5.0

Not at all familiar with Korean fairy tales, I was intrigued to read this book as an audition for inclusion in my high school sophomore World Literature courses. I was extremely pleasantly surprised and am glad I will be including it beginning next year.

The story's richness in description is balanced by paradoxical and poignant observations about living a human life embedded in a non-Western point of view. The appeal of the story and the openness and vulnerability of the characters, I think, students will find appealing, and the concepts of sacrifice, loyalty, and belief will give students a new perspective on universal themes.