A review by brooke_review
Apartment Women by Gu Byeong-Mo

emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I quite enjoy Asian literature, and don’t too often take issue with translations; however, either Gu Byeong-mo’s Apartment Women is suffering from a translation disconnect or this book is lacking in some necessary style.  The premise sounds pretty incredible, if I am being honest - several families move into an apartment complex in the middle of nowhere as part of a government experiment on communal living.  This is my cup of tea because I love social studies.  However, this book is written (or translated) so incoherently, that I had difficulty following much of it.  The storyline is not clear, neither are the families and members within them delineated.  I found myself confused throughout much of this book, not quite understanding where it was going or what I was supposed to get out of it.