A review by poorlywordedbookreviews
Walking Practice by Dolki Min

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.0

An alien crash lands on Earth and has no way to get home, once they master their human disguise they enter the world of hook up culture to get their sustenance - human flesh. 

   

“𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦.”

   

🥩 👽 🥩 👽 🥩 

   

Seemingly an alien horror story, this is actually an exploration of alienation, isolation and belonging, via the literal alienation of the MC. Lots here mirroring the experience of people who don’t fit the norms of society (gender, sexuality, aesthetically, physically, behaviourally) - particularly the intertwined fears of being noticed being vs never being seen. 

   

This book is translated from Korean, and if you can I definitely suggest reading the translators note first - I didn’t get it until the end of the audiobook and it contextualised some of the narration choices that were throwing me off. On audio they’ve gone with sassy, camp, full of playful dramatic attitude… really vivid, but at times it felt a bit too ’pantomime’, and was frankly grating to my taste. Knowing why it was like this was 💡 

   

Overall this was an interesting read and way to consider the lived experience of frequently marginalised folk, and definitely a fitting read for pride month if you are looking for an off-beat shortish read.