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A review by julieshuff
I'll Be Right There by Kyung-sook Shin
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.0
I’m really conflicted about this book. There were times I thought it was a two star books and times I was almost in tears about how atmospheric it was.
Content warnings of sexual assault and eating disorders for anyone thinking about reading this book.
Things I liked:
-the super wide ranging references. I’m sure I didn’t get all of the literary references but reading about Fallingwater, Peru, or quoting a French/Uruguayan poet kept things interesting.
-I liked the alternating POV.
-even in translation, it was beautifully written.
Things I didn’t like:
- I couldn’t follow some of the time lapses. Hard to tell what the timeline was the way it jumped around.
- pretty sure all of the male characters (except for maybe professor Yoon) are emotionally stunted.
-strange conception of what constitutes romantic attraction. Jung Yoon is basically sexually assaulted by her childhood friend Dahn when she goes to visit him during his enlistment and it is never dealt with or unpacked or viewed in a negative light. Separately, Myungsah can’t commit and is basically gaslighting her giving her reasons they can’t be together or lack of clear answers.
-overly dark-people dying left and right in odd circumstances (which was maybe a point)
Content warnings of sexual assault and eating disorders for anyone thinking about reading this book.
Things I liked:
-the super wide ranging references. I’m sure I didn’t get all of the literary references but reading about Fallingwater, Peru, or quoting a French/Uruguayan poet kept things interesting.
-I liked the alternating POV.
-even in translation, it was beautifully written.
Things I didn’t like:
- I couldn’t follow some of the time lapses. Hard to tell what the timeline was the way it jumped around.
- pretty sure all of the male characters (except for maybe professor Yoon) are emotionally stunted.
-strange conception of what constitutes romantic attraction. Jung Yoon is basically sexually assaulted by her childhood friend Dahn when she goes to visit him during his enlistment and it is never dealt with or unpacked or viewed in a negative light. Separately, Myungsah can’t commit and is basically gaslighting her giving her reasons they can’t be together or lack of clear answers.
-overly dark-people dying left and right in odd circumstances (which was maybe a point)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Eating disorder and Sexual assault