DNF-ed at 36%. I honestly can’t stand it anymore. I couldn’t find myself to like the main character from the start, and though I think her mysterious imaginary friend is intriguing, the story seems not to develop at all apart from her wanting to kiss this other Korean guy.

I think I have had enough.

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur is a captivating read for anyone who delights in exploring the intricate connections between identity, culture, and mythology, and is drawn to stories that weave together elements of magical realism, Korean folklore, and emotional depth.

This book was a bit on the slow side. I felt disconnected from the characters and what was happening, but I feel that could have been since I don't directly relate to the main character. I can tell other readers would enjoy this more than I did.

i thought i would really enjoy this one, i loved the idea, but something just didn't sit right with me. a little bit of the language, a little bit the lack of the plot, but altogether, the blurb was much better than the actual book

Angela Mi Young Hur toma las raíces de la mitología coreana y las utiliza para escribir una historia de autodescubrimiento, tomando una ligerísima inclinación a la fantasía para relatar la historia de los inmigrantes y los traumas asociados a criarse en un lugar distinto. En este caso habla de los inmigrantes de segunda generación y también de las adopciones transnacionales, desde un prisma severo y desesperanzador.


En Folklorn, la autora juega con las similitudes entre la enfermedad mental y la posible existencia de fantasmas, añadiendo una pátina de ciencia con la investigación en la Antártida sobre los neutrinos que lleva a cabo la protagonista de la historia, Elsa Park.

A través de su visión, inevitablemente desenfocada por su historial familiar y sus traumas más recientes, seremos testigos de una historia de desapego y dolor, un viaje por los extremos del mundo en busca de aquello que quizá debería haber tenido en su propio hogar. Los personajes son viscerales y sus relaciones, nada ejemplares, vertebran una obra quizá demasiado ambiciosa, con etiquetas muy diversas.

Resulta apasionante ver cómo la protagonista va descubriendo parte de la mitología de su cultura a base de fracciones de relatos que su madre le va proporcionando como avisos de lo que le puede llegar a pasar, como emisarios de una historia que se repite a lo largo de las generaciones en su familia. Esta es quizá la parte más interesante de una novela compleja y algo fallida en sus pretensiones, ya que la conexión sentimental que hace falta para empatizar con los personajes que desfilan por el libro es prácticamente inexistente.

Da mucho material para reflexionar acerca de las adopciones internacionales, sobre todo cuando se rompen de manera taxativa las uniones con la cultura de las que proviene el adoptado, sobre todo en el caso de adopciones interraciales. Ahí la autora se explaya sobre la mayor posibilidad de problemas mentales y depresiones que pueden estar causados por esta ruptura.

Folklorn es un libro que no definiría para nada como perteneciente a los géneros fantásticos, a pesar de la editorial que lo publica. No obstante, sí que me alegro de haberlo leído por tener más presentes unos problemas que por mi crianza, ni siquiera llegaba a imaginar.

DNF

I try to read the book but found to difficult to understand, the language and the terms wre to difficult since English is not my first language, so I decide no to continue reading this book!

I ended up DNFing because right now this is not a story I am drawn to. It is written beautifully but just not for me at this moment in my life.

I don't think this book's promotional materials did it any favors. I approached it as a genre (speculative fiction) book but really it's more of a literary fiction book that uses a ghost as a way into the main character's psyche. It started off feeling like the book might be horror but it is very much not.

The book also goes against a lot of the "immigrant lit" tropes that I've read a lot of lately. Instead of a naive young girl who is thrust into a dangerous and cold world, only to find new community, Elsa is a bit of a shark herself. She's an experimental physicist but pushes back hard against the "model minority" stereotype that Asian Americans face. She's a mess emotionally, her immigrant family is abusive instead of the "noble immigrant" stereotype, and her parents have broken under the strain of their dysfunction and their marriage. There's no overcoming here. Elsa's brother is also, as he admits himself, looking for excuses to be a failure.

I actually appreciated all of this a lot. I don't think it does immigrants any favors to be reduced to the "hardworking noble immigrant" stereotype and I thought the character felt real, if messy. Elsa is a mess romantically too, and the least realistic part of the book for me was her love interest. Oskar is frankly a paragon and probably an author insert whose function is to give Elsa information about the likely cultural origins of Korean myths (very interesting!) and to be her touchstone (which wasn't as interesting and I couldn't see why Oskar, a very fastidious person, put up with the utter trainwreck that is Elsa).

There was a lot this book did right. But it felt like a slog. I think it could have used some editing down in length. It felt a bit like disparate pieces of the author's past work being patched together and that didn't always work for me. It was the middle California Gothic part that got me bogged down- maybe I should have skipped through that and concentrated on the Swedish and Antarctic parts of the book. I did think that the author has a gift for settings, whichever one she chooses.

The end of the book felt quite gentle and folktale-ish compared to what came before, which felt odd. I think I'd try another by this author with the understanding that I shouldn't expect a genre book from her. I think she's one of the better literary writers I've read recently due to the freshness of her voice and her willingness to look at the darker side of myths about family.

I thought I would like this book. I enjoyed the idea of the realism combined with folk lore, but something did not connect for me. It was supposed to be magical realism, but with magical realism, magic is woven throughout ordinary life. This just seemed to be 2 different parts of the story, so you were yanked out of one and into the other, without an actual plot. Not my cup of tea.

A highly engaging book full of adventures, magical realism and interesting deep characters. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC.

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

Stars: 3 out of 5

I have mixed feelings about this book and a lot of difficulty putting them in to a structured review. So I apologize in advance if this looks more like a stream of consciousness on paper than a review.

First of all, this book appealed to me because I am also an immigrant, not once, but twice. And when my parents immigrated the first time, I was only five years old. So a lot of the themes raised in this book are achingly familiar. The sense of disconnect from your original culture and the difficulty assimilating into the new one. That state of in-betweenness, where you don't quite understand where you belong, and you don't have any real role models. Where your family rules and traditions often clash with what you learn in school. Where both cultures seem foreign at times.

Though I must admit that I didn't get quite as much grief for being different as the protagonist did, because I was still a white girl in a predominantly Caucasian country, even if I had a funny accent and an unpronounceable last name. I also don't come from a culture where familiar bonds and filial piety are taken to such an extreme. The amount of abuse and manipulation the protagonist takes from her parents, and from her brother, even to a lesser degree, is just staggering. Yet she keeps coming back to them despite (and sometimes because) of that abuse. This is toxic and destructive for the soul and psychological wellbeing of everyone involved. And as a non-Korean I couldn't' really understand why Elsa was willing to forgive all that abuse.

I think my biggest issue with this book is how passive Elsa is with her grief. Yes, we all have different copping mechanisms, but Elsa's seems to be retreating into herself and not doing anything until the situation resolves itself or something prompts her into action. She compulsively reviews her mother's stories and takes her father's abuse in stride. Oh, and she self-medicates with her brother's anti-psychotic drugs. I don't know if reluctance to seek professional help is another cultural thing, but Elsa is smart, she should see the classic symptoms of depression. Why not reach out to seek help? I bet she has an excellent health plan through the university. For fear of how others would see her? For fear of appearing weak to other people's eyes? 

I think this is where Elsa and I are fundamentally different. Where I assimilated into my adoptive culture better I guess. Because I understand her reluctance. In my native culture talking about mental health is also still a stigma and a taboo. There is no such thing as depression. You just need to go for a walk and have a good night's sleep and get over it. And if that's not working, you aren't trying hard enough. Yeah... no wonder Russians drink so much... Anyway, even though I understand that reluctance, I don't share it, because I grew up in a culture where mental health is just as important than physical health and seeking professional help for both is considered normal...

Those differences aside, I still think this is a fascinating story of family abuse, loss and cultural stigma and the exploration of Korean myths and spiritual believes was extremely well done.

PS: I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a great book! I enjoyed reading this one so much! I highly recommend this book. Side note: the cover!!!!

I have mixed feelings about this one. The synopsis had me hooked — our protagonist is battling between what’s real and what’s fake when her mother passes away. She starts to see her imaginary friend from when she was younger. She’s also a women of colour who works in STEM thus seeing things ultimately makes her confused.

The writing is beautiful and intricate, but the plot is slow paced so it took me ages to get through. I actually preferred all the past chapters about her mother and all the Korean folktales that were incorporated throughout. It’s hard to feel sorry for Elsa when she’s so destructive and just causing more misery for self. The story touches a lot on grief, mental health, and inherited trauma from her parents who grew up in the war.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

This book transported me through emotions, scenery, and deep into it's pages. A feminist tale of trauma and grief, Folklorn is sure to leave you breathless. When I finished this book I went through my own grief that it was over. This book covers a wide variety of topics in a manner that is tasteful, considerate, and even charming. This is a fantastic book club read, I'm eager to promote it within my library.

Folklorn‘s description drew me in with the return of an imaginary friend and a mother’s warning that her daughter’s life was doomed to repeat the narratives of Korean myths. I narrowed in on the magical aspect of the novel rather than Elsa running away from and then dealing with her family. Because I was more intrigued by the book's magical realism, I never quite felt like it delivered what was promised. At the same time, Elsa’s past and present left me in a slightly numb state, uncertain of what I should be feeling. Ultimately, I am torn as to whether I liked Folklorn or not. I needed breaks throughout, but I also couldn’t stop myself from reading it. The experience is likely one I won’t forget.

The nonlinear storytelling works in the book’s favor because my experience reading it reflects what I believe is similar to Elsa’s state of mind. There are moments of clarity and I know exactly what is happening. At other times, things are hazy. How much time passed? Are we still in the present? Is this real? Additionally, I often questioned what or who I could trust. I did not like feeling this way very much.

There were times I connected with Elsa, and then there were times I did not. I understood her decision for leaving. I could see why physics was used as a blanket to hide from her family and her heritage, to hide from the memories and the ghosts haunting her. It was difficult to see her struggle as she tried to piece together who her mother was and to understand her broken family. I would have sympathy for her one moment, and then she would treat people in a way I didn't like, leaving me disappointed in her. She was often a difficult character to discern.

Folklorn is a book I’m still processing. If I reviewed it without the magical realism filter I had on, I think I might have different things to say, but for now, it’s difficult to do that. It’s a book I feel I’m supposed to like, but I can’t bring myself to give it a better rating. I’m conflicted. This is one I may have to revisit.

Lots of new interesting themes and fresh views but the book is way too lengthy and sometimes too dense for my poor brain. Took me months to finish this and several back and forths. Still recommend it though, go check it out.

**Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this e-ARC. Here's my honest review:**

What I liked about this book: the writing. That, to me, was it’s most stand-out quality. At turns melancholy, sharp, thoughtful, and biting, it kept me on my toes. I also thought the use of Elsa’s “imaginary friend” as both a reflection of Elsa’s coping strategies and a plot-guiding tool was so unique and smart.

That being said, I, like some other reviewers, thought other parts could’ve been done better or differently, for more impact and appeal. In this, I’ve tried to separate my personal reading preferences from my knowledge as a professional writer and editor. The plot, for instance, intrigued me, but it moved at such a slow, literary pace as to quickly lose my interest. Pace preferences are definitely a personal thing, but good plot direction is not. It seemed like Elsa was constantly retreating from something, fighting her demons, but she had no clear direction of the state she hoped to end up in or the things that were keeping her from it.

I also had a hard time connecting with Elsa. Part of this was because I’m not an experimental physicist or Korean, but another part because she saw everyone else through her very strong ethnicity lens. That was confusing to me because I thought she was trying to get to the same kind of point she hoped everyone else would arrive at too: a place where ethnicity was part of a person but didn’t define them or their relationships forevermore. We see how embittered and possibly unmoored she felt because of the way her parents had each reacted to their own war and immigration experiences. We see how she tried to escape falling into that same trap by forging her own path, but her journey didn’t seem to include (at least as I understood it) awareness of her own proclivity for grouping people together based on their ethnicity and then making generalizations about them.

The dialogue further separated me from Elsa because I always felt like I was a little bit out of the loop, like the characters conversing (whoever they were), had a conversation without me and were now continuing into another conversation based on the previous one, and I was trying to understand with incomplete information.

That being said, I think readers who like books of a more literary bent, or that explore topics of ethnicity and identity, will like Folklorn.

A beautifully written novel about love and loss, and inherited trauma. This book was unlike anything I had ever read before, and I really enjoyed the exploration of Korean folklore and culture.