Reviews

I fell in love from the start of Yolk with its acerbic protagonist and gut-punch observations. I highlighted quotes that I loved—simple sentences that captured thoughts, feelings, and experiences I’ve had but had never put into words. “The only time I don’t hate him is when I think he’s mad at me.” “I almost exclusively follow people [on IG] who make me feel bad about myself.” “It’s crazy how lonely it is to be in a family.” “It’s as if the [idea] was fed into an earpiece, it’s so fully formed and not mine.” Etc. That’s all that I really want out of a book, to read something and to nod, “Yes, I understand. Yes, you understand.” I think its strength lay in these somewhat superficial, of-the-now comments and when it veered deeper into exploring the characters’ family history and actual storytelling it kind of dragged. Otherwise, a perfect book.

alsahm's review against another edition

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2.0

i want to describe reading this book like listening to a machine gun kelly song

honeydove777's review against another edition

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3.0

yoke has a great narrative and nicely crafted character interaction and emotional depth…but the writing dates itself before the things that date it are even dated. at first i thought it was maybe bc i am definitely aging out of y/a but i thought back to when i read Choi’s book “permanent record”. i had just started college so i was right in the age bracket but looking back made me realize i had the same gripes about choi’s writing then as i did now. reading words and names like “timothee chalamet”, “hinge/tinder/bumble”, “euphoria makeup” and lengthy descriptions of instagram feeds took me out of the story a bit (while also taking years off my life it seemed like.) I really do find it a shame because she is not a “bad” writer per say. Choi writes realistically flawed characters well and is even better at describing complex relationship and family dynamics in an interesting way. She’s also utilizes analogies/thoughts/tangents in clever in effective ways from time to time. i also felt the end of the book felt a bit rushed and very princess happy ending. all in all not awful but i was not devouring pages and i probably wouldn’t read this again.

lidwien_d's review against another edition

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3.0

This book was a bit different than I had expected but still really good. It deals with heavy and important topics in a respectful way and adds some sweet moments and drama. At first I did not relate much to how these sisters had become so estranged, but I did really like the development they went through and that the book showed how special sibling relations are. I also appreciated the parts about seeking and accepting help.
I think it was really well written and a good book but I would’ve like to feel a little more connected to the characters.
(3,5 stars)

jdsquared's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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