A review by surelyinthefountain
The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun

dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The writing is lovely and darkly funny at times. Just my speed. The plot is sort of predictable, but I feel like that's the point: it's more a combination of the book rewarding the reader for paying attention and the sad conclusion being essentially inevitable. It also really helps to learn that
most of the story up until the final chapter and the epilogue are arguably just the screenplay assigning motivation and backstory to Yona that may or may not really be the case. Understanding that her portrayal in the novel is filtered through the male gaze of a different character who is subtextually bitter that he doesn't get to be the one to hook up with her, as well as the reconstruction of others from bits and pieces that remain of her after her death, retroactively improves certain frustrating or skeevy parts that occurred earlier in the book.
Seeing the story through to the end definitely bumped my rating up like, half a star. Would recommend.
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