Synopsis
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. 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.
Review
When We Fell Apart is a beautifully written, character-driven story. The relationships created and destroyed bring us through a heartbreaking tale of love and loss. Part romance, part mystery, this was a book I could not put down. Some stories that are of a culture that is not one's own can be hard to relate to or difficult to follow, but Soon does an amazing job of making this uncultured American interested in Korean culture and I was never pulled from the story to Google aspects of the culture I am unfamiliar with.
If you enjoy reading, I recommend this book. I really think there is something here for everyone.
Thank you Dutton/Penguin and Goodreads for my copy of When We Fell Apart.
Dates read: July 29, 2022 - July 31, 2022