Reviews with content warning for Suicide - When We Fell Apart

So this was one hell of a story. It leads with a premise that sucked me in and I’m so glad that I ended up reading this book. It’s a debut novel, and it was great!

Min is a biracial Korean American who has been living Seoul for almost 3 years after making a pilgrimage in order to get in touch with 1/2 of his heritage. He has always felt displaced and unfortunately Seoul does not offer him the feeling of home that he was after.

He does however meet and get into a relationship with a college student named Yujin.

Quick aside: These meditations on biracial identity were something I hoped the book wouldn’t spend too much time on because I just wanted to know why Yujin kills herself but they end up being relevant to other characters and themes explored in the book.

Oh, yeah so his girlfriend Yujin kills herself.

Yujin is perfect. She’s pretty and confident, studious and has a promising career ahead of her so it’s the shock of a lifetime when Min learns that she killed herself.

The book and folds in a dual narration, one his and one hers where he tried and find out why she kills herself and Yujin reveals why she did it. I really liked the writing. It was incredibly evocative from both narrations. When you get to the end, learning why Yujin did what she did; the reason was a little bit lacklustre and the book’s climax as a whole isn’t quite so climactic at the end of it all. That said, I enjoyed the characters and the unveiling of the city where they live which is described with as much care and character as the characters themselves.

But please tell me a why Min ends up having sex with Misaki, Yujin’s roommate? I mean I kinda know, but it was still jarring to read on the page. I hate how tragically Yujin and Sora end their story. Not to be sentimental but I kind of want to know what the reality where they go away to Europe looks like.

Oh and the scenes at Samsung while Min was working were like comedy sketches. Why did they do him like that??

Content Warnings

caraali's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

estherb's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When we fell apart is a beautifully written novel depicting cultural differences and what it’s like to be stuck in the middle of two different worlds.

When Min is told of his girlfriend Yu-Jin’s death he can’t believe that she would have committed suicide. She was such a vibrant woman with her whole life ahead of her; she just wouldn’t have taken it away.

With a controlling father and two roommates - one aloof and one hiding something, Yu-Jin’s life was more complicated than Min had been led to believe.

What is the truth? Will he ever uncover what actually happened ?

We learn quite early on that the relationship between Yu-Jin and So-ra is not as platonic as we are led to believe, and due to Korea’s views on same sex relationships and how it can affect your social standing, the women choose to hide it - hence the emergence of Yu-Jin’s relationship with Min.

This is dealt with delicately - as someone who lives in a society where homosexuality is largely accepted (some people still don’t) it’s strange to think that a county (or city like Seoul which is largely metropolitan) still has these archaic views on the LGBTQ+ community.

Showing stark differences between the two cultures, Yu-Jin has to acknowledge the decisions that she make, So-ra makes and the decisions of her family. Unfortunately they don’t necessarily lead to a happy ending.

(I have to add I have not researched this - these are the opinions I have formed from reading the novel )

Content Warnings

bellesbooks__'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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? It's complicated

4.25

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