51 reviews for:

I Hear Your Voice

Young-Ha Kim

3.26 AVERAGE

denaiir's review against another edition

2.0

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I gave this book 2 stars, if not for the book club I was participating in I would definitely have DNFed it.
For a book about 2 male protagonists in a very grim place, set in Asia, with some surreal elements, I definitely recommend Coin Locker Babies by Murakami Ryû more than this one.

I don't often read books with strong social commentaries but when I do the story has to be strong, otherwise it's just depressing and I give up on the book. I don't think the story was good enough to make me want to keep reading (again, Murakami Ryû achieved that for me).

I felt like there were so many different plot lines, and none of them was explored in depth, so I did not feel at all interested in the stories or what would happen to the characters.

Overall I liked parts 1 and 2 but afterwards the new characters were 2-dimensional, the setting was not compelling (I'm sure motorcycle gangs could be more interesting than this, come on!) and I was really bored.

So in the end I'm glad this was not longer and will not read anything else by this author.

emeline's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

tungstenmouse's review

DID NOT FINISH: 11%

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Didn’t like the direction it seemed to be going.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Abandonment

nickoh25's review against another edition

3.0

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

linzkyyy's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

paulataua's review against another edition

3.0

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I love Asian literature. While not drifting into magical realism, it so often contains ‘ghosts’ or things that lie outside the boundaries of science, and this is the case with ‘I Hear your Voice’. The story of Jae and Dongyu might have been titled ‘Motorcycle Gangs meet the Messianic’, or ‘Bikers and the Buddha’. What starts as a story of two orphans growing up together in Seoul suddenly takes on a more spiritual cult like nature. I ‘m not saying I really loved it. It has its weaknesses, especially the last part that takes part four years later and is narrated by a writer trying to write about the events, but it was interesting enough to keep my attention throughout.

prissi's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

momocaaa's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

cachou's review against another edition

2.5

dark reflective sad medium-paced

kimkaisgf's review against another edition

3.0

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3.25 STARS

If there is one thing Korean artists, be it film, television, or literature, know how to do—it's in their use of the social milieu of South Korea.I Hear Your Voice is about a young orphan named Jae who starts a motorbike gang with other homeless runaway youth, at least according to the back cover of the book. In reality, I Hear Your Voice is a series of vignettes held together by the characters of Donggyu and Jae, and later, the police officer. It paints a critique of the importance of status and social credit in South Korean society and how this pedestal causes many to slip through the cracks. To have no status nor social credit is undesirable, and once you're undesirable, you're invisible.