i stopped when spoilers were ahead but now I am feeling like I might need to read this. I've had Trust Exercise on my TBR for ages, I always feel like I should read the backlist first but I've heard better reviews for this one!!
The poll won't load for me (I have a slow computer smh) but I vote Long Distance! And I've been eyeing Flashlight but really wanted to wait for the paperback or library hold to lessen since reviews seem to be "it's good but not great". Your review is one of the more thorough and I really appreciated the background context since in countless reviews I've read of it no one mentioned it started with a short story!
Thanks for letting me know your preference even though the poll seems to be on the fritz! Yes, I think this is probably one to check out from the library. Hope I did not spoil anything for you!
It sounds like the worthy part of “Flashlight” is the factual info on Korea in the 20th century. So maybe a nonfiction book on that subject would be better if that’s the takeaway someone wants?
I found “Trust Exercise” interesting for its shifting POV. Sometimes the POV shifts in the middle of a paragraph. I remember thinking if a debut author did the same thing—someone not anointed as ‘great writer’—they would have been eviscerated by the critics. Or more likely, never even found an agent willing to represent them.
Yes, but I think the way she shifted the POV was not a mistake necessarily. She handled it more deftly with awareness of breaking the rules. Anyway, I do think this book highlights a particular scenario of DPRK evil and its impact on families that one might not know to look for exactly (not saying what it is because the “why” and “how” are the questions the prologue doesn’t answer). By fictionalizing it, Choi introduces this history to readers who are not going to check out a first person non-fiction account. And you are right too— there’s a list of the books Choi drew from in the acknowledgements which would probably make a good reading list to become educated on the history and experiences of those kidnapped.
I agree that the POV shifts were intentional—and interesting for the ‘whose story is this?’ concept. I was just thinking that such intentional POV shifts by a debut author would not be allowed.
I felt similarly about the muscular promise of the first half of Trust Exercise, then the disappointing ending. I loved the first half of Trust Exercise so much, thought it had so many rich and complex characters and dynamics, that I felt it should just…be a straight novel that continued to the end. It didn’t need the pyrotechnic, I felt.
Maybe this one kind of did!
And thanks for the shout-out to my piece about openings :)
I like this idea a lot. Please do Long Distance next.
Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart sound very interesting.
I think so too! If I don’t review it this month I will still read it soon. I find him hilarious.
i stopped when spoilers were ahead but now I am feeling like I might need to read this. I've had Trust Exercise on my TBR for ages, I always feel like I should read the backlist first but I've heard better reviews for this one!!
The poll won't load for me (I have a slow computer smh) but I vote Long Distance! And I've been eyeing Flashlight but really wanted to wait for the paperback or library hold to lessen since reviews seem to be "it's good but not great". Your review is one of the more thorough and I really appreciated the background context since in countless reviews I've read of it no one mentioned it started with a short story!
Thanks for letting me know your preference even though the poll seems to be on the fritz! Yes, I think this is probably one to check out from the library. Hope I did not spoil anything for you!
Vera sounds intriguing to me. 😊
Thanks for giving your preference even though the poll is on the fritz!
No shy violets over here.
It sounds like the worthy part of “Flashlight” is the factual info on Korea in the 20th century. So maybe a nonfiction book on that subject would be better if that’s the takeaway someone wants?
I found “Trust Exercise” interesting for its shifting POV. Sometimes the POV shifts in the middle of a paragraph. I remember thinking if a debut author did the same thing—someone not anointed as ‘great writer’—they would have been eviscerated by the critics. Or more likely, never even found an agent willing to represent them.
Yes, but I think the way she shifted the POV was not a mistake necessarily. She handled it more deftly with awareness of breaking the rules. Anyway, I do think this book highlights a particular scenario of DPRK evil and its impact on families that one might not know to look for exactly (not saying what it is because the “why” and “how” are the questions the prologue doesn’t answer). By fictionalizing it, Choi introduces this history to readers who are not going to check out a first person non-fiction account. And you are right too— there’s a list of the books Choi drew from in the acknowledgements which would probably make a good reading list to become educated on the history and experiences of those kidnapped.
I agree that the POV shifts were intentional—and interesting for the ‘whose story is this?’ concept. I was just thinking that such intentional POV shifts by a debut author would not be allowed.
I felt similarly about the muscular promise of the first half of Trust Exercise, then the disappointing ending. I loved the first half of Trust Exercise so much, thought it had so many rich and complex characters and dynamics, that I felt it should just…be a straight novel that continued to the end. It didn’t need the pyrotechnic, I felt.
Maybe this one kind of did!
And thanks for the shout-out to my piece about openings :)
Yes. When I finished that book I was like wait, why'd you do me like that? I liked the first twist, but the second one felt dirty.
Same! I wanted a return to part I in some real way in the final part. I still sometimes wish there was an end to that novel that I could read.