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low_keybookish's review
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
5.0
“We all have a story like this, an origin story about the first time the world showed us our own reflection.”
I LOVED the authors previous book, The Hundred-Year Flood. So I was very excited that he was writing another book that focuses on a Korean American basketball player (the first Asian Am NBA player) and his partner who writes, creates Kdramas.
Talk about representation in two fields (sports, media)! A lot of Wons experiences are like Jeremy Lins real story… how Asian Americans at the time were so drawn to his story and how he experienced the brunt of racism in his play time and how teams treated him.
I’m not such Jeremy Lin got into such hijinks like Won did lol, but so interested to go back to those feelings. I am not the biggest sports fan but I remember alll of the hype about him and how much Asian Americans were so proud.
“To be a minority in America is to guard what you love against other people's scorn.”
The book breaks down kdramas and the common tropes with even some excerpts from the kdramas that Carrie is creating. She’s trying to also bridge the gap btw Korean and American media.
There were some humorous moments: “She was losing her innocence now, at twenty-eight. Only a white woman could hold on to her innocence for so long.”
I’m all about how the author writes about race and the messiness of interracial dynamics (working with Black athletes for Won, how Carrie deals with the diaspora, diff characters being adopted). The “bad guy” is also Korean Am and has his own issues with jealousy, racial identity, dating white women.
One of the scenes is lifted directly from Jeremy’s life, where a security guard doesn’t believe that he actually is a basketball player when trying to go to the locker room.
This was such a breath of fresh air while trying to process the last few days. I finished it in two sittings and def recommend it with all of its layers. A lot of things happen in this book and loved the vivid plot. (Trying to not give any spoilers.)
I LOVED the authors previous book, The Hundred-Year Flood. So I was very excited that he was writing another book that focuses on a Korean American basketball player (the first Asian Am NBA player) and his partner who writes, creates Kdramas.
Talk about representation in two fields (sports, media)! A lot of Wons experiences are like Jeremy Lins real story… how Asian Americans at the time were so drawn to his story and how he experienced the brunt of racism in his play time and how teams treated him.
I’m not such Jeremy Lin got into such hijinks like Won did lol, but so interested to go back to those feelings. I am not the biggest sports fan but I remember alll of the hype about him and how much Asian Americans were so proud.
“To be a minority in America is to guard what you love against other people's scorn.”
The book breaks down kdramas and the common tropes with even some excerpts from the kdramas that Carrie is creating. She’s trying to also bridge the gap btw Korean and American media.
There were some humorous moments: “She was losing her innocence now, at twenty-eight. Only a white woman could hold on to her innocence for so long.”
I’m all about how the author writes about race and the messiness of interracial dynamics (working with Black athletes for Won, how Carrie deals with the diaspora, diff characters being adopted). The “bad guy” is also Korean Am and has his own issues with jealousy, racial identity, dating white women.
One of the scenes is lifted directly from Jeremy’s life, where a security guard doesn’t believe that he actually is a basketball player when trying to go to the locker room.
This was such a breath of fresh air while trying to process the last few days. I finished it in two sittings and def recommend it with all of its layers. A lot of things happen in this book and loved the vivid plot. (Trying to not give any spoilers.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abandonment
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