A review by khanyisile13
Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

This so candidly told story felt like I was sitting with a friend who was telling me bedtime stories. It’s so honest and frank, but so vulnerable that it’s easy to connect to simply because the main character is wearing their heart openly on their sleeve. It was written like a mémoire, a real take of how this person operated through life - and how he operated was by seeking love in other people. His stories had no shame, only real emotion, and that’s what also made the humorous parts of it so charming. I will say the pace became inconsistent, slowing down to suit the changes in the story, which is perfectly fine but you can feel it as a reader. There was also a good bunch of contemporary poetic lines that if you read the book too quickly, you might miss them, but if you savour each word, they’ll sit with you. I’m obsessed with Jae-Hee as a character, although she’s brash, she’s fiercely loyal and so endearing in that sense. I wanted to be her friend after reading about her. His complex connection to his mother was both entertaining and heartbreaking to read, I saw her in so many mothers of colour who are intensely stubborn, yet there’s no denying that they’re trying their best. The humanity of this book is what leaps out to you most, the loneliness in it becomes its own character, lurking in the sidelines and informing essential decisions. Seoul was also a main character, the location’s subtle descriptions and the way each character is connected to the city and South Korea as a whole is significant to the movement of the story. I found the night time descriptions transporting. There’s no real plot, but there’s heart, and you can’t deny it.