srugery capital of the world apparently. Make of that what you will. The three women in the novel do and there’s an air of sadness around all of them as they go to the best beauty places and ‘pretty factories’ to change their bodies into something they think and hope will validate them.

They should teach this in high school during this social media age. On a more serious note, you really start to understand the reasons behind why women here feel they need to look a certain way. There are social divides in every country but here there are chasms.
Fascinating but tragically sad when you think about it.

If I Had Your Face is a slap in the face, in the best possible way.

This book follows four young women - Miho, an emerging artist who went to a New-York City art school through a scholarship and is now trying to adapt to her life back in Seoul; Ara, a mute hairdresser who is obsessed with a member of a kpop group; Kyuri, a salon girl whose body is her way of earning money and is therefore always trying to improve it; and Wonna, a married woman who married because it was expected of her and is now pregnant.

Those four characters depict a sad aspect of South Korea’s society - the importance of a woman’s image, why plastic surgery is so ordinary and almost expected of women, the social hierarchy and its importance and how it dictates your every decision and move in society, the place of a woman and what is expected of her no matter what (marry and procreate).

I know bits and pieces about South Korea’s misogynistic society but this was an eye-opener. If I Had Your Face is bold in its depiction of modern Seoul and doesn’t hold back from showing us the ugly truths about its society and internal mechanisms.

The writing is phenomenal and although the narrative is divided between our four MCs and alternates point of views, Cha managed to truly give her characters different voices and I never wondered whose point of view I was reading - they were all so distinctive! This definitely did not feel like a debut.

If I Had Your Face was a really good surprise that I would definitely recommend to everyone interested in South Korea or who enjoyed books such as The Vegetarian by Han Kang or Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo.

If I Had Your Face follows four young women in contemporary Seoul: Kyuri, working in a room salon; Miho, who has won a scholarship to a New York art school; Wonna, haunted by memories of her abusive grandmother; and Ara, a mute hair stylist.

I know almost nothing about South Korea, and now I want to read more about the country. A place where plastic surgery is as common as wearing mascara, and working in a room salon is a sought after job, this is an absolutely fascinating read with wonderful characters. Would definitely recommend.

What a look into a world and society I haven't experienced. The love, sisterhood and annoyances of the friends is clear and relatable, and the book carries you along at a swift clip.