I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki

The first few pages drew me in so quickly - it was super immersive and intriguing.
I loved that the MC logs her thoughts in that way because it almost seemed like I was reading a podcast transcript - it did get a bit tedious and repetitive at moments but for the most part I liked the discussions on life, mental health and balancing between 2 extremes.
The last few pages were excellent as well- although I wished we had the context at the back of the book to the front.
(Slightly disappointed we didn't get much talk about tteokboki🥺).
In conclusion, it was a wonderful and immersive book that helped me look deeper at myself and how I present myself to the world.
4/5 stars!

Fascinating read with an insightful look at mental health struggles that young women in Korea may face.

I Want To Die But I Want To Eat Tteokbokki is a perfectly named memoir/exploration of the female mind and process of therapy. The writer details her therapy sessions and delves further into her thoughts while transcribing the appointments, the additional notes from the psychologist and notes on Baek’s life, pets and attitude towards feminism and xenophobia are also an interesting insight and oftentimes very relateable.

3.5 - 4stars

Tw: focuses on dark thoughts, mentions of suicide & sexual assault.

I really enjoyed how she used her therapy conversations in the book, it felt like I was reading her text messages and I made the book a fast read.

It was interesting to see her outlook on life and everything in between.

This book can be triggering as it focuses on her dark thoughts in detail as you see everything she thinks and was thinking at that time

Thank you netgalley & publishers for letting me read this

Baek Se-Hee is successful young social media Director at a Publishing House when she begins to see a psychiatrist about her depression (anxiousness, self doubt and judgemental mindset of others). This book details that actual conversations between the two as well as Baek Se-Hee's own thoughts about her journey,

This was a really interesting perspective to read not only the person experiencing the issues relate their experience but also the psychiatrists own words in response. I couldn't relate to all of the issues but the self doubt and anxiety did strike a chord. This was a really interesting and unflinching look at mental health issues from a very honest and open person.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a slight but affecting memoir about mental health. The book reads almost like a script, with every chapter being a dialogue between the author and her psychiatrist. I felt this format could have worn thin if the book had been longer but it was just the right length and it meant that we could almost see in real time the authors mental health journey. The author makes some wonderful and succinct statements about mental health and self betterment and this was a very life affirming and enjoyable read.

This book is a deeply personal and tender account of mental health; without the glamourising, the confusion or downright pity. I loved this book because of the way it didn’t try to do or be too much. It was easy to read, and I felt myself fall into the book from page three. I can completely understand why this book has already received so much praise and love before it’s even been published in English!

I generally don’t read a lot of ‘self-help’ books, but this book is more comforting story than a checklist of how to ‘get over’ mental illness. There is a lot of lessons to take from this book, namely that you are special and your place in the world is meant to be. It brings a lot of insight into the human mind and the way we connect with others. It also puts words into feelings that is otherwise sometimes hard to explain.

This book is soothing, raw and honest. I really look forward for it’s release as I know it will connect with a lot of readers and bring some comfort and happiness.

This is a book that some reader might relate to. This is part memoir and part self help and features the author's therapy sessions. What she reveals as her struggles are universal, what we all might face in our daily life. Sometimes while reading it feels the dialogue is between you (reader) and the therapist.

Big kiss to NetGalley, Baek SeHee, Anton Hur, Bloomsbury, and all involved for the advanced copy of this book ! <3

Often pushed as a "self-help book" 'I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki' is better when you read it as an autobiography and dont follow the advice given (or you can if you want I guess but thats not the best part about it). Brutally honest SeHee discusses her personal relationships and feelings of anger, sadness and self-loathing with her therapist who tries to help her with those feelings and fix her relationships with those around her.

I really enjoyed this book and found it a really interesting take on self-help books. I especially liked the way the text was transcribed from the therapy sessions and the additional notes from the author throughout the text to add context both in relation to her mental health and her personal life. I really liked the therapist note at the end as well because it was an interesting take which was separate from the narrator even if we had been hearing her words throughout it was nice to get a take from her perspective.

I really want to shoutout the translator in my review (aka Anton Hur) because I liked how they added in context for some of the uniquely Korean experiences that the reader may not be familiar with! I found it illuminating and really nice way of keeping it in the original context without sacrificing the readers knowledge of what was happening.

Kind of sad there was little to no discussion of food- i claim that as false advertising.

* I was provided with a free ebook copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.

This is nonfiction about the author's experiences with mental health and is mainly made up of transcripts of her therapy sessions. It was a fascinating read and I think it was very brave of the author to share it. I think that most people will see a little bit of themselves in this book. It's very short but is a thought-provoking read I think most people would benefit from.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing the ARC.

I read this mildly hungover in the early hours in the morning and nearly cried because of how much this resonated with me. I would recommend this book to anyone who's ever experienced depression, especially on a long-term scale. There's a lot of wisdom and self-reflection in this book that could be uncomfortable but well worth the read.

I really loved this book! It is the first self-help book that I loved, actually enjoyed reading, and didn’t DNF’ed.

Firstly, it’s part memoir, featuring the author’s therapy sessions, where she is trying to find out why she is how she is, depressed, unhappy, with low self-esteem and always puts herself down. Secondly, it’s a part self-help book, where the author explains her mental health struggles without sugar-coating or glamorising it, whilst providing some explanation on different conditions and how it is possible to tackle them. The author also talks about how she is slowly overcoming her struggles, step by step and not always in a linear fashion, taking a few steps forward but in reality stumbling some ten steps backwards.

I love the honesty, the raw truth of mental health problems and how the author talks about her struggles, how she is not afraid to talk about her feelings too. I really liked how the book was so easy to read and felt really personal, like, I felt I was the one in the therapy room having the conversation with the therapist. I devoured this book in a few hours and would love to go back read it again and annotate, and add my thoughts (hopefully can do that once I get a physical copy when it's out). It was also so relatable, as most of the author’s struggles are so universal and some of us might face more than one in our everyday life.

This book is different but in such a good way, it stands out, as it's not your traditional ‘how to take care of your mental health’, full of checklists and tips book. This book has a unique voice and true story, which makes it very raw and real, whilst teaching quite a lot about mental health from the perspective of our everyday life.

Overall: I really think we need more books like this on mental health, as for me how the author bravely shared her feelings and thoughts on mental health conditions, made me think that more conversations like this need to happen in our communities and society to get over the stigma surrounding this subject. I can’t wait until it’s released, so I can buy a physical copy, re-read it and annotate it, and have it on my bookshelf to help me when I face hard moments in my life. It is translated so well, as writing just flows. It’s also so easy to understand, and there is some extra information provided, explaining Korean cultural nuances that the reader might not be familiar with.

Honestly, a book that is really worth a place on your bookshelf.

Huge thanks to Bloomsbury and Netgalley UK for eARC!

Such an important, honest book.

Four stars because I was hoping for at least something plot-like, some through-line that would leave me satisfied, but I get that life isn’t like that, and that’s not what the book is about. It’s just whenever I put it down, I found it a little tricky to pick up again, because I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere, and also because I was likely to be miserable afterwards!

I did read a lot of it thinking ‘this person is autistic. This is autism,’ and maybe this is a diagnosis not considered in Korea, but because of this and my own history with clinical depression, it made the book upsetting to read at times (in a deep, poignant way). I’ve been there, and I know what this person is going through. The fact that it’s true also made it tough, and it took me a long time to get through, despite it being so short.

So not a four star because anything was wrong (it’s truly a fantastic endeavour by the author, and deserving of all the acclaim - also because I’m aware these issues aren’t talked about so commonly in Korea), but because this book needs to hit the right person at the right time.

When I saw that this book was recommended by BTS RM, I was sold! (I have recently entered BTS world, I am such a sucker for boybands!) Anyway, the man has really good taste in books so I trust his judgement.

I didn't expect this memoir to be so relatable to me. Despite being from different cultures and background, I saw myself in many of the sessions with her therapist. It is told from transcripts of her sessions and also throws in between her own thoughts.

This is not a super deep read but good enough to get a grasp on how a young woman deals with her mental health in Korea. It is raw and honest. The translation is superb.

Two things, beware of the trigger warnings (dark thoughts, mention of sexual assault and suicidal thoughts) and also there is no mention of the food in the book. I think naming the food on the title is a metaphor.

I truly loved this book looking deep into young mental health and the implications of it on not only yourself but the world around you. I’d recommend this to any introspective young reader

This was a nice little book that was quite different than I thought it would be. I was attracted to the title - because it's very relatable! Most of the book is taken up by transcripts of the author's therapy sessions. I could relate to some of them but not others - even so, I felt like following their discussions was a good exercise and helped me get some therapy too, in an indirect way.
The rest of the book is more like a traditional memoir, with the author's musings on life and her own mental health. I found this more closely relatable, as someone around her age. There were some comforting conclusions drawn, in a way that never felt overly preachy or cringeworthy. This book mostly felt like a warm pat on the back!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with this advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I suppose I'm a mental health professional? I'm a psychological researcher working on mental health research, so say what you will. And I loved this book. It's set between hearing from our protagonist and her psychiatrist. The conversation feels so intimate, I couldn't tear myself away. Though, with the title being food related, I guess I hoped there would be a little more food chat, haha.

Baek is successful, young and healthy - she has an amazing job and a good life. But she begins to see a psychiatrist about something she can't quite describe. She doesn't exactly want to die, but most of the time she doesn't have the energy to live either. She isn't happy, but she finds little moments of joy, like in her favourite snack tteokboki.

She spends all her days hiding her feelings of depression, desperation, doubt and finds it leaves her with little energy for love, friends or happiness. Over the next twelve weeks, she sits in that room with her psychiatrist trying to unravel the cycle of self-abuse and crippling hopelessness that is taking over her life.

"I wasn't deathly depressed, but I wasn't happy either, floating instead in some feeling between the two. I suffered more because I had no idea that these contradictory feelings could and did coexist."

Somewhere between memoir, diary and self-help, this book is one of the most authentically real things I've read in quite some time. A very genuine, not sensationalised account of mental health and the staggering impact it can have on a life that seems perfect on the surface. Exploring treatment, realisation, and the side-effects people often don't see, Baek gives a sense of catharsis in letting out all the suffering and pain onto the pages.

Poignant, painful but unbelievably affirming - this book feels like a personal conversation with Baek and has a strange comfort, a companionship that makes you feel less alone.

The structure was interesting, featuring transcripts of her therapy sessions and her own memories and recollections of the time - these were very dense, and I'm not sure if they've been edited as they felt somewhat scripted and unnatural at points.

For me, I found the overall flow of the story too dense and difficult to read at times, and of course there is a disparity between my own experiences with mental health in the UK and another in Korea - however this is such an important book that I'd recommend you read it anyway.

I just finished, ' I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki' and what a book.

There are moments in this book where I am just like 'you can get out of my head' because it really does hit close to home in moments and taught me alot about myself, but also about others and how they work, I know that a book can't make you read people, but it did teach me alot about empathy and how to be real, but also how to be more in your own moment something that can be tough to keep a hold of and I feel this author really explores that idea in this book.

And I do get why RM would read this too, it's very much about loving yourself (a big part of BTS' message) and treating yourself with kindness. It reminds me of the lyrics, 'you give me the best of me, so you give you the best of you' from Magic Shop by BTS, as this book explores how to make yourself a better you but also reminding you that how to get better is with you all along, with all the right guidance and the right person helping you along the way. I do feel the psychiatrist allows the book balance and brings in an edge of humour with the sheer sometimes common sense of it all.

the honesty it takes to write a book like this and be open about their thoughts, emotions and feelings is really incredible and I think that this is a book that will help others comes to terms with their own as well. How she talks about the relationships she has with people around them and how their brain reacts to those people is fascinating, but also incredibly illuminating and human and that humanity shines so much in this book.

Written in such a way that is accessible for anyone to take in. I really like how this book is structured and how it explores different topics. In the appendix there also the perspective of the psychiatrist she talks to which is really enlightening, and gives a rounded experience to the book. There are moments of heartbreak (the short essay on her dogs in the appendix broke my heart), there are moments of light, but mostly moments of learning and I think that's what makes this now of my new favourite books.

thank you to Bloomsbury Books for the ARC via Netgalley! I can't wait for more people to read this.

3.5 rounded up to a 4

This book is more of a 3 star I will admit but because of how much I identified with the author and her struggles it will be a book I think about more than most 3 stars.
The book is predominantly the transcripts between the author and her therapist. While I found them relatable and gave me some thoughts, it eventually came off as a smidge preachy and like self help book.
The highlight of this section was the epilogue and the psychologists comments. I found them to be grounded in the real struggles of one with mental health struggles and as real people.
The end of the book has some vignettes?? Which were a chance for the author to actually use her own writing. They were interspersed with nice musings.
It’s an interesting take on this subject but can be quite surface level.