The writing isn't my favorite, mostly because of the way the exposition was spread out. While having a ton up front is never the best either, the way it was spread throughout this book made it feel like the author was throwing in important information about the world at the last possible second to make the story make sense. That said, the concept and dystopian setting were strong enough to keep me on the edge of my seat, and I think this'll be an extremely easy book to sell to middle and high school kids. Excited to read the sequel next year!

This was a really interesting dystopian novel. I loved all the characters and all of the twists and turns. I also thought that the setting was really compelling and it created such an interesting backdrop for the characters to interact with and experience. Honestly, I feel like this book would make a great TV show. All of the tension, and twists, and drama--and the main character is so interesting and quick-witted. I am super excited for this to be released so I can get physical copies for the teens at my library (and adults, too!). This is categorized as YA but I definitely think that adults will really enjoy it too.

Really enjoyed Snow globe. I like innovative dystopian fiction and this one nails it. Although its categorized as YA, I think it will widely appeal to adults as well much as the Hunger Games did. Recommended!

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC! I was not feeling the hype of this one at all. The writing was bland with lame dialogue. There was random screaming and yelling at times that didn’t seem needed and was a little over the top (it might not have translated well from Korean?). The story was also really unrealistic, and I understand with a dystopian novel it’s going to have some things that are out there, but more and more things kept being thrown in where it was losing me. I don’t even really understand where it was going at the end (I guess it continues because it is a duology, but I won’t be reading the next one). I’m quite surprised it won awards and had so many good reviews as I had to force myself to finish it today to be done with it to review it. I didn’t care about the main character at all and didn’t find this book interesting at all. The blurb got me interested, but the story itself fell short. FYI some mild violence and talk of suicide

*Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for hooking me up with an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.*

So, "Snowbound" kicks off with this cool dystopian vibe in Korea, where winter's eternal and surviving is no walk in the park. Chobahm's dream of being a director and the whole Snowglobe mystery had me hooked from the get-go.

But, let's talk real talk—Part Two hit, and suddenly, I'm lost in the plot twists. And that fantasy portal mirror thing? Yeah, I'm scratching my head too. It felt like the story was flying by the seat of its pants, you know? Telling, not showing, left me wanting more.

Props to the translation team; the Korean vibe stayed intact, especially with the original character names. Chobahm was cool, Snowglobe was mysterious, but the middle part? Bit confusing and dragged on a tad.

Plot? Chobahm gets this wild chance to pretend to be the gone-too-soon star, Haeri, inside the Snowglobe. Start and finish were great, but the middle? Lost me like my car keys. The cliffhanger ending? Left me thinking I missed a memo or needed a rewind on a few chapters.

Mixed feelings, for sure, but you know what? I'm kind of curious about Book 2. "Snowbound" might not have been my perfect match, but the sequel could spill the beans on some burning questions. Worth a shot for round two.

I can’t wait for the next book! Snowglobe was a very uniquely written dystopian that I could see becoming a movie.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for my e-ARC of Snowglobe!

𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗦𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗚𝗟𝗢𝗕𝗘

1. If you love dystopian fiction, then you’re going to want to pick this one up! Set in a world where the normal temperature is generally below zero now, most people have to fight hard to survive.
2. The storyline was fantastic. I almost couldn’t put this one down! It’s fast paced, and we get to see a lot of both the open world and Snowglobe.
3. There’s a huge twist that you never see coming about 75% in that left my head reeling!
4. This is just part one of a duology, so if you’re looking for a new series, pick this one up now!
5. The overall premise is very unique and would probably make for a fun tv series!

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.

The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.

Chobahm lives for the time she spends watching the shows produced inside Snowglobe. Her favorite? Goh Around, starring Goh Haeri, Snowglobe’s biggest star—and, it turns out, the key to getting Chobahm her dream life.

Because Haeri is dead, and Chobahm has been chosen to take her place. Only, life inside Snowglobe is nothing like what you see on television. Reality is a lie, and truth seems to be forever out of reach.

This was enjoyable…to a point. The premise is very intriguing, but it falls short in the execution.

I’ve written this review and erased it several times.

Let me just say this: it’s better to go into it blind.

My problem with it is that all the build-up, in my opinion, is for nothing. There’s no real resolution, and what there is feels supremely unsatisfying. The reader must suspend quite a bit of disbelief. Also, and I hate to say this, because I’m a translator myself, but the translation reads a little off, enough often that it’s noticeable. It’s good, for the most part, but it’s not great. There is huge potential for this world, though, as long as you halt the story as soon as the main character returns home from her shift at work that first day. I just wish it had gone in a different direction.

My thanks to NetGalley, Random House Children’s and Delacorte Press for a free copy in exchange for my honest feedback.

Dystopian and reality-tv fans, unite! Written with attitude and action, Snowglobe deposits the reader in a post-climate change world where snow and sub-zero temps are the norm -- humanity exists simply to survive. The only thing that keeps the denizens of the outposts going (and producing power) is the satisfaction that they receive 24-hour, uninterrupted access to the lives of the celebrities living in the Snowglobe, a paradise with manufactured weather. When Chobahm encounters her idol, Director Cha, she believes that her chance to leave the barren wasteland of the settlements and achieve a seat in the Snowglobe's prestigious film school has arrived. It isn't long though, that Chobahm realizes that there is something sinister about Snowglobe and the film industry that keeps the masses entertained.

Filled with quick-moving action, mystery and twists and turns, Snowglobe is a must-read page turner!

I found the Snowglobe to be an interesting read. However, it took me a bit to get into it because the book was translated from Korean to English. I understand that, in translation, some small yet important details may be lost.

Still, the storyline and plot kept me engaged with numerous twists and turns, making it a true page-turner. While I liked the protagonists, I felt that we didn't get to know the main characters very well; they were quite vague. Despite this, the compelling plot compensates for it.
I hope we get a deeper exploration of the characters in the second book.

So I don't know exactly how to rate this book. The world building can be super overwhelming, where some basic stuff was still being explained near the end of the book and the main character kind of just happened into some major plot points.

But I had a lot of fun reading this. The premise is odd enough that I was caught from the beginning and I was curious where it was going from some early breadcrumbs. I wanted to know what happened next and I'm definitely going to read the second book. I didn't know it was a duology and was about to be very annoyed at the loose threads at the end. Overall, it was an interesting read.

I was so in the mood for some YA dystopian so was very excited to read this. I grew up reading hunger games and divergent so I always love to get back to a good dystopian book. The concept is super unique even for dystopian and the beginning really drew me in. I do think this book suffers some pacing issues as the beginning and the end were very exciting with twists and turns but the middle of the book lost me a little. I always love to include books translated from there original source (in this case Korean) in our library though and will for sure purchase.

This book's premise was unlike anything I have read in a long while. It Is such an interesting topic. This post-apocalyptic society was well-developed and odd enough that it pulled me right in from the beginning. It almost feels like it's the Hunger Games mixed with Squid Game all wrapped into one book. The main character, Chobahm, is likable in the sense that you are rooting for her success throughout the challenges she faces in Snowglobe. Without giving the specifics of the plot away, the ending of the novel is suspenseful and mind-boggling that a sequel, or trilogy, seems almost too likely. This is definitely a read that will be spun into a Netflix series or original movie that has to be a must-watch.

This book had quite a few twists and turns. Based on the blurb, I had expected the plot to be a lot simpler than it ended up being. Instead, the novel kept me glued to its pages, staring wide-eyed at the words as plot twist after plot twist was revealed.

Although I generally liked this book, I wish there had been a little more explanation given regarding some of the twists. The last few chapters in particular provided more questions than they did answers. I'm delighted to see there's a sequel, and I expect we'll receive many answers there. But even so, I wish at least some of the twists were explained more thoroughly within this book.

I also wish there had been a tiny bit more focus on characterization and character development. The book was very plot-driven (which in itself isn't a bad thing), but I feel like we didn't get to know the main characters very well beyond one or two facts about them. This is also something I hope will be explored within the sequel. This book spent quite a bit of time revealing secrets, so I'm hoping the sequel will dedicate more page time to exploring who the characters are and further endearing them to readers.

Overall, though, this was a very enjoyable read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes reading dystopian novels, critiquing reality shows, and devouring plot twists.

Snowglobe is about a post-apocalyptic society in which climate change has turned into the next ice age. It starts with a nod to The Truman Show; there are actors who spend their entire lives on screen for the benefit of society; the difference is, they know that they're actors. The television world is run by directors, who have the final say in how much of the constant surveillance is turned into broadcast shows. These shows, all broadcast from the city of Snowglobe, are a lifeline for the rest of the population, whose lives revolve around generating power - literally, as much of the power used by their society comes from power plants in which people spent 10 hours a day walking inside a hamster wheel, with a minimum requirement of four miles per hour to keep the TV turned on. Only in Snowglobe, a city completely enclosed in an insulated and heated dome, does the average temperature rise above freezing; there, the average temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The inhabitants of Snowglobe create the entertainment that keeps the rest of society going - but something is truly rotten in Snowglobe.

Jeon Chobahm is a worker at a power plant, spending her days walking on a wheel, generating power for her community, when a stranger appears - an event in itself. That she recognizes the stranger as Cooper, from a well-known television show makes it even more interesting. Cooper leads Chobahm to a black limousine, where a famous director offers Chobahm the chance of a lifetime, even offering her the chance to go to directing school if she'll do just a small favor for her. But there's more than meets the eye to the director's offer - much more - and accepting that offer thrusts Chobahm into a world of intrigue and mystery unlike any she could have imagined. Recommended for teen and adult readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Soyoung Park for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Snowglobe coming out February 27, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I was so excited to get this book! I love Korean books. This book is a cross between Snowpiercer and the Truman Show. Sometimes it felt a little like the Hunger Games. I loved the writing, and the storyline, and the plot. It kept me on the edge of my seat. I was definitely excited to find out what happened. The first half of the book was amazing and I love how she was thrown into the Snowglobe life. I think things got a little crazy in the second half, but I really loved it. I think this will be a series based on the ending. So I’m definitely excited to read more books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys books about dystopian societies.

A book that will delight fans of YA dystopian books like The Hunger Games, Snowglobe is an impactful and disturbing story. The premise - the elite live in climate controlled, decadent Snowglobe, while everyone else watches their lives on TV from the power plants in the frozen wastes - is an apt setting for today's world, where social media and reality tv are incredibly prevalent in young people's lives. I was impressed by the utter bleakness of the setting, both inside and outside of Snowglobe itself. The plot has elements of sci-fi and thrillers, and there were a series of twists/reveals that were impactful without being cheesy or too unexpected. The ending of the first book leaves a lot of questions unanswered, and in fact, raises some more; I'm ok with this, though, because it's the first book in a duology, and I definitely plan to read the second one!

Snowglobe is being translated from Korean for the first time in 2024!

I enjoyed this book, because a future mini ice-age may very well be what we experience in terms of climate change. Since dystopian fiction dominated book shelves in the mid-2000s, it kind of feels like the genre died out a bit in favor of other things. It is really nice to be able to revisit it through such a unique and fun lens!

Reading about how the people in the story respond to harsh winter conditions was really intriguing, and the pull to completely disappear into the world of television and synthetic reality is all too real today. This book pairs well with Hunger Games and Divergent, but provides its own fresh twist on the dystopian adventure story.

I wish I could have had this on the shelf when I was younger! Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for sending me an e-ARC.

Set in a dystopian society in Korea where winter is the permanent season, people struggle to survive with the bare necessities of food and shelter unless they are invited to live in the Snowglobe. Inside the Snowglobe, people enjoy luxury and warmth, but in exchange, their lives are recorded as part of a reality TV show that is broadcast to everyone outside the Snowglobe.

Chobahm and her twin brother live and work with their family outside the Snowglobe, where they struggle to stay healthy and warm. One day, Chobahm is offered an opportunity she can't refuse. She is asked to come to the Snowglobe and pretend to be the famous star, Haeri, who has tragically passed away. As Chobahm bears a striking resemblance to Haeri, no one suspects the switch. From this point on, the book is filled with several plot twists.

While I enjoyed the beginning and the end, I found the middle to be a bit confusing and overly long. Based on the other reviews I've been reading, I think this may be a situation where the book is good, but not the right fit for me.

Thank you to Soyoung Park, NetGalley, and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

A dystopian lover’s dream. Perfect to have been read in the winter (and feeling c-c-cold). Combines many elements of books I have read previously and loved. A little something for everyone.