Erin
Absolutely loved this book. The stories are gripping and the reveals are neither forced nor obvious. The weaving together of all the characters is really a delight to read.
Be prepared that this book is not written as a traditional narrative but rather fragmented parts of the story each with a different theme. But what a wonderful surprise - the subject matter is difficult, the writing is incredible. You can feel the growth of the relationship and abuse and of the protagonist in every page.
Fantastical and surprising. I found the story really transported me into the setting and I didn't know what was going to happen next (which is somewhat ironic!)
Really wonderful memoir about growing up as a Korean-American woman, about connecting to her Korean heritage, and most of all about her (often complicated) relationship with her mother.
Parts of this book were fun and interesting, but the writing style of a lot of telling rather than showing wasn't for me. The story itself deals with some really important and often under-represented topics such as colourism, discrimination faced by Black women, and cultural expectations that can themselves be problematic, but the protagonist doesn't make much progress until the last 8th of the book. I also found the Christianity heavy handed.
I enjoyed the book, it was a fun read. But I found a lot of the “reveals” felt pretty contrived. Regardless, a fun read.
Fun little mystery about what it means to live a genuine life. Partially set on the BC coast.