Chobahm and her family live in a frozen wasteland where she’s rarely warm. She works at the local power plant walking in a hamster wheel to produce power needed by residents of the Snowglobe, a vast, temperature-controlled dome. It’s also the home of the twenty-four hour streaming television service providing the only source of entertainment. Most residents outside the globe would give anything to be an actor on a show and have the opportunity for a better life. Chobahm could be the doppelganger of her show’s favorite actress. When that actress dies, Chobahm receives an offer to enter the Snowglobe and take her place.

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, something that Chobahm learns quickly. Sure, she’s warm (finally), well-fed, and famous, but mysterious things are happening off-camera, and life is nothing like she’d expected. Her character arc is fabulous. She enters the dome wearing rose-colored glasses but quickly loses them and finds herself in life-threatening situations. Let’s just say there’s an ample supply of greedy, power-hungry people in the dome.

The world-building is wildly creative, and the story takes a path I didn’t see coming after a surprising plot twist. This novel is translated from Korean to English. I thought parts of it read more like younger YA, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Snowglobe is a duology, so a sequel is coming. I could easily see this as a movie. Recommended for fans of dystopia, reality television, and unexpected twists.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

SnowGlobe is an absolutely wild dystopian novel about a world with an insane climate. The only warm place left on the Earth is the SnowGlobe, where actors and directors live to provide 24/7 reality TV to citizens. Anyone outside the SnowGlobe is subject to horrible working conditions and bitter cold. Chobahm gets an opportunity to star in one of these shows, but with catch. This book is full of suspense and crazy twists. It's great for fans of the Hunger Games and Legend.

So impressed with this book! I saw a description of it as Hunger Games with a bit of Kdrama and I couldn't agree more! I can't wait to read more!!!

In a thrilling, tensely plotted story about the future, humanity has created a new way to survive the ice age - electricity powered by humans through hamsters wheels. Life in the settlements may be cold and strenuous work, but it's all worth it to know that humanity's toil is keeping Snowglobe (a giant geodesic dome that contains the last vestiges of inhabitable earth) alive and running. Watching the "actors" living their day-to-day lives is entertainment that keeps the rest of the population going, including Chobahm, the main character of this tale. But her world is turned upside down when she is offered the chance to be a replacement for a highly popular star.

I really enjoyed the lush world that Park has built within this story. The juxtaposition between the outside world and that of Snowglobe, from ice to normal, everyday Korea, is such a fascinating idea. Seeing the world through Chobahm's eyes, even as she witnesses the mask being pulled off of the world she has known and loved all her life, is thrilling. I loved that the mystery of this story emerged slowly, the tension building as the pages turned. I kept wondering how this would all resolve itself, and what a finish, too!

I think the strongest element of this book is the plot. It's a truly unique premise and I really enjoyed the sci-fi elements sprinkled throughout, included the human-powered electricity, the world of Snowglobe itself, and the mirror transportation. I think that fans of sci-fi will get a kick out of this thrilling story. Park knows how to build suspense while at the same time peeling back the layers to this world, which at once seems so glamorous and stable yet underneath hide such sinister implications. I also did not see the plot twist of clones coming, so that was a really fun element to this book.

I think the only thing lacking for me was the character development. Chobahm is the most rounded figure, but most of the other characters are either one-dimensional villains or just aren't in the story enough to really leave much of an impression of personality. I did enjoy all the different clones and their take on the situation, even if they only get the last 50 pages or so to exist in the story.

I will definitely read the sequel to this story when it becomes available. I liked the story and I enjoyed Park's imaginative take on the dystopian. I would love to see where it goes. I'd definitely recommend this story to those who enjoy sci-fi and dystopian tales, especially if they prefer zero to little romance.

An enjoyable addition to the YA dystopian genre. Familiar enough themes, but with enough twists to make it stand out from others. I look forward to the second part of the duology.

While the entire world is now at an average temperature of -50 degrees F, Snowglobe is the only place with a temperate climate, the only location with warmth and color, in the whole world. It’s a special settlement built atop a geothermal vent and is enclosed in a gigantic weatherproof glass dome. Not just anyone can live there though. The ones lucky enough to live there are actors, whose unscripted lives are recorded in real time and edited into shows, which are then broadcasted to the entire world for entertainment.

Chobahm has been rejected two years in a row from attending from Snowglobe’s Film Academy. She happens to also look exactly like the famous actress Haeri. One day, Director Cha visits Chobahm and tells her they want her to be the next Haeri after the original Haeri suddenly passed away, but they needed Haeri to continue and this is where Chobahm can step in and she says yes, not realizing there’s a lot more to Haeri’s disappearance and what happens under Snowglobe than meets the eye.

This reminded me of the Truman Show, but it’s not just one person, but many people’s lives we watch. It’s also edgier and more dangerous 😅

This was such a unique read for me! I tend to focus a lot on fantasy and fantasy romances, and so it was refreshing to read something different, something new. This is a dystopian and I will say there’s no romance in here. There’s hints to MAYBE a romance in the future, but I’m not holding my breath, and that’s okay! For once, a book I read that does not have a romance and it never bothered me! I just focused on Chobahm and her journey!

This book got so twisty as you read it. It’s like from the beginning, everything was so sus, but Chobahm really wanted to be a part of Snowglobe’s community, albeit a director, but this was a shoe-in for her to put her foot in the door. So, I get it. You really want to be there, so you overlook all the suspicious things happening around you.

Once she gets to Snowglobe, it just seems like everything goes downhill from there and it takes Chobahm awhile to finally come to terms that things are not quite what they seem and what it she going to do about it. I also loved her relationship with her brother, it was very sweet and adorable 🥰

It was an intense and suspenseful read filled with secrets and a lot of suspicious people 😂 and a lot of twists that keep you at the edge of your seat. Chobahm was a great character and I loved her development in this book and look forward to the next one to get some much needed questions answered!

I received a free digital copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Snowglobe reminds me of The Hunger Games, Yes, but with a twist of K drama. I haven't read a dystopian novel in a while, but I think this one has an intriguing concept. I had some trouble getting into it at first, perhaps because it was translated from Korean to English; I believe some translations are slightly off, but this has no bearing on the plot. I like how the author creates a place called Snowglobe that everyone really dreams of living in, including Chobahm, until finally she has to replace Haeri and live there and discovers the truth that Snowglobe is not what she thought. It was terrible living outside Snowglobe, struggling through the harsh winter every day. However, living in a snow globe is not ideal. Honestly, the entire time I was reading, I imagined it to be a K drama. Kim You Joong could play Chobahm/Haeri. It would be awesome!

I also wasn't expecting so many plot twists that kept me reading and eager to see how the story would end. I need book two right now!

Snowglobe was surprisingly good time, considering the subject matter! A dystopian Korea represents the state of the world after all the Warring Peoples have nearly destroyed the planet. A 16 year old girl has always known that she looks just like the most famous actress in the Snowglobe--the only comfortable place left on earth. Residents of the globe give up privacy to live a life apart from the subzero temperatures in the Outerworld. This famous actress is Goh Haeri, and she apparently ended her perfect life days before she was due to take over as the Weather forecaster. The director makes the decision to bring in the look-a-like as a last minute substitution, saying it was for the good of the viewers. Of course, this is a dystopian novel, so nothing really good comes from this decision. Everything gets worse for a lot more people, and the as the truth becomes more clear, the stakes get higher for all involved.
The plot is a good one. The characters are deep, if not always likeable. I have my favorites, but to mention them would spoil the suspense. This is definitely a "read as fast as you can" book. The pace is almost it's own character.
I have to also point out that that the translator was amazing. It doesn't read like a translation, and I was never pulled from the story because of a clunky paragraph.
I am really looking forward to the next installment!

Book Name: SnowGlobe
Author: Soyoung Park

ARC
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an ARC of Soyoung Park’s SnowGlobe

Stars: 4.5
Spice: 0

Part of new Series:
Cliffhanger
Fast Paced
FMC POV (till end)
End of World Dystopian Adventure

- Thoughts.
- Reality TV Dystopian
- Murder Mystery Plot
- Capitol Vibes from Hunger Games
- Korean Novel Translated into English
- Violent but not Bloody
- Twists Everywhere

Loved the reality TV/vlogging lifestyle vs the powerplant, the haves and have nots within this dystopian societal collapse, it did read fast with a few outlandish plot points but overall this book was engaging, exciting, and hard to put down. Loved it

Are you ready for a freezing cold adventure full of heart-pounding action? Imagine a world in perpetual cold, backbreaking work just to get enough food to barely quiet the rumble in your belly, suiting up in cold weather gear any time you even think about stepping foot outside your house…welcome to Snowglobe where a television show is the reason many people continue to live and serve those in higher power.

While it may sound odd at first, this plot isn’t that hard to imagine when you really start to compare it to our daily lives. How many of us slog through the day to day only to come home and crash on the couch for some endless scrolling on our devices and some trashy reality TV only to do it again the next day and the next? Thankfully our situation isn’t quite as dire as those who live in the dystopian world of this book, but it does put things in perspective.

Chobahm is your typical teenage girl in just a few ways: her obsession with reality TV and her life at home squabbling with her twin brother. The rest of her existence is filled with dreams of one day living inside Snowglobe and escaping the daily grind of working at the power plant that fuels the city that is protected from the endless tundra that is the rest of her world. Though it seems that she doesn’t have much hope of ever living a different life, one day her big break comes, though at the expense of the loss of one of her heroes. Suddenly, Chobahm is welcomed inside the glittering warmth of Snowglobe and literally living her dream.

We all know that often, in books and in life, things that seem to be too good to be true are, but maybe things will actually start to look up for Chobahm and even her family, or at least that is the hope she is holding onto. There is a dark side to Snowglobe and the reality stars that are broadcasted on TV 24/7 and unfortunately it isn’t long until things start to get dicey for her, leaving her wondering if life inside really is better than her old life outside.

Reading a book set in endless winter might not be the smartest pick if you’re snowed in with -30 degree windchill, but perhaps the bitter cold helped me commiserate with Chobahm and the other characters in this story a little bit. There were quite a few loose ends that I hope will be tied up in the anticipated sequel. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy from Random House Children’s Books

I am a fan of K Drama and K SF (not so much K Pop), but I dig the emotion and the storytelling used to convey messages, lessons, and whatnot. I think that Snowglobe does this very well. The dangers of climate. The dangers of overexposure in a media-driven world. The dangers of greed, etc. etc. Snowglobe covers many of these topics. There are twists and turns aplenty and you will get Hunger Game, Squid Game, and honestly, there was a strong Snowpiercer vibe happening for better or worse. If you dig dramatic apocalyptic literature, then Snowglobe is the book for you. You will dig it and it will dig you. The loss of a star is purely on the the fact that some of the scenes take a very long time to get going and there is some confusion as to what the point is at some parts, but it all comes together nicely by the end. I guess there is a sequel and I will definitely read that upon its release.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book… it reminded me a lot of Snowpiercer with a Hollywood twist. I am interested to see how this duology ends as I felt a little let down with the resolution in this book- I just wanted more so I’m hopeful that is the case in the next book!

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me and ARC of this wonderful book! This does not affect my rating or opinions of the book.

rating 4/5
I loved the plot twists in this book but I felt as though it really didn’t pick up until halfway through the book and then I couldn’t put the book down. It has the tension of squid games but less like a game show. The feeling of being watched/ your life being broadcasted 24/7 is what kept me intrigued. The little breakaways and not knowing what’s going to happen next make it an easy read. I recommend to anyone who liked the ambience of squid games because it gives off that feeling while reading.

I enjoy dystopian adventures, so I was anxious to get started on this one. The author introduces is to a world where it's always a cold that the reader would find hard to comprehend. Our heroine and her family make the best of their situation. Then our heroine's situation changes. I couldn't put this one down, especially after the midpoint of the story. I found myself saying "wait, what?" frequently. Definitely some loose ends, but that really makes the whole story more believable.

Content Warning: death

I have to start off by saying this is translated from Korean to English and for the most part it’s a pretty good translation with some words here and there that were a little off.

I haven’t read in a dystopia book in awhile and this sounded interesting! Famous and wealthy people live in a place called Snowglobe and everyone else lives outside of it. But people get to watch what happens in Snowglobe on their tvs. Plus Earth is in a deep, deep frost so everyone outside of Snowglobe is dealing with freezing temperatures and life is a struggle. Chobahm is one of these people who lives outside of Snowglobe and works in a factory with her family. She gets a chance to go there, she takes it without knowing what she is getting into.

When I started reading this book I didn’t know what was going on and then I told myself to think of it like the k-dramas I watch and I got into the story! I think what I really enjoyed were the twists in the story that come past the halfway point. The twists really surprised me and I was hoping for a resolution to the story but this is only the first book in a series it seems.

I don’t know if I will read the second book only because like I said some of the translations felt off but the twists were really pretty good and makes me want to find out what happens next.


My Thoughts:

This one was really interesting but some of the translations were kind of off which made some of my reading experience not the smoothest. I did love the dystopian atmosphere and the twists in the story though, and thought this would make a pretty cool K-drama show or series. I’m not sure if I will read the sequel but I do want to see what happens next, so we shall see.

While the rest of the world is cold and struggles to survive, the people of Snowglobe have comfort and wealth. In exchange, their lives are made into tv shows for the people outside. Everyone wants to get in there but few ever do, so when Chobahm gets offered an unexpected chance, she takes it. Learning about how far people will go for Snowglobe and for the shows it produces is really what drives this book along. It is very compelling and hard to put down, playing out like a soap opera with tons of twists and turns.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

First off, this cover is beautiful! This is dystopian fiction at its best. I love the story Soyoung has built. This Snowglobe world is what everyone strives for but it isn't at all what it seems. Chobahm lived outside the snowglobe watching the life of Goh Haeri on her shows made inside the globe. She wants nothing more than for her life to be like hers. When she gets to take Haeri's place, it isn't what she expected at all.

Set in the future where the Earth's climate is frozen. Chobaim is 16 and works at a power plant that powers her village along with the Snowglobe. The Snowglobe is a city covered in a dome that is climate controlled and most of the people who live there want for nothing. They live in big homes, have plenty to eat and wear fancy clothes. Chobaim and her family only have the basics to survive. The people who live in Snowglobe are filmed all the time and their lives are shown as reality tv to those who live outside the Snowglobe. Chobaim is given the chance to live in Snowglobe to replace an actress named Haeri who has died. Chobaim will take over her life and in exchange she will have a chance to be a director and her family will receive money. Chobaim discovers that life as Haeri isn't as wonderful as she thought. Plus there are secrets revolving around Haeri. I liked this book and its setting in the future where the average temperature is -50 was unique. The only part that confused me were the magic mirror/portals since they weren't explained at all

This one was a great YA read that reminded me a bit of The Hunger Games meets Under the Dome but with a bigger message in the reasoning behind the Dome that encapsulates the one city kept out from the dystopian frozen future. This dystopian thriller is highly plot-focused, though the characters are well-fleshed out. There is a plot twist involving the identity of some characters that leads to a less character-driven plot as their identity is tied to everything in the plot (I tried to make that make sense without spoilers). This is a fast-paced read that starts slightly slower, but once it is going it is nonstop. I enjoy it when a thriller has that type of pacing.

So many questions…
So much potential…
So many plot twists, my head is still spinning!

The book starts off strong, introducing us to Chobahm and life outside of Snowglobe.
I just wish there had been a little more world building of life inside Snowglobe. I felt once Chobahm arrived in Snowglobe, everything became a whirlwind of people and events without slowing down enough to really get a feel for the people or what was happening. I also would have enjoyed a little more character development, perhaps instead of so many to keep up with, simply focus on just a handful because there are definitely a lot of characters to keep up with!

With that said, the author still does a great job bringing this world and way of living to life…to the point I actually could imagine something like this happening. Perhaps not quite to this extreme but definitely can see parts becoming a future reality. Maybe that’s why I wanted more world building…this is a world that could become reality instead of feeling so far-fetched.

Actually, it’s all a lot to keep up with! Interesting and entertaining but wow, I got a little confused jumping from one thing to another so quickly. However, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading Snowglobe. It’s a fast-paced read, one I couldn’t put down because I wanted to know what would happen next.

The book does end in a cliffhanger…a big “wait…what!?” confusing cliffhanger that I’m still trying to wrap my brain around.

I look forward to book two and honestly see this having great potential of becoming either a movie or series.

Also need to mention the absolutely gorgeous cover! Definitely one to get a physical copy!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.