kelly_e's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Title: What We Kept to Ourselves
Author: Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: October 10, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad
T H R E E • W O R D S
Intriguing • Digestible • Messy
📖 S Y N O P S I S
1999: The Kim family is struggling to move on after their mother, Sunny, vanished a year ago. Sixty-one-year-old John Kim feels more isolated from his grown children, Anastasia and Ronald, than ever before. But one evening, their fragile lives are further upended when John finds the body of a stranger in the backyard. The tragedy seems random until they learn that the dead man was carrying a letter to Sunny, sparking a desperate investigation into the stranger’s history and possible connections to her—only to reveal that someone has been watching them.
1977: Sunny is pregnant and has just moved to Los Angeles from Korea with her aloof and often-absent husband. America is not turning out the way she had dreamed it to be, and the loneliness and isolation are broken only by a fateful encounter at a bus stop. The unexpected connection spans the decades and echoes into the family’s lives in the present as they uncover devastating secrets that put not only everything they thought they knew about their mother but their very lives at risk.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I was initially drawn to What We Kept to Ourselves based on the dual timeline synopsis , so when the publisher reached out to see if I wanted an advanced copy, I agreed. I hadn't realized it was written by the author of The Last Story of Mina Lee until I had finished.
Nancy Jooyoun Kim delivers a complicated, multilayered family saga told in dual timelines and from multiple perspectives. The cast of characters were great, and I really couldn't figure out whether to love them or hate them. Each was bitter, troubled, and flawed in their own way, and I was drawn into their messy lives.
Behind the mystery of the dead man in the backyard and Sunny's disappearance, there is a narrative exploring the isolation of immigration, the American dream, the consequences of family secrets, and the search for belonging and identity. While I appreciated learning more about certain things, I definitely think it bogged now the main narrative at times. For this reason, the writing wasn't smooth, and made for a slow unravel.
What We Kept to Ourselves was a solid story, yet it lacked a bit when it comes to the execution. It quite possible it tried to do too much with one story. I have a feeling this will be a polarizing book.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the family saga
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Death was so much easier to explain. Death was the period at the end of a sentence. A disappearance was a question mark. You'd always be left waiting for a response."
"His kids were soft, hasn't gone through war like he has at thirteen, hadn't lost their family and home, too. They didn't know what it was like to climb over dead people, bodies bloated and rotten, or to steal from the dead because you never knew when you could get another pair of shoes. They never has to wear another man's socks, with another man's blood on them. They didn't know what that was like, that smell, all those bodies, the shit and urine, those maggots and flies. These American kids would never get it."
"It was so much easier to be angry at, to blame people we didn't know, wasn't it? Because being angry at people whom we knew intimately was like being angry at ourselves. We had some great stake in it."
"And maybe home was not the place where you thought I'm here. It was the place where you felt I've returned."
Author: Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3.50
Pub Date: October 10, 2023
I received a complimentary eARC from Simon & Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #Gifted #Ad
T H R E E • W O R D S
Intriguing • Digestible • Messy
📖 S Y N O P S I S
1999: The Kim family is struggling to move on after their mother, Sunny, vanished a year ago. Sixty-one-year-old John Kim feels more isolated from his grown children, Anastasia and Ronald, than ever before. But one evening, their fragile lives are further upended when John finds the body of a stranger in the backyard. The tragedy seems random until they learn that the dead man was carrying a letter to Sunny, sparking a desperate investigation into the stranger’s history and possible connections to her—only to reveal that someone has been watching them.
1977: Sunny is pregnant and has just moved to Los Angeles from Korea with her aloof and often-absent husband. America is not turning out the way she had dreamed it to be, and the loneliness and isolation are broken only by a fateful encounter at a bus stop. The unexpected connection spans the decades and echoes into the family’s lives in the present as they uncover devastating secrets that put not only everything they thought they knew about their mother but their very lives at risk.
💭 T H O U G H T S
I was initially drawn to What We Kept to Ourselves based on the dual timeline synopsis , so when the publisher reached out to see if I wanted an advanced copy, I agreed. I hadn't realized it was written by the author of The Last Story of Mina Lee until I had finished.
Nancy Jooyoun Kim delivers a complicated, multilayered family saga told in dual timelines and from multiple perspectives. The cast of characters were great, and I really couldn't figure out whether to love them or hate them. Each was bitter, troubled, and flawed in their own way, and I was drawn into their messy lives.
Behind the mystery of the dead man in the backyard and Sunny's disappearance, there is a narrative exploring the isolation of immigration, the American dream, the consequences of family secrets, and the search for belonging and identity. While I appreciated learning more about certain things, I definitely think it bogged now the main narrative at times. For this reason, the writing wasn't smooth, and made for a slow unravel.
What We Kept to Ourselves was a solid story, yet it lacked a bit when it comes to the execution. It quite possible it tried to do too much with one story. I have a feeling this will be a polarizing book.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of the family saga
• bookclubs
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Death was so much easier to explain. Death was the period at the end of a sentence. A disappearance was a question mark. You'd always be left waiting for a response."
"His kids were soft, hasn't gone through war like he has at thirteen, hadn't lost their family and home, too. They didn't know what it was like to climb over dead people, bodies bloated and rotten, or to steal from the dead because you never knew when you could get another pair of shoes. They never has to wear another man's socks, with another man's blood on them. They didn't know what that was like, that smell, all those bodies, the shit and urine, those maggots and flies. These American kids would never get it."
"It was so much easier to be angry at, to blame people we didn't know, wasn't it? Because being angry at people whom we knew intimately was like being angry at ourselves. We had some great stake in it."
"And maybe home was not the place where you thought I'm here. It was the place where you felt I've returned."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Mental illness, Abortion, and War
Minor: Classism, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
PTSDjillwedemeier's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
3.0
From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Last Story of Mina Lee" comes "What We Kept to Ourselves," the story of the one family's search for answers after the disappearance of their mother.
The story begins in 1999 as Ana and Ronald Kim are struggling to move on after their mother, Sunny, vanished one year ago. Their father, John, is feeling more isolated from his children than ever before. Nearly a year after Sunny's disappearance, John stumbles upon a dead man in the family's backyard. The stranger is holding a letter addressed to Sunny, leaving the family with questions about the man's history and possible connections to Sunny. As secrets unfurl, we learn more about Sunny's life, beginning in 1977 when Sunny is pregnant and has just moved from Los Angeles from Korea with her husband.
"What We Kept to Ourselves" explores the consequences of secrets between parents and children and husbands and wives, and is a powerful meditation on identity, migration, and the American dream. This book first caught my attention when it was described as a mystery/thriller, but I think it would be more accurate to categorize it as historical fiction or family drama. The story switches between the points of view of John, Ana, and Ronald, with flashbacks beginning in 1977 from Sunny's perspective, so you really get to know each character. I enjoyed the chapters told from Sunny's point of view the most and found her story moving and heartbreaking. There is so much to discuss about this book, making it a perfect choice for book clubs and reading groups.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Simon & Schuster for the free copy for review.
The story begins in 1999 as Ana and Ronald Kim are struggling to move on after their mother, Sunny, vanished one year ago. Their father, John, is feeling more isolated from his children than ever before. Nearly a year after Sunny's disappearance, John stumbles upon a dead man in the family's backyard. The stranger is holding a letter addressed to Sunny, leaving the family with questions about the man's history and possible connections to Sunny. As secrets unfurl, we learn more about Sunny's life, beginning in 1977 when Sunny is pregnant and has just moved from Los Angeles from Korea with her husband.
"What We Kept to Ourselves" explores the consequences of secrets between parents and children and husbands and wives, and is a powerful meditation on identity, migration, and the American dream. This book first caught my attention when it was described as a mystery/thriller, but I think it would be more accurate to categorize it as historical fiction or family drama. The story switches between the points of view of John, Ana, and Ronald, with flashbacks beginning in 1977 from Sunny's perspective, so you really get to know each character. I enjoyed the chapters told from Sunny's point of view the most and found her story moving and heartbreaking. There is so much to discuss about this book, making it a perfect choice for book clubs and reading groups.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ALC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Simon & Schuster for the free copy for review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Infidelity, War, Racism, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Abandonment
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