Everything Belongs to Us
Fiction
Random House
February 28, 2017
Advanced Reader Copy
368
NetGalley
"This debut novel takes place at the elite Seoul National University in 1970s South Korea during the final years of a repressive regime. The novel follows the fates of two women--Jisun, the daughter of a powerful tycoon, who eschews her privilege to become an underground labor activist in Seoul; and Namin, her best friend from childhood, a brilliant, tireless girl who has grown up with nothing, and whose singular goal is to launch herself and her family out of poverty. Drawn to both of these women is Sunam, a seeming social-climber who is at heart a lost boy struggling to find his place in a cutthroat world. And at the edges of their friendship is Junho, whose ambitions have taken him to new heights in the university's most prestigious social club, called "the circle," and yet who guards a dangerous secret that is tied to his status. Wuertz explores the relationships that bind these students to each other, as well as the private anxieties and desires that drive them to succeed" --
My review:
This was quite the up and down read for me. And I'm not speaking about my emotions, I'm speaking about the ups and downs of whether I was going to continue reading. The book starts off with promise, with a protest from some textile workers in a South Korean factory. Then it drags on about these two guys, who at some point do have a connection to the story. Every time I would decide to just read one more chapter before I gave up, the story would swing back around to my favorite character, and become interesting again. In other words, I loved the story of Namin, and pretty much was bored with all the rest of the parts. To be fair, I have a known affliction with books about twenty-somethings who are trying to "find themselves" in the world, so this could weigh heavily on why I didn't enjoy many parts not related to Namin (who was trying to claw her way out of poverty for her family). There was nothing wrong with the writing, although I wouldn't hang any literary awards on it, and if I had been more engaged in all the characters, I think the plot would have moved along more quickly. I was also hoping to glean a bit more knowledge about South Korea in the 70's, but that didn't really happen.
All in all, I'm giving this 3 stars. The Namin parts were a solid 4 stars, and the rest was 2 stars. Not a horrible book, but if you don't engage with the characters from the first few chapters, it may not be worth your while to finish.
I've seen some DNF's for this one and some high star ratings for it. I'm not sure it's one I want on my shelf. Thanks for an honest review, as always.
Honestly, if I hadn't requested it on NetGalley, I probably would have DNF'd it, but I wanted to try and leave a meaningful review, even if I wasn't crazy for the book.