Reviews

What We Kept to Ourselves by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

abookwormwithwine's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was a huge fan of The Last Story of Mina Lee, so I was excited to see what Nancy Jooyoun Kim's sophomore novel What We Kept to Ourselves would bring. This was a slow-burn character-driven work of literary fiction with a mystery element, and while I loved the end and the twists, I don't think it needed to be almost 400 pages. It also moved too slowly for my liking and felt repetitive, but only as far as the same topics being brought up repeatedly. I did appreciate the subject of Agent Orange, and knowing someone who was in the Vietnam War and hearing stories about it previously, made that part really stand out for me even though that piece was relatively small.

I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed Jennifer Kim as the narrator, but I would have appreciated a full cast for the various viewpoints. That wasn't a huge deal for me, but something I want to point out all the same. Honestly, I was close to a DNF multiple times, but the audiobook kept me going and I HAD to find out what happened with Sunny. I will admit that my attention wandered quite a bit almost the entire time I was listening to What We Kept to Ourselves, but in no way should this stop you from reading. I am definitely in the minority here and did enjoy multiple things including the exploration of secrets. If you enjoy slow burns and character studies with a focus on other cultures, I would still recommend giving this a go.

Thank you to the publishers and Libro.fm for my complimentary listening and reader copies of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own. 

lisasreadinglog's review

5.0

❤️ family dynamics
❤️ immigrant journey, hardships, and hard truths

slightly repetitive at some parts but overall still a fave for me as the story is masterfully written and beautiful albeit devastating.

zhanna_raymond's review

3.0

a predictable murder mystery, but I still enjoyed thoroughly.

mth's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

elchiang78's review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

celera's review

challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

tootiemama3's review against another edition

3.0

I’m kind of in a reading slump and this didn’t boost me out.

diem_reads's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

erachelc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

ambcab's review

2.0

this book hypothetically has so many things i enjoy— a diverse cast, unreliable narrators, a strong mystery— but the execution falls so flat. so much of the four hundred something page novel spends paragraphs regurgitating information we were given from the beginning. while i’m sure the repetition is supposed to engrave in us the trauma the characters have undergone, but it gets so repetitive. i trudged through to find out the truth, but even that was anticlimactic and a huge let down. while the author crafts some beautiful sentences, the substance feels lost on these rather unlikable characters. the author tells us repeatedly that sunny is a good mom, she really is, but nothing about her shows us that! there’s so much miscommunication and while i think the author wants us to feel bad for sunny, i couldn’t bring myself to when so much of the novel shows a refusal to understand the others in her life— save for the random stranger who she doesn’t actually doesn’t understand. with all the pages in this novel, it is truly astounding at how little actually happens. kim offers some beautiful insight on relationships between people of color in america and the role of women of color in america, especially those dependent on their spouses, but that’s all there is to this novel.