• Enjoyable
• Loved the Historical Setting
• Music intertwined
• Well thought out character arcs. 

Reflection:

About the Author:

I really loved the way Kim started the story with the abandonment Ji-Won experiences and the shift in family dynamics. Initially it seems this singular event, and the depression of her mother is the triggering event that leads into Ji-won’s decline. 

“Now whenever I catch a whiff of peppermint, or hear the crinkle of plastic, I feel a small zap, an electric current that runs through my entire body. A reminder that I once had a father.”

“I don’t blame him. Maybe because I know what it’s like, to live a life so defined by want. That’s why I was able to recognize it in him - it was what I had been feeling for so long.”

The perspective into Ji-Won’s mental stability as the story unfolds is also very telling and always has you walking that line of has this person always been this way, or are the events that are unfolding causing the actions.

“I get it. As someone who has struggled with friendships my entire life, I really do understand. How many times have I felt a nagging possessiveness over my friends, watching as they grew closer to each other but not me?”

“In the end everyone leaves.”

The inclusion of fetishization and feminism, especially in the Asian community is also subtle focal point in the lives of all the characters.

“We girls are taught from an early age that we are demonstrably inferior to our male counterparts. We are smaller, weaker, stupider. When we succeed, it’s only because men allow us to.”

“By the time you’re done with him, he’ll be begging for mercy. Who is he if he can’t control you? Is he even a man anymore? It will seem like a relief when you give him a hand, even if that hand is holding a blade. And when you take everything from him, you can day what these men say about us: He was asking for it. He was begging for it. He must have wanted it, since he didn’t fight back.”

Of the other impactful points Kim includes, the developing friendship between Ji-Won and Alexis feels authentic, especially to those making friends later in life, and offers an outside perspective of a friend trying to help when someone is clearly suffering.

A big thanks to Between the Chapters, Erewhon, Monika Kim and Kensington Books for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book. Any quotes may differ from the final published copy.

Any links may contain affiliate related monetary gain.

• Me getting through this was ALOT
• Me OBSESSIVELY adding songs to my iTunes Library as they are introduced in the chapters
• Me "You-Tubing" Brandi's Grammy's performance & getting chills
• Me questioning HOW I've lived 45 minutes away from Newport & never heard of Brandi or been to a show before
• Me underlining EVERY imaginable quote & life advice

Reflection:

About the Author:

• Magic without being "witchcraft"
• Plot twist at the end - didn't see that coming but should have. It was never explicitly stated. (You'll know when you know.)
• Sibling Rivalry vs. True familial love