This book was way too slow and way too all over the place for me. It didn’t hold my attention for more than a few pages at a time.

"Broken Summer" by J.M. Lee is a haunting exploration of secrets and their enduring consequences. Lee Hanjo, an esteemed artist, confronts a devastating revelation on his birthday when his wife vanishes, leaving behind a damning manuscript. As he grapples with the truth buried in his past, the novel unfolds into a poignant saga of betrayal and redemption, revealing the tangled web of lies that binds two families across decades. Lee's narrative mastery shines in this gripping tale of reckoning, where every twist uncovers deeper layers of truth and pain.

My thoughts: The premise was really good and the story started off strong, but I got lost in the middle. The timeline was confusing, making it hard to distinguish between the present and the past. The writing style felt a bit odd, which might be due to the translation. I often find that translated books lose some of their original essence. Despite these issues, I did enjoy the book.

I confess that “Broken Summer” got lost in my TBR pile after I first got it on Netgalley many months ago, but when I found it and started reading it I couldn’t stop. This is a terrific character-driven mystery with well-drawn people caught up in a tangle of misunderstanding, class, conflicts and secrets. It is a nuanced, carefully layered tale which Kirkus review correctly calls “A subtle psychological thriller.”

Written originally in Korean, the translations appear to me to be seamless and smooth. The writing style is a bit different than what I am used to with English-speaking books in that it is far more narrative (more telling, less showing). Yet when there is action and dialogue, it is all well done.

The opening chapter sets the hook and the world building is divine with detailed and lovely descriptions that evoke the senses and pull the reader into the setting.

The plot, of course, is riveting. Lee Hanjo is an artist celebrating his 43rd birthday with his wife—a woman he deems devoted and who has given up her own life to take of him. He knows she has been mother, lover, manager, teacher, and watcher, having handled the mundane daily chores so he can paint. Hanjo gets a bit drunk and sleeps on the couch. The next morning, he wakes and finds his wife is gone. While searching the house for her, he suddenly understands that it is “only now that his wife had disappeared that he realized he knew nothing about her.”

In her private room he finds an excerpt of a manuscript which features an artist who could well be him. But the manuscript, he thinks, is not him because it unfavorably shows an older artist who betrays his wife with a teenage girl. Hanjo is upset because he realizes if she ever publishes this story, people will believe the protagonist is him and that he is that sort of unsavory person. He questions why she would write such a thing. He seems almost more upset over this disturbing manuscript than about the fact his wife is missing.
From that opening, the story leaps back in time to Hanjo, his brother, and family confronting new neighbors of a much higher social and economic class and the conflicts within his own family. Hanjo is a youth in this segment and so there is a coming-of-age quality to the novel too. The story builds slowly and carefully but always with the tugging of suspense and the big question of where Hanjo’s wife really is, what Hanjo is hiding, and what, really, is going on.

The writing is often lyrical and certainly very refined. For example, this sentence in which Hanjo thinks of his wife: “She was as quiet and steady as a turtle heading for shore with a shipwrecked sailor on its back.” Or, this: “Had her own life faded away because she was bearing his life on her back like a scraggy mule?”
All the quotes here are from the Netgalley unproofed galley and might be revised in the final but they operate to give potential readers so idea of the sheer beauty of the writing in this novel.
Yes, I got my copy off Netgalley. But in all honestly, I thought this was a great read and I recommend it.

While this was a quick, easy read, it fell really flat for me. I think the setting was a bit dull which took away from the storyline. Truthfully wouldnt r'ecommend to a friend.

I tried to get into this one because the premise did interest me, but unfortunately it just wasn’t for me. I struggled to want to pick it up. But, it was well written, and well translated

It's difficult to share details of this novel without spoilers, but here are a few things I would like to share:

First, if you need a book in translation for a reading challenge this would fit the bill. This book has been translated from Korean.

Second, the book has a slow start, but does eventually build up some steam. Things are not always what they seem.

This book was not a favorite of the season, but did have some interesting moments.

Thanks to J.M. Lee, Amazon Crossing, and Netgalley for making an ARC available for review.

Beautifully written and unique. There's definitely a reason this writer is popular in his native country and has expansive fame in literary circles globally. There's something uniquely transcendent in the storytelling and reminds me of what I love about reading. Definitely recommended.

I thought this book was so different than anything I've ever read. It did have a slow start and the characters were very simplistic and when you think you know where it's going, you are taken to a whole new place. I love how the story unfolds both by narrative as well as by the written work on paper. It left me questioning what exactly happened in his past and how it comes into play now. I enjoyed it

Oh dang, girl! that was some dedication to an end game. I was honestly expecting something a little different in the end, so this actually took me by surprise and I do love a good surprise! The characters were the best part of this novel and how they slowly came off the page as living breathing, imperfect and flawed humans trying to make it through life was a beautiful process. I enjoyed the slow burn of it all and the build up to the culmination of all of the myriad of individual choices, lies, deceptions, et. al.

I was grateful for the narrator's talent, Greg Chun, provided those awkward pauses, those stressed swallows, helped convey so much emotion and pent-up rawness. There were a few moments that felt a wee bit stilted, but overall a great performance.

Thanks to AmazonCrossing for the advanced audio copy to listen to via NetGalley. And it's also available as part of the Amazon KindleUnlimited library! Check it out!

🖌Book Review👨‍🎨
Broken Summer
By: J.M. Lee
⭐️⭐️⭐️/3.5 stars

Another eh....
I know that this book was translated into English and maybe that is why it was difficult to understand at times.

Lee Hanjo experienced a very tragic event during his childhood. One of the neighbor girls was found murdered and eventually his father was arrested, charged and convicted.

On his 43rd birthday, he awakes to find his wife is missing. Little does he realize that his wife of all these years is actually the neighbor girl's little sister, and she plans on releasing a book about what really went on that fateful day. Was Hanjo's father really the killer or did someone get away with murder?

Thank you @netgalley and @crossingamazon_ for this ARC for my honest review 🙂

Broken Summer is a beautifully written novel that makes you feel like you know these characters. Hanjo grew up as a son of a caretaker of a wealthy family's estate. He was friends with the children of the richer family especially one of their daughters. Years later after celebrating his birthday Hanjo finds his wife gone and finds out she has written a novel with a story very similar to his own which could completely destroy him. Full of family secrets that have been hidden for a long time and are slowly revealed.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this ARC! Broken Summer by J.M. Lee is out noe!

3,5 ⭐️

This was a ride. Sometimes, I was completely lost and sometimes, I couldn’t put this story down. A story with some highs and lows, you may say. I must admit, the writing was beautiful: I adored that aspect of the book.

Even though I saw some twists and turns coming, the ending really got me. Overall, a nice read that I’d definitely recommend to literary thriller fans.

A death, a lie, a secret. For twenty-six summers he didn’t have the courage to face the past.

A promising premise, however it only partly delivered in my opinion. The writing was artful but it also lessened the suspense A LOT. And a book from this genre should have at least some suspense. Sadly, I didn't really get hooked on the story.

Especially the massive lack of discourse made it so very slow that I felt tempted to skip whole passages. The book certainly wasn't bad but it didn't make me feel a thing.

𝘈 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘦, 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵.

Lee Hanjo is an artist at the peak of his fame, envied and celebrated. Then, on his forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his devoted wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon-to-be-published novel she’d secretly written about the sordid past and questionable morality of an artist with a trajectory similar to Hanjo’s. It’s clear to him that his life is about to shatter and the demons from his past will come out. But why did his wife do it? Why now?

The book forces Hanjo to reflect on a summer from his youth when a deadly lie irreversibly and tragically determined the fates of two families.

From master storyteller J. M. Lee, one of Korea’s most renowned authors, comes an unforgettable novel of hidden truths, denials, and their inevitable repercussions. Everyone still left standing from that terrible summer so long ago must finally reckon with the deceptions that started it all and, twist after shocking twist, reap both the suffering and the vindication that comes with revenge.

Thank you @tlcbooktours @tlcdiversity and @amazonpublishing for this tour invite.

𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 by JM Lee releases September 1, 2022.

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

Broken Summer by J.M. Lee was covered in my Fall Book Preview, where I share a curated list of the season’s hottest new titles including the books I’ve most enjoyed, the ones I’m most looking forward to reading, and the ones the industry is most excited about. I enjoyed this slower-paced suspense and its delicious build up of broody intrigue.
Our Fall Book Preview event is exclusively for members of our MMD Book Club community and What Should I Read Next Patreon “Book Lover” supporters. Our communities also received a printable of all the picks with Broken Summer's publishing info and release date included.

drama, mystery and art, mixed with great writing, made Broken Summer an interesting surprise

i loved the multiple POVs and how you had to go through each person’s perspective to understand what had happened during that terrible summer

the main characters were well developed but they (and side characters) were missing something for me to truly care about them (i liked Hanjo’s wife the most)

the back and forth between the past and the present were a little confusing at first but then, it felt completely necessary to engage yourself in the story

4/5

This is a suspense story in translation. It took some really interesting turns and the structure was super interesting as well. A well written book that was a quick read. I don't know that it has sticking power, but I am glad I read it.

This book was interesting and very well-written. I would likely want to read more from this author and will recommend this to friends.

Book Review…Broken Summer by Jung-Myung Lee

On Lee Hanjo's forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon to be published novel she's secretly written about the sordid past with a trajectory similar to Hanjo’s. It’s clear to him that his life is about to shatter and the demons from his past will come out. But why did his wife do it?

This was a great read! The story is set in the world of high art and it also gives us a deep look into the effects of lies and secrets can have on a life. The writing is beautiful. I'm a big fan of multiple point of view stories especially when it flows well and this one was perfect. I also liked that you were able to get the perspectives of all of the people involved in creating a complete picture. The mystery itself is full of twists and turns. I did figure out a small piece but I was not expecting everything that eventually came out! Great read! Thank you Otrpr and Jung-Myung Lee for sharing this book with me!