While I acknowledge this is a completely separate collection from "Cursed Bunny," I couldn't help but draw comparisons, and regrettably, the former didn't captivate me as much. The haunting and lingering narratives of "Cursed Bunny" continue to stick with me to this day, while the fundamental plot points of "Your Utopia" slip through the cracks. I find this collection difficult to review as it seems my brain failed to retain a single story upon finishing. Nevertheless, I remain open to the idea of a novella or novel by Chung with a similar sci-fi approach. Perhaps a more focused approach and dedication to a single story will be the secret to recapturing my intrigue.

Let me start by saying that if you are a fan of Bora Chung's first collection, Cursed Bunny, you may be surprised by Your Utopia. While Cursed Bunny is firmly in the bizarre stories camp, Your Utopia is pure science fiction. Written in protest during the COVID-19 pandemic, these stories are very existential, often featuring anti-capitalist themes. This collection had so much that I loved: sentient cars & elevators, immortal office workers, tree-human hybrids, cannibalism... Every mini-world that Chung created was memorable and unsettling.

I ended up dnfing this because the stories were so bland and predictable. I only got through the first two stories, but those should be the most shocking ones, however, I was left finding them really lackluster and not understanding the point of either. I love Black Mirror and weird short stories, however this didn't have any of the punch as anything else of this type that I have consumed.

READ IF YOU LIKE...
• The creepiness of AI and advanced technology
• Apocalyptic settings
• The dark and the twisted

I THOUGHT IT WAS...
A fascinating collection of speculative short stories that pull no punches. A fast-spreading virus that causes cannibalism, an investigation conducted through watching memories from the comatose suspect, a solar-powered vehicle running from a terrifying amalgamation of technology, a smart building that knows every detail of your life -- Chung explores all of these conceits and more in this book.

I feel a bit stunned after finishing this collection. Chung's imagination continues to astound me. I love how she isn't afraid to push things to disturbing extremes. To me, it feels like that's how she attempts to get at the truth -- the truth at what we are as humans, the truth at what our society is.

Future technology is a heavy focus of this collection. It's supposed to make our lives better, but instead it reveals some of our most fundamental flaws and weaknesses. This collection felt like an examination of humanity from non-human perspectives and the verdict is pretty damning. But at the same time, there's still hope for us. Utopia can still be in our future if we try our best to be our best in our present.

An intriguing collection of 8 stories, all focused in some way on technology. Nothing is as it seems in some, nothing is real in others, and not all will engage you. I'd not read Chung before but now understand why she (and her translator Hur) have fans. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is definitely a set which should be read one at a time over a period of days. For fans of literary fiction.

Another great collection of stories from this author. I love peeking into this writer's mind. The stories are all excellent, hard to pick a favorite. If you like weird, strange, surreal, this is for you.

cursed bunny is strange and fascinating and unpredictable. this, by the same author, led me to expect a bizarre good time, but all of these stories — while striving for weird on the surface — were one-note and easy to anticipate. some of them were in space, some were in the future, some were...well actually most of them were in one or the other, but all of them were about technology and society, and they had simple things to say. after two story collections from chung i'd be interested in a novel — the ideas in this collection didn't seem like they had much else to go on.

Bora Chung's last release, Cursed Bunny, took the world by storm when it came out in 2021. I still think about some of the more shocking stories from that collection, like the toilet one (iykyk). Compared to those stories, Your Utopia is a bit tamer of a collection, but still with Chung's signature blend of speculative fiction and horror.

Overall, it was a pleasure diving back into Chung's storytelling. She is a master of telling a short story, drawing the reader quickly into the world she has created. Each one of the stories in these collections has some sort of "twist" partway through, transforming the initial premise into something more complex (and at times more sinister). For me, this worked better in some stories than in others.

One of my favorite stories included the title story, which I affectionately called "a darker, sadder Wall-E" in my notes. If you like personified robots, this will definitely be a story for you. I also really enjoyed "The End of the Voyage", which, like Your Utopia, has a definite science fiction vibe. "Maria, Gratia Plena" was another standout. With this story, Chung gives us a world where it is possible to read the minds of others and questions the ethics of that ability.

While there were a few of the stories that fell flat for me, including the last one in the collection, I was mostly engrossed in reading these stories. Personally, I liked Cursed Bunny better but I think there is a lot to like about Your Utopia as well!

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Your Utopia releases today!

I really loved Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, but this collection is quite different. It's less outright weird, with more futuristic dystopian storylines and more direct social commentary. It's way more speculative fiction / lite sci-fi instead of horror. I love futuristic fiction of all kinds so I still enjoyed this, but it didn't wow me quite as much. Cursed Bunny had me wondering how someone could come up with such weird shit, whereas Your Utopia felt like more familiar literary sci-fi. (Though I think if your favorite story of Cursed Bunny was “Goodbye, My Love,” then you might like this collection even better.)

I will say that the author's note at the end definitely adds a whole other layer to this collection as Chung explains her real-world inspiration for a few of the stories, with some of them directly referencing things that happened in South Korea that I'm assuming most Westerners hadn't heard of, because I sure didn't. I probably would have had a lower rating if it weren't for that note, but the context really grounded a few of the stories and made their purpose and themes more obvious to someone as ignorant as me.

My favorite story was "A Song for Sleep", which actually made me tear up a bit even though it was one of the shortest stories in the collection. I'm a sucker for stories about AIs reflecting on humanity. My next two favorite stories were "The Center for Immortality Research", which was one of the few blatantly satirical stories to actually make me laugh, and "A Very Ordinary Marriage", which was like a speculative fiction version of the horror in Cursed Bunny. My least favorite was "The End of the Voyage", but mostly because it was too long and predictable.

But regardless, I didn't rate any story below 3 stars, with most being 4 or above, and just a few at 3.5. So overall this was a pretty solid collection, even if it was a lot different than I expected. I still look forward to reading more from Bora Chung (and Anton Hur). :)

I am a huge fan of Cursed Bunny, and this new book by Bora Chung and translated by Anton Hur didn't disappoint! I loved how these stories showed perspectives via an AI lens and how that is and can be intertwined with and/or affect humanity. I loved all the stories in the book equally! I can't wait for the next book by the dynamic duo of Bora Chung and Anton Hur!

Thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for providing me an eARC!

Comfort zone sci-fi with fast-paced and accessible conversations around protecting the vulnerable and surviving loss. Your Utopia is silly and introspective, the hinged to Cursed Bunny's unhinged. The fascinating, heartbreaking author’s note was my favorite part and adds a lot of color to Bora Chung’s thought process.

Thank you so much to the publishers and NetGalley for this ARC! I was first introduced to Bora Chung through her renowned short story collection, Cursed Bunny — an electrifying compilation that was later shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize.

When I heard that Chung would be releasing a new collection seven years following the release of Cursed Bunny, I was more than excited to say the least. One thing I can truly attest about Chung's writing is that it is never boring, never trivial. Your Utopia continues with the eerie agony and thrill that Cursed Bunny infamously presented, but with a bit more social commentary on humanity as a whole in relation to capitalism and technology. (That's all to say if you love Black Mirror, this is perfect for you.)

Your Utopia is an adventure from start to finish — from a space voyage to escape a sweeping cannibalistic disease to a haunting marriage between a human and an alien (which if you enjoy the series Invincible, you will love the latter story). A few of the other stories touch on robots that develop connections to either a certain person or another robot, which felt very reminiscent of Spike Jonze's beautiful movie Her (2013). I feel that those stories were the most jarring because of their crucial sentiment. While Chung has mastered the ability to package the truth within a gut punch, she never fails to remind us of one singular thing: despite the horrors of this world and all that feels impending, there is somehow, somewhere, always a semblance of hope.

When I think about Chung, I envision her with a knife, not a pen; I think of her sharpness and delicacy in composing her (sometimes) nameless characters, her (always) harrowing endings. Most of all, I think of her capacity to write something so sermonic with such impermanence. She writes stories the way surgeons cut open bodies.

My favorite stories (+ some outstanding excerpts from each) were:
1. The End of the Voyage
"Maybe hope exists just because we think it to existence, and meaning is something you create on your own. But that's just an individual's subjective experience of faith. There's no guarantee that such subjective faith will be supported by the objective situation. Why should the myriad ways of the universe conspire to realize the will of a mere individual?"

2. A Song for Sleep
In a conversation between two robots, one attempts to determine the cure for death. When the all-knowing robot says there is none, the other responds: "Why? Why must humans continue to age and die? Why cannot humans be machines?"

3. Seed
This was such a stunning story about the negligence of corporations and capitalism and the carnage it leaves of nature in its wake. Even more, this felt like a reflection of indigeneity, the significance of connection with land. She speaks of seeds as weapons, hope as a leading catalyst. Chung writes, "'We put down roots here and we die. After we die, we become fertilizer for the next generation. That is our way.'"

Bora Chung, you will never cease to amaze me. 5/5 stars for Your Utopia — truly one of the best things I've ever read.

Thank you Algonquin Books for the ARC. Sometimes I'm in the mood for a quirky set of short stories that make me activate more than 2 brain cells. This fit the bill.

Bora Chung does it again!! I really loved Cursed Bunny, so I jumped at the chance to read Your Utopia.

This runs a wide gamut of science fiction in the eight included stories. Bora Chung’s writing is always wild and this didn’t disappoint. I was expecting more of the horror type stories, not aware this would be more set in sci-if, but it hit so hard. AI is something that totally freaks me out, so this was incredibly enjoyable for me.

This provides some really thought provoking and terrifying ideas and I enjoyed every moment! Each story was easily digestible, even with the sometimes horrific subject matter.

I highly recommend this one but I always do a terrible job reviewing anthology collections…

Thank you to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for this ARC.

I found Bora’s stories to be unique and filled with sci-fi elements that I enjoyed!
Some of my favorites were The end of the voyage, A very ordinary marriage, Your utopia and A song for sleep.

This was my first read by this author, but I have Cursed Bunny on my TBR!

This review was made possible by an ARC from NetGalley

Bora Chung’s Your Utopia is a collection of sci-fi stories that range from a virus causing people to leave Earth to commentary on capitalism to a sentiment car AI.

My two favorites were Seed and The End of the Voyage. Seed opens with five people landing on a planet, the inhabitants excited until the humans turn out to work for a corporation and are trying to find multiple ways to get the inhabitants in trouble with the courts, from water supply to soil. It’s a strong statement on capitalism and business vs. nature and how nature will find a way to prevail.

The End of the Voyage takes place in a near-distant future were a cannibalistic virus has taken over and a handful of selected humans have been chosen to head into space until the virus has been sorted out. This one takes on a layer of horror and I really liked how Chung handled the typical zombie virus story and made the infected polite and articulate.

I would recommend this anthology to fans of sci-fi short stories and readers looking for strong social critiques.

Weird, futuristic, techno-horror stories about what it means to be human. Some stellar stories in this collection!

This was a fantastic short story collection by Bora Chung. Having read Cursed Bunny, I was really excited to see what this author would do next. This collection did not disappoint and I think I liked this one a bit more. I loved the horror/scifi elements that were mixed into the stories. I think Bora Chung has a unique style and I can't wait to read more from them.

Bora Chung is one of the most creative and innovative writers I have read in a long time, and she delivers on this again in "Your Utopia." I love how she incorporates dark humor and horror into stories such as "A Very Ordinary Marriage," which is a funny and poignant story about aliens among us.

Incorporating themes such as AI, climate change and virus-scanning, this is also a very timely collection of stories.

I particularly enjoyed “The Center for Immortality Research,” a funny story about an employee at a firm that works towards eternal life.

The story of the old lady in "To Meet Her" was touching, especially with the real life connections shared in the afterword.

Excellent translation by Anton Hur.

Thanks to Netgalley and Algonquin Books for the eARC.

Your Utopia is a beautifully romantic interpretation of how humanity is interwoven with science and technology.

Each story allows readers to evaluate very real and timely developments in everyday life with the essence of what it means to feel alive, unique, and complex. The pain of being alive and the terror of the non-living blend in a natural and devastating series of accounts.

Bora Chung's masterful creation of each story demonstrates the brevity and anguish we are all victim to in life. Anton Hur's translation of Your Utopia presents readers with a flowing, surreal representation of beauty in an awful existence.

The most horrifying aspect of this collection is the normalcy. Little is more terrifying than the world we live in presently. It is the mundane and speculative that combine in these stories to leave readers second-guessing their routine because the future is not that far away.

On a personal note, I really appreciated the tiny references to biblical anecdotes: Noah's Ark, Adam and Eve, Hail Mary. These seemingly tiny allusions add significant commentary on human rationale.

Highly recommend.