I'm catching up on my Netgalley shelf and finally read 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 by Sang Young Park (translated by Anton Hur) 🫰🏼
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𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘶𝘱 - 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.
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The book follows Young, a gay man living in Seoul, and is split into four parts covering different times in his life.
Throughout all parts of the novel he is faced with adversity, and some of his experiences did resonate with me; particularly the religious fervour his mother lived by, and her inability to accept Young fully, which meant he could not feel fully comfortable living on his own terms.
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𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘺.
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It's no secret to anyone that growing up and facing scrutiny and a lack of acceptance from our parents and from the the society we live in leaves its mark. Throughout the story this is not just reflected in Young's direct experience and feelings, but also in the partners he spends his time with.
Some readers perhaps won't understand the way that some of the characters struggle with internalised homophobia, but when a society or environment tells you there is something innately wrong with you, especially about something you can't change, it's often the case that people turn this messaging inward. We all have an innate desire to fit in, and it feels dangerous when we can't do so.
In South Korea in particular there is still a lot of stigma and discrimination in relation to the LGBTQ+ community.
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- 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘒𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘦? 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵? 𝘚𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.
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The book itself reads almost like a diary, conveying Young's internal thoughts, views, and experiences. And there is a lot of humour that he shares with the reader, despite the fact that the book does touch on several serious topics.
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𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭?
𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵.
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Overall, I thought this was a good story. Although fictionalised, it is an interesting coming of age tale, and it portrays all of the contradictions of growing up gay yet in a religious household, trying to find your community yet facing discrimintation from society, and seeking love and acceptance even where you do not (or cannot) give that love to yourself.

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I tried multiple times to read this but I think sadly it just wasn't for me. The start of the novel was really engaging and I flew through the first 30%, but then I just couldn't get past the 45% mark and I don't know why. The pacing slowed down a lot in the middle of the story, and I just wasn't as invested in the character's life, but I think that's more of a me issue than an issue with the book.

Enjoyed the hell out of this. It was funny and charming and awesome. This book could have been very ground breaking in the way it explored sexuality, community and the Korean setting but was quite underwhelmed in the end. Although it did have many striking images and passages, the story felt quite hollow. While the first half includes Jaehee and offers quite an interesting perspective, she completely vanishes in the other half. It ended up mostly being about the main character romantic life.

In Love in The Big City we follow Young through his 20s and 30s while he navigates love, friendships, work, money, family, and the queer night-love of Seoul. Jaehee, Young’s female best friend and roommate, joins him in his nights out drinking soju and smoking Marlboro Reds until the sun comes up. They’re both happy living this way, single and hooking up with Tinder dates, until Saehee leaves Young to settle down, causing him to move back in with and care for his ailing mother and seek love from a series of men.

Sang Young Park writes in this light, funny and matter of fact way that is so easy to digest, whilst still discussing important topics and exploring so much emotion. I’m so impressed by Anton Hur, his translation of this novel is so smooth. I hope Park has more more of his work translated to English in the future.

Set in Seoul, South Korea, Love in the Big City is a warm, playful, emotionally rich novel that weaves together four interconnected vignettes to tell the story of its narrator, Park Young, as he matures over the course of his 20s and 30s. Split into four sections—each of which could conceivably stand alone as a short story—Love in the Big City first introduces the friendship between Park Young and Jaehee, a fellow student who, like Young, spends most of her free time drinking and hooking up with random men. The two move in together, sharing everything, and the platonic love between them is palpable; Young keeps Jaehee’s favorite Marlboro cigarettes stocked and Jaehee buys him his favorite frozen blueberries. When Jaehee uncharacteristically decides to settle down and get married after years of the two sharing their young and free lifestyle, Young feels betrayed and unmoored, which leads to a series of inauspicious romantic trysts.

Full review on BookBrowse.

I absolutely loved this novel of queer longing set in contemporary Korea. It made me laugh and cry. Highly recommend if you love coming of age stories, love stories, and books about adrift young people discovering themselves.

Love in the Big City could go either way for most readers, you’re going to either love it or not. And that’s okay.

Young is a gay millennial living in Seoul, we travel through time with him in four parts of his life. when he’s young and roommates with Jae Hee. Years later, with the handsome man with the abrasive personality and the issues with his mother. With his true love, Gyu-Ho, and the story of Kylie. Then, in Bangkok where he’s thinking about his past while looking to the future.

When I dove in, I was expecting bright colours, lights, and big city vibes.. What I actually got was a slightly sarcastic narrator with poor choices in life and partners who I fell in love with. Young has a way of making you care about and love him. I absolutely adored this book.

I very much enjoyed this story. It was wonderfully written. I look forward to the author’s next book!

Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur and published by Tilted Axis Press, Love in the Big City is a queer Korean novel about hedonism and friendship, about looking at life from all angles: with hunger and love and fear in your eyes. Our protagonist laments the loss of youth and friends and family while searching for love and comfort and company.

It's so exciting and refreshing reading new fiction
which fully represents the complexities of modern gay life. I appreciated the representation of a queer Korean man living in Seoul, Love in the Big City is a refreshingly nice book and it was written well. I have. no words. this book means everything to me. Also this cover is so beautiful I love it so much what a masterpiece.

**ARC received by the author and publisher of NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.**

This book was so hard to get through. Maybe it was me, but I wasn't invested with these characters. It was a no for me.

This story wasn't what I was hoping for. The bright colors of the cover led me to believe it would be an LGBTQ story with a happy ending. It didn't quite have a bad ending, but it didn't have the uplifting one I was looking for.

That being said, this book was very very good. I enjoyed the reality of it and the raw emotions throughout.

Being an LGBTQ individual isn't openly accepted in South Korea, which often puts a lot of pressures on the individuals within the relationship as they try to be happy together while also trying to adhere to societal cues and such. I think Sang Young Park does a tremendous job showing the tension that these pressures cause and how they can make or break a relationship.

Park's writing is beautifully done. I hope to see more of his work in the future.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. A cute little story. Easy read, easy to dive into and get lost into it's story. Super cute

This was a truly excellent piece of writing, witty, compassionate and insightful, the story of a young gay man navigating his way through a sometime difficult life in contemporary Seoul, making mistakes, making bad choices – and sometimes good ones – falling in love or lust, making friendships, caring for his mother. He’s a flawed character, for sure, but somehow likeable and the reader roots for him throughout. The book is also a vivid and evocative portrait of life in modern-day Korea, particularly in Seoul, with the ever-present tug between modernity and tradition. Well-written, well-paced and very enjoyable.

First of all I'd like to say that watching Korean dramas are worthwhile cause it really helped me to understand lots of Korean term used in it.

Love In The Big City is an energetic, joyful and moving novel that depicts both the glittering nighttime world of Seoul and the bleary eyed morning after.

The story divides into four sections.
The first part focuses on Young and Jae Hee, his best friend's fun and boozy life where you'll find that how strong their friendship were and how it ended living Young's life hanging.

Second part is set some years later, Young at his thirties looking back to his traumatic past, a relationship to man who's twelve years older and discovered he's ashamed of his sexuality.
Also, this section centres around Young's relationship with his mother, when she came to know that he's kissing another boy at the age of sixteen and thought that was some kind of disease and contacted mental hospital which doctors later informed her that it's not Young's sexuality but her being obsessive control over her boy. His mother is now at last stage of cancer.

Third part is about Young's first true love, Gyu-Ho. He reflects his history with his lover who's more mature and practical that Young.
Young also tells about how he ended being an AIDS patient when he was serving military.

Fouth part is set in Bangkok, an year later after lovers vacation. Now he's 32 and returned there with an older man he met on Tinder for a one-night stand. He accidentally end up staying at the same hotel he spend with Gyu-Ho earlier and remembering their moments they spend together alone.

To be honest I enjoyed the book, sweet and heartbreaking. I cried reading the second and last part of the book. To me, Young's life is full of rollercoaster. I'm amazed how he held up to the end.

I won't say it's everybody's cuppa. But if you into LGBQT then this book is definitely for you to read.

Highly recommended.

Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Thank you @NetGalley and @groveatlantic @tiltedaxispress for the #arc in exchange of an honest review.

Let me just start by saying that I LOVE reading translated books. I often find myself reading lots of books from authors who share the same nationality and many of my identities, so I appreciated the fresh perspective of this story. I think the translator did an excellent job of conveying this story in English and I enjoyed reading!! The take of a queer man in Korea was new to me, and I really enjoyed reading about our protagonist.

This story was broken down into 4 parts. The parts are not necessarily chronological and sometimes bleed into one another. i enjoyed all of the parts and was very invested in our main character as he discovered more about himself and the world around him as a queer Korean man.

Queer romance, new adult, coming of age (which I definitely thing is a phrase we should use more to discuss out 20's and 30's!!). This one is for you, millennials! It's not super light, but there are so many funny and good moments woven with more serious topics including STDs and figuring out/coming to terms with your own identity. This one was good and I definitely reccomends it!

I have always had a soft corner for books that have been translated from another language to engish. This was the reason that i picked this and also the title. The book is funny and i enjoyed the character built up and execution.

"Big Love in the City" explored the life of the main character through different parts of his life over four parts. I appreciated the wonderfully written insight into queer culture in Korea as it is such a conservative society. Some moments feel a bit lost due to translation but overall if you enjoy queer literature, you will enjoy this book!

I give this book 3 stars.

Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park is a tender look at queer love in South Korea. Told in a series of vignettes, readers follow the protagonist through experiences in love and other relationships.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.