Reviews

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

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literarycrushes's review against another edition

3.0

On the surface, Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi is another novel about an unlikable female protagonist in New York City, but it’s so much more than that. Jayne is a Korean American art school student living with her leech-like sort-of ex-boyfriend in Brooklyn, doing the absolute bare minimum to scrape by. Her older sister June also lives in NYC but is her polar opposite: living in a $4k a month luxury apartment after graduating from Columbia (with a full ride) and working at a hedge fund. Though June’s apartment is only a few blocks from Jayne’s campus, the two hardly ever see each other if they can help it. So, when June suddenly shows up and tells Jayne they need to talk, Jayne knows it’s bad. June has cancer… or at least she might have cancer and Jayne immediately makes June’s cancer about her, imagining the sympathy she could leverage by telling future friends and partners, “My sister died!”
While I don’t think this book necessarily had anything profoundly new to say, it was a lot of fun to read. Jayne and I had the same major at the same college (The Fashion Institute of Technology), and I feel like we have similar views on it… “Attending college is like praying to God. It’s not that you believe in it; you do it just in case.” FIT was an odd experience and I feel like the narrator really captured a lot of these weird, specific details in a way I have not seen on paper before. I think it was a little triggering for me because of these similarities, but overall, I really enjoyed my time with Jayne and June!

ryanlee's review against another edition

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not for me

jannys's review against another edition

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1.0

This is why I have trust issues. This book was not it. Glad I didn’t purchase it.

neelima1998's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5.

Loved loved loved loved this

emoser_9's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 - this was hard to read. Following the daily life of a woman in nyc who struggles with mental illness, especially ed's. Explores self harm, mental and physical illness, family, relationships, etc. Its very well written but woof could be super triggering. Read with caution

luckibuns's review against another edition

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4.0

I absolutely loved this book. It felt like there was a little bit of myself reflected in both sisters, both in a way I loved and hated. This was the first book I've read that comes from a Korean American perspective, and the little details that Choi included from that felt so relatable, validating, and almost like fun little easter eggs (I kept internally yelling, "I AM a Korean American millennial!"). The details in each characters' different little quirks and habits made this such a rich story where no one felt one dimensional or "convenient".