Wow wow wow wow - this book I really feel deserves 5 stars. The characters were all well formed, the narrative believable, and the ending is so painfully realistic that it’s sobering. I really enjoyed the dual narrative and the varying timescales.

I don’t want to share spoilers but I will just say that Min and Yu-Jin’s characterisations are well crafted. As a woman, I resonated with Yu-Jin and the pressures she faced. I could understand her rigidity and tunnel vision, and her performative nature made sense to me. However, Min’s struggle over a dual identity resonated with me most - not belonging to either ‘side’ fully, because you’re still one half ‘something else’. Being half Turkish in Britain was a challenge growing up, as I was completely detached from my Turkish heritage, yet simultaneously targeted by British people for my Turkish maiden name and being labelled as ‘other’ because of it. I felt alienated from both sides, so this is something I massively appreciated from Min’s narrative.

As a criticism, I didn’t massively understand the ending for So-ra. It just didn’t quite add up or make sense for me. I also really hate reading ‘committed suicide’ - ‘died by suicide’ is the preferred term. But I’ll admit that this terminology is what is probably used in South Korea, so it’s okay.