Scan barcode
biojesspj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Racism
Minor: Child death
The main character has an imaginary friend that may be evidence of psychosis.shannabanana6's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Miscarriage, Grief, Child abuse, and Racism
Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis
cviii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Child abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, and Grief
5aru's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Racism, and Mental illness
Moderate: Child abuse, War, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Miscarriage
hey_evelina's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Alcohol, Drug use, Miscarriage, and Death of parent
emzireads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent and Physical abuse
Moderate: Alcohol, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Racism
neenzreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Family, mental health and Korean immigration in the US and Europe are explored through the perspective of experimental physicist Elsa Park.
I loved how the author wasn't afraid to weave in various fields of study throughout the story. Physics, Korean & Norse literature are often used to draw comparisons to Elsa's current state of mind. As Elsa travels across the globe (Antarctica, Sweden and California), she realizes she can't run from her past and the past of her family. She must face *her* reality. Juxtaposed with the disturbing relevance of racism globally, Elsa's journey to find peace is turbulent and complicated.
Elsa'a brash sense of humor and physics expertise make her a fascinating character. Character development is so strong in this story, and the ending is beautifully done. I can't recommend this book enough.
TW: physical/verbal abuse, mental illness, racism, suicidal thoughts
Graphic: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts
nini23's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Elsa Park is a postdoc experimental physicist studying the 'ghost particles' neutrinos invisible to the naked eye and measurable only by their effects post collision. When we encounter her, she's just finished a cool research stint in Antarctica and returning to Sweden. Recently, Elsa has started 'seeing'/hallucinating another invisible ghost from her childhood, a Korean girl dressed in white with a long braid tied with a red ribbon. This childhood imaginary friend is her cryptic guide to the fatalistic Korean folktales that her mother passed on to her, do they prophesize the fate of the Korean women in the family or give a clue to the mysterious 'other girl' that her mother gave birth to in Korea years ago? The Park family members have a difficult relationship. Elsa's father was in the Korean civil war; scarred by that, his father's polygamy and racism in the United States, took it out by physically abusing his wife and son. Elsa's mother had a wooden chest of hanboks that she never wore and has been in a comatose state since Elsa's teen years. Elsa's brother Chris was supposed to be the golden son but suffered from epilepsy and depression, he seems resentful at being under Mr Park's thumb at their autobody business in California and of Elsa's freedom. Then there are the family ghosts, her maternal grandmother and aunt who died during the war, her paternal aunts who were lost in the wartime pandemonium. Are the Korean women doomed to be sacrificed and martyred just like in the folktales and mythology?
The metaphysical elements that make up Folklorn result in a potent mix. The disorienting snow white blindness of Antarctica, the shocking violence that the Parks experienced in the United States, the fairytale fable stone settings of a remote Swedish island, the displacement and alienation that Korean transnational adoptees feel, the surreal appearances of this ghostly Korean girl, the palimpsest Korean folklore, the universal scientific mystery of the neutrinos and anti-neutrinos - in the hands of a less skilled writer, it would all have gone haywire but in Ms Hur's capable hands, it all came together into a satisfying brilliant well-rounded work. Normally, a POC woman in advanced STEM academia plus folklore and mythology would be catnip to me anyway but Folklorn exceeded my expectations.
Highly recommend.
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Abortion and War
voidboi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Elsa begins in Antarctica, where a childhood imaginary friend/hallucination/
I loved this book. It aches with love, and fear, and anger. It longs for meaning in the unknowable, and rages against the fates prescribed to us by our cultures, families, and biologies. While there are mostly dissimilarities between my relationship with my mom and Elsa's with hers, I found that it captured the feeling of
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual content
kylieqrada's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship