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A review by bentohbox
Skinship by Yoon Choi
5.0
4.5
I love short story fiction pieces, and as soon as I began reading Skinship, it felt as if this is a book I've been waiting for my entire life. It was so beautifully written, evoking so many familiar and complicated emotions in me that I had to sit and consider far longer than I expected. In the end, it felt like this book wraps you up and pulls you in all directions. The trajectory of the stories, the way they all fall into place, the diasporic variation, the intensely familiar challenges of multi-generational households, aging parents, growing kids, and so many different coming-of-age stories at so many ages... it's hard to find the words for how I felt page after page.
The only reason I gave this 4.5 instead of 5 stars is that I found a few of the middle stories mundane, or less driven than the others. Maybe it's just where I am in life right now, or the experience I've had and my expectations. They're not bad, they're just not my favorites. That being said, aside from 2 stories, I loved all the others front to back. Paired alongside East to America by Elaine Kim, I think this is a book I will come back to again and again because it reminds of me of home and family.
I love short story fiction pieces, and as soon as I began reading Skinship, it felt as if this is a book I've been waiting for my entire life. It was so beautifully written, evoking so many familiar and complicated emotions in me that I had to sit and consider far longer than I expected. In the end, it felt like this book wraps you up and pulls you in all directions. The trajectory of the stories, the way they all fall into place, the diasporic variation, the intensely familiar challenges of multi-generational households, aging parents, growing kids, and so many different coming-of-age stories at so many ages... it's hard to find the words for how I felt page after page.
The only reason I gave this 4.5 instead of 5 stars is that I found a few of the middle stories mundane, or less driven than the others. Maybe it's just where I am in life right now, or the experience I've had and my expectations. They're not bad, they're just not my favorites. That being said, aside from 2 stories, I loved all the others front to back. Paired alongside East to America by Elaine Kim, I think this is a book I will come back to again and again because it reminds of me of home and family.