Reviews

The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn

kdahlo's review

3.0

A cool piece of historical fiction, set on Jeju Island. Not exactly my style but well crafted.

jskells's review

4.0

Similar to one of my favorite authors - Isabel Allende - in magical realism and portrayal of historical events. Loved the story. Wasn't thrilled about the change in POV... I don't understand why it was necessary and it was jarring just as you were getting into the thick of the narrative.

alyssa_max's review

3.0

This book had a great premise that was executed only decently at best. I found the character development and historical context lacking; it did not give me a unique look into Korean or haenyeo history. There also seemed to be a missed opportunity to weave in magical realism along the lines of Tea Obreht or similar.

annpatcat's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad 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? No

I love magic realism so this book scratched that itch. I read this after my trip to Jeju where I read briefly about the 4.3 incident. We stayed at a spot near the incident as well but the explanation plaques were mostly in Korean so I didn't understand it. We stayed in Seongwipo and even though there's many tourists and it is so modern, there's an undercurrent I attributed to nature being all around. But i guess it must've also been from the war trauma. This book kind of captures it. Anyway, I enjoyed my read 📚 ☺️ 

alee02's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

One of the best books I’ve ever read, if not the best. Absolutely devastating dive into a long-forgotten part of Korean history.

The story took a turn that left me a little unclear on how things would wrap up, but everything came together in a breathtaking and really stunning and poetic conclusion. I will never forget this book.

ccheng4's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-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? Yes

4.0

elsanore's review against another edition

reflective

3.0

The Mermaid of Jeju is a historical fiction novel about the Korean War's impact on a haenyo diver and the people surrounding her. The writing was vague, and I didn't understand everything that was going on. Magical realism and pagan god worship added to my confusion. It took me time to understand how characters were related to each other or even that they were the same person in different timelines. Clarity is important to me, and this book missed the boat.

samraetom's review against another edition

adventurous sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

tinkerbellas's review

4.0

the writing style is beautiful!! i really enjoyed reading this book, but there was a lot going on, and there were too much skips that it started to get confusing; i wanted to read more of about one scene, then suddenly it gets cut off. i liked the second half, but i wished they continued more on the first half.

Spoiler

what happened to suwol??

i also hope we got more of the grandmother ): overall, considering it's a debut novel, it's a good read!

corie_corie_corie's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• 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? No

3.5