books I have finished recently

For the past few years, I haven't read many books because I don’t have the money to buy them and they become really expensive now, but another reason is also because I’m lazy lol. I prefer to read comics rather than books. However, recently I decided to read books again, or more precisely, e-books. I found some sites and tricks that allow me to read official e-books and it’s very convenient. For example, I got the card from the Digital Library of Korean Literature and used the app Libby to read them. All of them are free to use so I didn’t spend any money lol.

Anyways, I read many books recently because I have the time and it helped me to regain my love of reading books. I hope I can find more books because I’m interested to read books from more countries. Here are some books that I read and my short reviews of them: 

1. The Only Child by Seo Mi Ae

The first book is a mystery thriller book by Seo Mi Ae titled The Only Child. Released in 2010, I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this book thoroughly. I did read some people's opinions about this book, and they pointed out the flaws of this story. But as for me, I genuinely enjoyed reading this especially because I didn’t know anything about it beforehand.

The Only Child is a chilling mystery novel about Seonkyeong, a criminal psychologist who got the task to interview a serial killer, Yi Byeongdo. He is a young man who killed his victims in gruesome ways and sparked public curiosity because his appearance is that of a refined man. Before this, he didn’t want to be interviewed by anyone, which sparked the mystery as to why he only wants to talk with Seonkyeong whom he had never met before. Out of curiosity and her thirst for knowledge about criminals, Seonkyeong agrees to interview him.

Despite the unpleasant first meeting, the interview went well and Seonkyeong learned a bit by bit about Yi Byeongdo; but he always wants to take the upper hands, not letting her be the one who commands him. At the same time, Seonkyeong’s husband is troubled because his elementary school daughter, Hayeong, is now an orphan with no one to take care of her since her mother & grandparents died. He decided to bring her home and, despite the cold encounter with her new step-mother, Hayeong gave in and slowly bonded with Seonkyeong.

Seonkyeong, encountering two new people at the same time and putting her years of psychological knowledge to use, starts to unravel all the things about them and slowly discovered a chilling and menacing connection.

I read this book randomly without reading the synopsis or anything, so the experience was very rewarding because the story flowed smoothly despite the non-linear narrative. Some of the chapters used different perspectives because the story centered around three people, and whenever I had to read the perspective of Yi Byeongdo it gave me the chills. He was a cunning and manipulative person, wallowing in self-victimization rooted from his abusive household, which led him to become a dangerous misogynistic serial killer.

With such clever way to tie the three timelines and characters, I had to say the ending and revelation had me shocked and gasping. It was unexpected and even if I had a hunch about it but I didn’t realize the writer was going that way. So, the overall experience I had with this book was nice and thrilling.

My rating: 4/5

2. The Vegetarian by Han Kang

A book which made Han Kang win the Novel Prize in Literature, so I was really curious about what this was about. But honestly, I didn’t really enjoy this because some parts were too uncomfortable, metaphorical, and allegorical that it became hard to comprehend for me because I’m not really smart lol. 

The Vegetarian tells the story of Yeonghye, an ordinary woman who lives her life with her ordinary husband. One day, she had a peculiar and eerie dream; it showed her about blood and viciousness that slowly affected her to the point of losing her sanity. Yeonghye thus became a vegetarian who felt disgusted when she ate meat and showed strong resistance when everyone in her family forced her to become normal. With everyone disregarding her will and controlling her, Yeonghye went into a spiral and losing herself; her own mind, her own body.

In essence, this is a story about how men in Yeonghye’s life eliminate her agency and never asked her about her own thoughts, as if she was just a lifeless walking meat. The writing is beautiful with a slow pace, that sometimes I had a hard time to continue. It was told using the perspective of the three characters; her husband, her brother-in-law, and her sister. 

For a novel about Yeonghye, this book never told her story using her perspective, except when it was to describe her vivid brutal dream. Maybe that’s the point because Yeonghye represent women who got stripped away from their agency by patriarchal values, from ancient times and even at the current moment.

Also, the graphic sexual scenes were irritating and hard to sit through for me because all of them were told from the perspective of men who only see the female protagonist as a passive sexual object. And maybe it was purposedly written that way to evoke that uncomfortable feeling when we recognize sexual exploitation, but I still felt irritated and disturbed. 

The first part with Yeonghye’s husband perspective made me feel like I had high blood pressure because he was a disgusting man, which unfortunately many of the likes of him exist too in reality. How he thought of Yeonghye as nothing but an obedient and quiet woman he didn’t love. He didn’t think of her as a fellow human being and wife who deserves respect, but someone who exists to fulfill the marital sex and be his voiceless companion.

The second part was even worse with the perspective of Yeonghye's brother-in-law, a strange video artist who secretly viewed her as an object of his pornographic dream. He saw this mentally ill woman who had obvious baggage on her mind and who's slowly losing her grip on reality, but he took advantage of it and asked her to help her as model for his video art. The theme for the second part is about sexual exploitation and the collapse of Yeonghye's family.

The third part was from the perspective of Yeonghye’s sister, and this was what made me understand what this book was about. She's the older sister who stayed strong despite everything and the only one who cares about Yeonghye, even though her family was destroyed and her sister was dying. The story of their childhood shaped them to be who they are as adults, and it made me so sad because she blamed herself for Yeonghye’s descent into madness. If they ran away when they were children, would things end up differently?

As I read each word of this book, it made me feel angry and depressed because of how nobody except Yeonghye’s sister truly cared about her well-being. The ending left me feeling empty, and despite some unpleasant feelings I had while reading this, I didn’t regret it because it still is a good book. 

My rating: 3.5/5

3. The Good Son by Jeong You Jeong

Another Korean psychological thriller novel, which I have heard about so many times because people said this book was really impressive. With high expectations I read this and came out to say it didn’t disappoint at all. An engaging thriller with unreliable narrator which gives me goosebumps because of how shocking it was, despite the lengthy pages.

The Good Son follows the protagonist named Yujin, who wakes up one morning like any other. Except this time, he smelled a strange metallic stench that occupied the entire house. Quietly, he decided to find out the source of the smell, only to find his mother’s dead body lying lifeless at the bottom of the stairs with a lake of blood around her. Appalled by the horrifying sight before him, Yujin tried to remember what happened the night before his mother got murdered. However, the results of his quest to find his mother’s murderer ultimately forces him to learn a shocking revelation about who he really is.

I had a really good time while reading this, because it was written in such engaging and thrilling way. I never felt bored and each time the protagonist learned little by little about the truth, it felt like I was watching a thriller movie in my mind. It showed the darkest side of human beings, and the twisted relationship between a mother and son. Other than the psychological & thriller side, this book also showed some timely issue like the rise of incel culture that misguide a lot of young boys into dangerous men when they grew up.

The ending made me really sad and frustrated, but it was a proper ending which left such great impression on me. I don’t think I can forget the ending for a long time because of how depressing it was. I totally recommend this book!

My rating: 4.5/5

4. Heaven by Mieko Kawakami

I have heard a lot about how good this book was before, but I was a bit afraid because people said this book is depressing. And well, yeah, it was indeed depressing lmao.

Heaven is a coming-of-age book set in 1990s Japan, about a 14 years old boy who is subjected to bullying in his school. Everyday felt like a torturous routine for the protagonist whose name was never got mentioned the entire book. He felt content with his school life, thinking that everything was still alright and he didn’t think of killing himself, like the bullied kid he heard about in the news who commited suicide.

But out of nowhere, he received a secret letter from his classmate, Kojima. Kojima is a quiet girl in his class who got severely bullied just like him. The two never talked with each other before, only classmates who know each other's names. However, after they find solace through the letters, the protagonist and Kojima slowly become friends outside the school. The two outcasts gave quiet strength to each other as they endure the violent bullying by their tormentors.

At first, I found this book quite beautiful because the protagonist boy still doesn’t lose his will to live and it was heartwarming how he befriended Kojima. Both of them faced sufferings every day as an outcast who got treated like a punching bag, but despite everything they still try to see the hope in tomorrow. 

But as I read, I became irritated and not because the book is bad, but because it evoked anger in me reading the thoughts of the bullies. Momose is one of the bullies who didn’t participate in the abuse, but his mindset was genuinely twisted and unfortunately there might be so many people who think like him.

This has an open ending and I feel devastated because I keep wondering about Kojima’s fate. It’s not a wonder why I heard people say this book ruined them because it does makes you wondering about human nature and this world after you finished reading.

My rating: 3.5/5

5. The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seonran

Next book is a sapphic vampire mystery that I read on Libby. I have always loved stories about vampires (like Midnight Mass, Trapped, Sinners, etc) but I have never read books about them. Encountering this book made me really excited, especially because it’s a wlw vampire story which is still rare to find. With a beautiful cover and an exciting story, it was such an interesting read that satisfied me as a vampire lover.

The Midnight Shift started as a murder mystery because of strange suicide cases which keep happening in the same hospital. Four elderly people committed suicide by jumping out of the window with strange notes left by the deceased. Even if her seniors in the police precinct treated this like a normal suicide case as they were all lonely patients with no family left, something made Suyeon feel uneasy and she decided to pursue the truth behind the suicides.

As Suyeon began her investigation by herself, she accidentally met Violet, a mysterious woman who keeps roaming around the crime scene to find the trace of her ex-lover, Lily. By their encounter, Suyeon began to overcome her doubt and convinced that the one behind all these deaths is a vampire. Suyeon decided to walk the dangerous path of pursuing the vampire and bring it to an end.

Unlike other books which were slow paced, this book is fast and gritty which helped me stay engaged in the story. Even if this is a book about vampire, but at its core it’s also about the consequences of loneliness. The part about Lily and Violet's love story is sad because they weren’t from the same world, and it ends in such irreparable tragedy. But love doesn’t end even in death, as love and grief will tie them to each other.

My rating: 4/5

6. The Forest of Stolen Girls by Hur June

I finished this book recently, and it was such a really good read. Another book I read on Libby, and I only picked this because the cover was beautiful. And it was not a disappointment, I had great time reading this even though it took me some time to finish because this book required me to really absorb in the events.

The Forest of Stolen Girls is a historical mystery book about 19 years old Hwani, who quietly started her lone wolf journey to find her missing policeman father. Set in the 1790s Joseon Dynasty, everything started from the strange case of thirteen little girls, barely over the age of 10, who disappeared in the forest. Nobody knows what happened to them, and Hwani’s father vanished from the face of the earth when he secretly wanted to find the truth of the little girls’ disappearance.

Hwani’s strong sense of justice and determination to find her father, as well as her missing memory from a childhood trauma which seems to hold the key to the truth, leads her to become a brave truth pursuer. Along with her estranged little sister, Maewol, both of them will try to uncover everything hidden behind the forest and also the memory that shattered their family.

I really like how the writer seems to have done deep research so it helped me learn about new things during the Joseon era. Despite the setting, I didn’t find the words confusing or hard to comprehend because it is easy to understand. The whodunit aspect was done well so it was exciting trying to find the culprit.

But my favorite part is Hwani’s characterization, her narration makes her a truly brave young girl who never gives up. Also, her and her little sister’s complicated relationship was done beautifully, the way their sisterhood bond was depicted was incredible and it was easy to understand how they are sisters who will always protect each other despite initial animosity. 

The sister's love for their father was also really sad and given the setting, the tragedy happened because of the time itself. Despite being a mystery thriller book, this book focused more on Hwani's character development as a young woman understanding how the horrible rules imposed by those in power and the horribly tragic consequences that happened, as well as how their sisterhood will always be each other's light.

My rating: 4.5/5