Reviews

I Hear Your Voice by Young-Ha Kim

prissi's review

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

2.5

aridoubra's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Jae is a remarkable character. I’m still in awe of how this homeless, no family teen could be charismatic. I thin if he had a loving guardian, hi ode would have turned out differently. But it seems like Jae has differ lives. He means different things to different people. For Dongyu, Jae is his voice. For Mokran, he is her love. For Jean, he is a reminder of her youth. For Police officer Pak, he is an enigma. A great read by the overall. 

momocaaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

3.75

cachou's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

2.5

kimkaisgf's review

3.0

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.

koreanjesus's review

slow-paced

3.0

toloveisdestroy's review

4.0

A very enjoyable read despite some of the dry spells. The book features the many intertwined lives, and catches you at the introduction through the birth of a young boy proceeding to follow his livelihood. Truly riveting.

annieboj's review

4.0

major major content warnings for this book fyi but this is for sure my favorite of young-ha kim’s from what i’ve read so far. his straightforward writing helps me envision everything and every character so clearly in my own interpretation and i really bit my tongue and sped thru this. feels like something i might try annotating in the future

marsha28's review

1.0

DNF it after read 35% of the book.

I want to love this book so bad!! But this book wasn't for me. I quite fond of the writing style and I like how it gave the readers different perspectives of Korean with low income lifestyle.
But, I feel the story didn't go anywhere and I didn't have any idea what the author aim for the story. And I'm a little uncomfortable by Child Abuse, rape, and violence towards woman in the story.

armandilloh's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0