A review by hyuneybear
The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh

4.0

This is a poetic, albeit somewhat disjointed and non-linear, recounting of various events in the author, her mother, and her grandmother's lives. The main storyline is how the author's life is affected by her parents leaving the USA to go to Korea for work and the author being left behind in America at fourteen years old to stay with her nineteen year old brother. Her mother sends her handwritten letters over the seven years that they are apart. I appreciated the author inputting her mother's original letters written in Korean so I could feel some of her mother's more nuanced emotions that couldn't fully be translated into English. While the narrative was not very organized, I didn't mind it. I felt like I was listening to a series of poems, each one making me feel different emotions of sadness, regret, hurt, hope, and healing.

(Story touches a bit on eating disorders, and a mutual interest between an adult and a minor)