Again, this is a very late book tour review from me. So I must apologise and say, When We Fell Apart by Soon Wiley is on the blog today. Massive thanks to Random Things Tours and Simon & Schuster UK for the copy of this book to take part in the tour.
Yu-jin is gifted.
Yu-jin is loved.
Yu-jin is flourishing.
Yu-jin is dead.
When the Seoul police inform Min that his girlfriend Yu-jin has taken her own life, he’s sure it can’t be true. She was successful, happy, just on the cusp of graduating and claiming the future she’d always dreamed of.
After growing up in California, where he always felt ‘too Korean’ to fit in, Min has never felt quite the same certainty as Yu-jin about his life’s path. Unable to accept that she could have done this, Min throws himself into finding out what really happened to her.
But the more Min discovers, the more lost he feels. With a controlling and powerful government official father, and a fraught friendship with her alluring and destructive roommate So-ra, Yu-jin’s life was much more complex than she chose to reveal to Min. And the more he learns about her, the more he begins to doubt he ever really knew her at all.
A debut novel that is a diverse and unique read. The cover of this book is beautiful, I was drawn to it straight away. The synopsis was one that had me itching to read the book. Of course its a debut, so obviously I haven’t heard of the author. I was looking forward to what lay beyond the cover.
The novel is told from two perspectives, Min and American/Korean man, in the present, and in the past by Yu-Jin, his girlfriend. We follow Min who moved from California to Seoul, to discover his heritage. Yu-Jin is the daughter of a powerful Korean military member.
The novel switches from past to the present as Min searches for answers about Yu-Jin’s death. The past is about Yu-Jins back story and how she was brought up. We also see her in her journey to find herself. I always love a dual timeline and this gave me an opportunity to get to know these characters well.
This is an excellent debut novel that taught me a lot more about Korean culture than I ever thought I would learn. Korea was so intricately described it could have been a character in its own right. I have never even to Korea, but I could picture the places described in the book. This added to the depth of the story as much as the characters did.
Such a multi-layered story that is not only a mystery, it’s also throws the questions of sexuality, identity, conforming to the culture you live in and how.well do you know ow the people around you? A novel that made me think so much. I was still thinking about this book long after I put this book down.
A beautiful and such an atmospheric read. I am so happy I got to appreciate Soon Wiley’s first novel.
Author Bio
A native of Nyack, New York, Soon Wiley received his BA in English & Philosophy from Connecticut College. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Wichita State University. His writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and earned him fellowships in Wyoming and France. He resides in Connecticut with his wife and their two cats. When We Fell Apart is his debut novel.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 
Thanks for the blog tour support x
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