If you're familiar with Pachinko, Beasts of a Little Land, and other stories detailing the Korean WWII experience, this won't bring anything new. That is not to say that these stories don't deserve to continue to be told.

There are plenty of stories about Nazis in this time period. In fact, I think there are too many, and more continue to be published every year. While it is horrific what the Americans did to Japanese Americans in internment camps, we need to separate that from the horrors Japan caused in Asia, and the havoc they left behind in their wake. The consequences are being felt to this day.

This is the story of two women, the daughter of a Korean nobleman and her servant. As their lives intertwine during this period of hardship, which will survive? And which will thrive?

To the reviewer that didn't finish because Americans weren't seen in a good light, boy do I have some breaking news for you.

I ached at an emotional level throughout this whole book.

It’s an excellent and emotion-driven journey through Korea’s tumult in the 20th century, through the eyes of women (girls at the start) from polar opposite social strata.

Lee weaves multi-layered characters deftly, with tenderness and chaos alike; neither Chaeryoung nor Sunam are at all forgettable.

A wonderful read with a searing handprint on my heart.

narration: was very goood

I liked this one overall but it was a very slow read, even with the audio sped up. This focuses on the lives of two women whose lives are intertwined from WWII through the Korean War. They are forced to trade identities and one is shipped to the United States and the other is send to be a comfort woman to the Japanese Imperial Army. Neither are in a position they are used to and it is years before they make their way back home and try and reclaim their identities. This was heartbreaking, educational, and very well written. The audio was great and the narrator did a wonderful job. I am glad I read this one as I learned a lot and there was some happiness to be had by the end.

Thank you to @Macmillan.Audio for the ALC to review.

Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audio book.

Very interesting read. I enjoy historical fiction and this was well written. The narrator was good as well.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* 4.5 This was a really great read! I didn't want to put it down! would buy and recommend

I just couldn't get into it. The story was there but I didn't love it. Not feeling the storyline at all.

I could not get into this book at all which surprised me because I am usually a huge fan of this type of novel. Perhaps it was the formatting of the story or the audiobook narrator. I’m not certain but I just couldn’t get into this book.

Can’t I Go Instead is a beautiful piece of historic fic.

As a fan of Pachinko and DEI consultant, I went into the book with high expectations for its discussions around colonialism, Japanese imperialism and the lives of Korean women under Japanese occupation of Korea.

Lee Geum-yi exceeded all my expectations.

The way this book skillfully tackles not just xenophobia, cultural beliefs around racial/ethnic supremacy, Japanese violence against Korea and Korean women, but also the role upper class Koreans played in the subjugation and continued violence against Korea is unbelievable.

What a beautiful story. Not typically one for historical fiction, I do find myself more easily invested when it has to do with Asian cultures and this one proved that point in drawing me in from the very beginning.

The storytelling of the struggles that each woman goes through is well-written and well-narrated. I would listen to it 100x over.

Can’t I Go Instead by Lee Geum-yi was a very moving saga that took place in Japanese colonized Korea during the early years of the twentieth century. It portrayed the distinct class divisions that existed during that time period. The lives of the two strong female protagonist characters were examined and followed through the decades of Korea’s turbulent history. Lee Geum-yi’s writing and research was quite impressive. I learned so much about Korean history and it’s people from reading Can’t I Go Instead.

Yun Chaetyeong was born into the lap of luxury. She lived at the Gahoe-dong mansion with her viscount father. On Chaeryeong’s eighth birthday, her father disclosed that he had a special surprise present for her for her birthday. Father and daughter went on a long drive to retrieve the present. Chaeryeong was quite surprised when her father offered land compensation to a family for the purchase of their daughter. Her father was buying her a maidservant for her eighth birthday. This was not what Chaeryeong had hoped for or wanted. When the targeted girl carried on so much about her fate, Sunam, a seven year old girl observing the scene, asked “Can’t I go instead?” Thus began the complicated and complex relationship of Chaeryeong and Sunam.

When Chaeryeong should have been actively seeking suitors for marriage, she convinced her father to allow her to travel to Kyoto, Japan to further her studies. Her father allowed Chaeryeong to bring Sunam along with her. Unfortunately, Chaeryeong fell in love with a man that was deeply involved with the Korean independence movement and Chaeryeong was implicated to be involved as well. When Chaeryeong’s father learned of this disastrous situation, he knew he had to do something to remedy the situation or his reputation and standing with the Japanese authorities would be compromised. He convinced Sunam to assume Chaeryeong’s identity and join the Women’s Brigade for the Imperial Army’s Consolation. Sunam was led to believe that she and the other women she met would be trained as nurses so that they could help take care of the injured soldiers that were returning from battle. Sunam was promised by her master, Chaeryeong’s father, that if she served her time, he would grant her her freedom and compensate her most generously monetarily. Sunam agreed but the situation she found herself in was far from what had been described to her. The situation Sunam found herself in was so far from the truth she had been told. In the meantime, Chaeryeong’s father changed his own daughter’s name and identity to a Japanese one. Chaeryeong was married off to a Japanese employee of her father and sent to live in America. The newly married couple, after dealing with set backs and complications, settled in San Francisco with an uncle of her new husband. The lives of both women in the ensuing years were challenging, harsh and difficult. Sunam learned first hand about the role Korean women played as “comfort women” to the Japanese imperial army and Chaeryeong experienced the prejudice Americans felt towards the Japanese living in the United States and having had to live in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. After the Second World War and the Korean War, both Chaeryeong and Sunam independently made their way back home to a changed Korea, an independent Korea free from Japanese occupation and rule. Would they be able to take their identities back? How would they fare in an independent Korea? Could they find their way back to one another or were they too damaged to allow that to happen?

I listened to the audiobook of Can’t I Go Instead that was performed very well by Michelle H. Lee. Throughout Can’t I Go Instead, I found myself drawn to Sunam’s character. She was smart, determined, thought of others before herself, made meaningful relationships with others, was ambitious, and overcame the challenges she faced by being born into a family with little to no means or status. I learned so much about Korean culture and history from this book. The author also portrayed the attitudes of the Japanese, Koreans, Americans and Chinese people towards the Japanese and Korean people. This was a well written historical fiction novel that I recommend very highly.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to Can’t I Go Instead by Lee Geum-yi through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Can't I Go Instead follows the lives of two Korean women who are brought together when a wealthy viscount purchases a young Sunam to be the maidservant for his daughter, Chaeryeong. Despite their different upbringings the two girls form a kind of friendship (probably due to forced proximity more than anything else). As the two grow and fall in love, Chaeryeong finds herself in deep trouble so she's forced into an arranged marriage with a Japanese man. Meanwhile, Sunam assumes Chaeryeong's identity and is forced to become a comfort woman for the Japanese army.

Spanning decades of these women's lives and the hardships they endured, Can't I Go Instead is a raw and unsettling look into some ugly history that is rarely (if ever) talked about. This book is not very fast-paced and I did have difficulty keeping track of the many characters and the story at times (really difficult considering I was listening to the audiobook and had no text to refer to). Though a fictionalized account, I think this book is an important read (especially those who are unfamiliar with the unsettling treatment of Koreans at the hands of the Japanese). If you're looking for the feel-good story of the year, this is not it, but I think that is kind of the point. You're made to feel as the characters did after years of suffering (just kind of hollow).

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. Michelle H. Lee was a great narrator.

Can’t I Go Instead reads like an epic classic novel, covering the lives of an ensemble of people across decades, with many partings and reunions. Covering small personal matters as well as the big political events of the times. Lots of tragedy, victims of circumstance. The lives of the two most central characters have surprising parallels and interweaving throughout the story.

It is super ducking sad. The novel is tied to a lot of history widely known in Korea and other parts of the world but never mentioned in American courses on history, even world history. Like the Japanese colonization of Korea and China. Or the Korean women conscripted into the Japanese army as “comfort” women who were raped and abused by dozens of Japanese soldiers every day during wartime. History lessons on World War II in the US never go into the Japanese side of the Axis of Evil. The book never gets graphic and no rape or violent act occurs on the page.

The author is well-known in Korea, having written over 50 books. This novel is one of the first to be translated into English. I do get the hype, this would definitely make for a good novel to dissect for a high school or college literature course. I do recommend the audiobook, it is a great listen.

8/10 it is very well-written. Subjectively it is too sad for me, but in a Les Miserables or Oliver Twist kind of way where the real sufferings of people are given a voice, given a legacy not to be forgotten.

This was a moving and at times heartbreaking historical fiction book about the intertwined lives of two women who trade identities and the way the events of WWII and the Korean War affect them in very different ways both in Japan and later America.

I love books that feature strong women surviving harsh circumstances and ones where I learn about parts of history I hadn't known much about before. This book delivers on all those fronts and is told in a beautiful writing style too. Great on audio narrated by Michelle H. Lee.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed the author's debut, The picture bride, last year and this sophomore work was just as good. Highly recommended, especially for fans of authors like Lisa See or Ann Shin.

The story follows two girls and takes place in Korea in the 1920’s. During this time, Japan is in rule. Sunam, a Korean, was purchased at age 7 to be the viscount’s daughter, Chaeryeong’s, birthday present. Sunam and Chaeryeong become friends and when Chaeryeong becomes involved in the illegal Korean independence movement, she is arrested then forced into a marriage with one of her father’s employees in order to escape to America. Sunam takes on Chaeryeongs identity and takes her place in school and in her life.

This was a saga about the lives of these two women, how they survived and what became of them. It was interesting reading a story and learning about Korea and their relationship with Japan and with the US in World War II as it isn’t something I have learned much about in the past. There was a lot of hardship that both girls had to endure throughout their lives. I listened to the audiobook and at times I wasn’t sure whose story I was listening to. Perhaps that part would have been better if I had read it instead of listened. The style of writing I didn’t find compelling, and I had to force myself to keep listening.

3.5 stars

I love that the publishing world is highlighting women’s voices from around the world. We’re able to learn more about cultures and history, while also following the personal stories within those larger contexts. In this book, we follow two women whose lives connected at a young age from Korea to Japan to the US and back. It was a sweeping saga. That being said, it spanned from the 1930s to the 1990s, with the most emphasis on the 1930s-1940s, so it felt more like an overview of their lives that briefly touched on key moments in history. It was perfect for people who aren’t familiar with 20th century Korean history (and its diaspora), but is otherwise a bit of a shallow dive. I’d have preferred a more in depth study with briefer before/after commentary than what felt more like a survey across the century.

*Thanks to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for this advance audio copy for review.

When I started this book, I was reminded of "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" or "Memoirs of a Geisha" due to its rich historical detail. I was excited to delve into the story, but unfortunately, I found it read more like a biography than a work of fiction. The numerous names and information-packed paragraphs left me confused and struggling to keep up.

That said, I must mention that the narrator had a calming voice, which made it easier to follow along with the story. Although this book did not appeal to me as a reader, I appreciate the hard work and depth that went into creating such a historically accurate novel. If you enjoy non-fiction, biographies, or historical fiction, this book might be worth a read.






Regenerate response

What an absolutely amazing book! This was heartbreaking, shocking, thought provoking and incredibly fascinating. I quickly fell in love with the characters and setting of the book. I was quickly compelled to look up photos and maps and I look forward to diving deeper into this area in the future. If you love historical fiction then this book is for you.

5/5
Audio: 3/5

Trigger warnings: Rape, suicide, and slavery.

Can't I Go Instead follows the intertwined lives of two young women, one the daughter of a Korean nobleman and the other her maidservant. When the daughter is found in connection to a Korean Independence activist, the two women are forced the leave the country and swap identities - the daughter is sent to marry her father's employee and move to America while the maid is sent in her place as a comfort woman to the Japanese Imperial army. This rich and heartbreaking story addresses the hardships of early 20th century Korea and the realities of class division between these two women. Though I'm not typically a historical fiction reader, I really enjoyed this book!

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

First, I am so thankful to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for granting me advanced audiobook access to this terribly moving book. Can't I Go Instead is set to hit shelves on May 2, 2023 and I'm so excited to see the additional hype that comes out of this release.

3.5 stars.

I was immediately reminded of Pachinko with this book, so I was excited to see how it would fare.

While I liked the book, I didn’t find the way the story is written as compelling as Pachinko. What happens in the book is a bit more intense, but the way it’s written (or perhaps translated) didn’t move me the way Pachinko did. I’m hoping it wasn’t the translation that didn’t do it justice.

I ended up restarting this book from the beginning at the 30% mark because I was having a difficult time with getting drawn in. Restarting ended up helping, and I was more engaged the second time around.

Like Pachinko, this is a difficult book to keep track of all the characters if you’re consuming via audiobook. I think following along with a physical book would have helped immensely.