Reviews

I wanted to love this because I ADORED ‘Please Look After Mother’, but this one did fall slightly short for me unfortunately 🥲
Obviously Father’s challenges and traumas become evident in this story. Kyung-sook Shin knows what she is doing when she writes 🥹 But the start was incredibly slow and I had to drag myself through some parts.

I perhaps should have given myself a bit more time to reflect upon the first of the series before delving into the other one, but alas.

3.5 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨ Cannot wait to pick up Kyung-sook Shin’s next story 🥰

Content Warnings

mikarala's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

I found the subject of this novel fascinating. Although there are various heavy themes and topics including grief, child loss, and PTSD, my main takeaway was how the story portrayed the rapid industrial and economic growth of South Korea through the generational divide between our MC and her father who came of age during the Korean War. Hon's father, and many of others of his generation, are portrayed as having sacrificed so much for the sake of their country and future generations, only to be left behind as Korea rapidly modernized and the countryside emptied out as young people fled to cities. I find that subject super fascinating, and I think the fact that this book was mainly set during a time when our MC, Hon, is spending time with her father and realizes he likely doesn't have much time left to live, is a really intriguing narrative choice.

Unfortunately, I didn't personally feel the novel capitalized well on the fascinating concept. For me it was far too meandering, being told in a series of vaguely connected vignettes. I struggled to get through the story as I just wasn't all that invested, and either the original story or the translation made it confusing to me who was actually narrating at times, which I found frustrating. However, like I said, I did appreciate some of the ideas this novel explored, and if those themes are ones that interest you as well, you might like this story.

Content Warnings

melrh's review against another edition

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reflective relaxing slow-paced

3.0

sunflowerwork's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

sidrajaved's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced

sanmeow's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

i did like please look after mom more, but this is still amazing. i just love shin kyungsook's style and i could read practically anything she writes. it's also translated by anton hur, which is always great to hear. anyway, i love the way this novel explores family. it's sad, but i enjoyed reading it. i do have some issues with the pacing, but nothing major.

rachellekcmo's review against another edition

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I really wanted to like this one, but it was feeling like a slog.

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