Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me an advance reader copy of this novel prior to publication. Set in South Korea, the protagonist is not just a housewife despondent when her husband doesn't come home after a tragic building collapse. Luckily for the reader, Sae is also a former journalist who decides to dig in to the cause of the collapse to try to find her husband. The story has some very satisfying twists and turns that really make the reader consider greed, graft and even the cost of motherhood.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | One World for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was slow to me and I did not enjoy it that much. The cover is even weird and I try not to judge a book by it's cover. I am not sure that I would recommend this book.

If there is one book that I regret not getting my review pushed out as soon as I finished it to tell everyone about it, it is this one! Seriously, this book has stuck with me and I've thought of it off and on since I read it. And even when I read it, it was a year later than I should have because the publisher reached out in July of 2023!* OMG I didn't even realize that which is a shock to me—I guess 2022-2024 were even more blurred than I thought.

This isn't as hauntingly powerful as Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go or Murakami's 1Q84, but it could hold its own. Interesting those are both also author's of Asian descent, as is Hannah Michell. Michell has the British connection also to Ishiguro, but that is tangential to this review and this probably says more about me than it does those three authors.

This was a beautifully written story told through weaving three times together all circling a skyscraper collapse in Seoul, Korea. There is immediacy of the skyscraper's collapse, the time moving forward after the collapse, and the various flashbacks. It is a romance and a thriller, and somehow starkly but luxuriously written to punch your emotions over and over again in ways you don't really expect.

As intriguing as the modern day thriller/drama was around the skyscraper collapse and Sae's missing husband, I found the flashbacks to when Sae and Jae were students to be more compelling. They were coming of age and finding out that what they thought was something was actually something else and they were broadening their horizons and learning different views of the world.

What had burdened them as students was the discovery of a system of power that held back key unsavory events in their history. They had come to the country's best institution to further their knowledge, only to question what it meant to know at all. Part of their rebellion was a commitment to the reclamation of a more honest past. (Chapter 2)

Excavations was also incredibly interesting in how it portrayed generational trauma not through the immigrant lens. Perhaps this is something that has been done elsewhere or even in other languages, but this was the first time I've read it. The relationship between Jae and his father and Sae and their children was fascinating. Adding in that Sae was a reporter (in addition to a revolutionary) and this story has quite a few elements that if you believe US mass media would make this one a super unique outlier.

There are also so many minor characters that truly make this book a fascinating read. From the brothel madam and workers to the big-bad CEO to Sae's best friend from her village growing up, they all add depth and breadth to a relatively compact story considering how much it covers in just over 300 pages.

Recommendation: This was definitely a little slow to get started, but overall it was a fantastic read and if you can get into it keep reading. The mix of thriller/mystery, romance, and multi-generation expansion really worked. And when you add in that there are still parts of the book that pop into my head randomly more than six months later, you know there was something special about it.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this advanced reader's edition. Unfortunately, I will not be able to give it the time required to write a thorough review and will be unable to read it for this purpose.

Excavations is a must-read for fans of thrillers and those interested in exploring the darker side of human nature. This book explores geopolitical themes, and it's not exactly escapist, but it is gripping.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

I wasn't very familiar with the real-life event that this story is based on. This was an interesting, sad, and often uncomfortable story with just a little bit of mystery. It definitely felt like reading an investigative journal piece at times, even though it was fictional. Very interesting read!

This was an okay book. It wasn’t bad but it was a bit slow moving for me. I really thought from the description that it would be right up my alley but something just didn’t work for me.

3.5 stars (rounded up).

"Excavations" by Hannah Michell is a very well-written story that occasionally suffers from its muddled timeline and multiple points of view. It has a lot to say about family, uncovering scandal, corruption, sabotage, poverty, grief, corporations, truly knowing those you love and putting activism first.. The mystery here is intriguing, and its methodically paced unfolding kept me gripped from start to finish. I enjoyed watching how Sae discovers many things over time, using her background as a former journalist to get answers about the building collapse that killed her husband. She learns who she is and who her husband was, while finding out about the business he worked for, many coverups, misgivings by politicians and companies, etc. At its core, this is a tale of the rich getting richer, attempting to keep power and status for themselves, while disregarding the lives of the workers who actually make the company what it is. This aspect is intricate and compelling. Finally, I loved learning about South Korea's history, culture, politics, and inequalities through the eyes of these characters. My complaints stem from the multiple points of view and many, many characters confusing the plot. I think all of this slows down the plot quite a bit. Still, I enjoyed this book for the most part. It's a short enough read that you'll likely get through it quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hannah Michell, Random House Publishing Group, and One World for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Excavations is a beautiful, sprawling novel set in South Korea.

It begins with a tragic building collapse, a husband lost, a grieving wife, and her desire to make sense of the life-changing event.

As a mother to two young sons, Sae must balance her desire for answers with the needs of her children. Sae’s investigation begins to pull at the strings of the mystery and eventually connects her to Myonghee, the owner of the club that could hold the answers.

It is a story told from many angles. Moving further away from the event and through the years. Not every mystery is solved quickly and Sae carries her need for truth through all of them.

I really enjoyed this novel. It is unlike my customary reads and stretched me as a reader. It gives a stunning portrait of Korea. Its conclusion is beautiful. I am so glad I read it. The untethered nature of Sae’s existence was so well written.

Thank you one world publishing and netgalley for the advanced Copy. Excavations is out now in audio and hardcover.

P.S. I love the cover so much. It’s striking and enigmatic, much like the story.

Disclosure: To write this review, I reread this book because I couldn't remember it well enough to give an accurate one. The ending left a bitter taste in my mouth during my first read. I was expecting Sae, our plucky reporter lady, to break the story and get justice. I don't want to completely ruin the ending by saying what happens instead. However, the ending is very appropriate after learning about recent South Korean events such as the Sampoon Mall and Sewol Ferry tragedies. I still want to punch someone for those kids dying in Sewol Ferry. So many needless deaths because people wanted to save face.

This review is based on an advanced reader copy provided through Netgalley for my honest thoughts.

Excavations was probably more of a 3.5 star read for me.

When Sae's husband fails to return home, where she and her two young sons are waiting, she learns of the catastrophic collapse of a skyscraper where he has been working on an engineering project. Unable to believe her husband has been killed Sae is dogged first in her quest to find him and then in her quest to uncover what was really behind the tower's collapse. The deeper Sae delves into solving the mystery the more she disconnects from her children in what may be the most heartbreaking aspect of the novel.

The scope of this story is ambitious, involving several points of view and a non-linear timeline. It took a while for me to grasp the thread of the story, my own paltry knowledge of South Korean history being part of the issue. I wouldn't categorize this novel as a thriller, but there is certainly an element of mystery. Michell seems to reflect on the nature of love, family, how well we truly know the people close to use, the way power corrupts, social class, and economic inequalities. Yes, it is a lot for one book. Upon reaching the conclusion, I understood how the many layers of the story worked together and must have felt necessary as Michell was writing; however, the complexity of the plot made it difficult to connect emotionally with any of the characters.

This was a great book! It was a slow thriller that had me dying to find out how it would end. The ending was maybe a little too neat and tidy for me, but that's just a personal preference.

I loved that Sae gave Jae a copy of E.H. Carr’s seminal book “What is History?” as part of her effort to convert him to her cause, and she had received it from someone else for the same reason.

The fictional story takes inspiration from the division of Korea into North Korea and South Korea, the dictatorship that ruled South Korea and the popular protests and acts of rebellion that helped topple the dictatorship, and powerful family corporations (chaebols) that often have connections with the government. The author also references the Sewol ferry tragedy and the ouster of President Park Guen-hye, both of which demonstrate how social media has changed South Korean society, as the ability of governments and companies to control the narrative and restrict access to information is greatly diminished in a world where information can be shared in real time by almost anyone. This contrasts with the central event of the book, which is the collapse of the fictional Aspiration Tower in 1992. Jae was working in the tower when it collapsed. As his wife, Sae, tries to find out if Jae is alive, she discovers that she did not know her husband as well as she thought she did, and that the Taehan Group, the company who constructed the tower and authorized the retrofitting that was taking place when the tower collapsed, is working hard to cover up what actually happened.

The story also features Myong-hee, who runs a social club, Myongwolgwan, where men can relax and enjoy female companionship; Song-mi, one of the "girls" who works at the club; Mr. Li, an employee of Taehan Group and regular visitor to the social club; and the chairman of Taehan Group and his sons, Kim Yung and Kim Geun-ye. Sae's search for Jae and the truth about Jae will lead her to Myong-hee and will lead to the revelation of surprising connections between some of the characters and the secrets they have been hiding.

Sae is waiting for her husband to come home. The husband who is the love of her life. THey met in college and were together from that day on. This day he went to work as usually and did not come home. She goes back to her past as a journalist to find her husband. She may or may not want to know the answers she seeks.


This book had a lot of twists and turns, it was a good read, but it was also hard to read in some spots. I would read another book by this author

I thought this one would be up my alley but I don't think I was correct. I could not get into the story or the characters and was unable to finish. Thank you for the opportunity to review this title.

I really wanted to enjoy this book because the description of it sounded so engaging. However, I just felt to so disconnected from it and every time I tried to get back into my reading of it, I couldn’t get very far. Was not able to finish this one.

Set in Korea, we get flashbacks and closer to present day peeks into the life of Sae.

Sae was a revolutionary during college, but the collapse of a building during which her husband went missing and her children were threatened when she came too close to the truth dampened her energies for such activities.

Slow-burn with a surprise twist near the end. I really wanted to love this book - the plot was great and the bones of the story are there. However, I had a hard time getting through this. The characters seemed flat to me and I just couldn't connect with any of them. I think I didn't feel like there was any real emotion put into the telling of an obviously extremely stressful and overwhelming situation - I didn't feel much emotion of any kind from the characters. It just didn't work well for me.

I liked where this story was going and what the author attempts to do, however I feel like this story falls a bit short due to the fact that there is too much going on and too many storylines. I get what the author is doing and I commend her because it's ambitious, but it does make the story a bit jumbled and confusing at times. I would definitely be interested in checking out her next publication though.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: This was a fascinating mystery--a story of multiple deceptions that occurred in Korea. The main protagonist, Sae, is a young mother, a former journalist and her husband goes missing after the collapse of a large building. As she searches for him, a complex history slowly reveals itself. The extent of the mystery and the connections finally become clear in the final chapters. The characters are well drawn, but at times a bit hollow. The madame who is connected to Sae was one of the most compelling characters. Overall, a well written mystery, a history of Korea and political upheaval.