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When We Fell Apart

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022:  Harper’s Bazaar  •  Vogue  •  Good Housekeeping  •  CrimeReads  •  BookBub  •  Veranda  •  Shondaland  •  Debutiful  •  PureWow •  and more!

A profoundly moving and suspenseful drama that untangles the complicated ties that bind families together—or break them apart—as a young Korean American man’s search for answers about his girlfriend’s mysterious death becomes a soul-searching journey into his own bi-cultural identity

When the Seoul police inform Min that his girlfriend Yu-jin has committed suicide, he’s sure it can't be true. She was successful, ambitious, happy, just on the cusp of graduating from university and claiming the future she’d always dreamed of. 
 
Min, on the other hand, born to an American father and Korean mother, has never felt quite the same certainty as Yu-jin about his life’s path. After growing up in California, where he always felt “too Korean” to fit in, he’s moved to Seoul in the hope that exploring his Korean heritage will help him find a sense of purpose. And when he meets Yu-jin, little does he know that their carefree relationship will set off a chain of events with tragic consequences for them both.
 
Devastated by Yu-jin’s death, Min throws himself into finding out why she could have secretly wanted to die. Or did she? 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.
As Yu-jin’s story—a fraught exploration of selfhood, coming-of-age, and family expectations—collides with Min’s, the result is an engrossing page-turner that poses powerful, urgent questions about cultural identity, family bonds, secrets, and what it truly means to belong.
"Transportive and poignant." —Susie Yang
"Spellbinding." —Jamie Ford
"A young writer to watch." —Jess Walter
"Unforgettable." —Abi Daré
"The most compelling debut novel I've read in years." Alexander Chee
"Heart-stopping and exquisitely plotted." Patricia Engel
"Will stay with me for a long time."—Angie Kim
"Gorgeous." Julia Phillips
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    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Looking for belonging in his mother's country, away from the microaggressions of a California upbringing, biracial Min takes a job in Seoul after college. The work, teaching American culture to Samsung's sales team, serves as a reminder of his perceived otherness even here, but a new relationship with college senior Yu-jin might have been the local connection he needed--if she had not killed herself shortly after they started dating. Narrator Daniel K. Isaac portrays Min as a brooding, gravel-voiced outsider who investigates Yu-jin's death with noir-like persistence despite their brief acquaintance, blind to his cultural biases and suspicious of all in her orbit. In alternating chapters, co-narrator Shannon Tyo lets Yu-jin tell her own version of events: the expectations placed on her and the liberating joy she found in defiance of them. Tyo's youthful voice captures the wonder and terror Yu-jin feels as she grows creatively while keeping secrets from her parents, and from Min, emphasizing the avoidable tragedy of her early death. VERDICT Wiley's debut novel parallels the ways West and East enforce conformity and lavishly describes Seoul, but loses thrust as Min's and Yu-jin's stories converge. Recommended for large libraries, but an optional purchase for smaller collections.--Lauren Kage

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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  • English

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