It was such a beautiful and sensitive short novel and I loved the magical realism involved. It focuses mainly on two characters Eungyo and Mujae and their everyday lives living in a poor urban area slowly undergoing gentrification. It becomes clear, however, that the lives of those living in this situation cannot be replaced or 'sold out' and the prose and concept of the magical realism beautifully depicts the suffering the working class people are exposed to.
The beginning of the book opens up to the idea of shadows as almost living creatures hidden behind you until through hurt, pain, grief the shadows grow and, if you let them, will lead you beyond hope and ultimately devour you. In essence, don't follow your shadow. Within the darkness of the book, however, there is a sense of light following the two main characters as they begin to love each other and if you love reading soft moments within romance, this book is full of them. I loved the characters and the stories they tell each other along with their unspoken desire to help each other when their shadows start to grow. I also loved how in an environment wasting away from a loss of community after local businesses are forced to move, the novel remained centred around the idea that even when your shadow "offers death as an invitation," there are still those to hold your hand in the darkness.

I would recommend this book to anyone if they would like a short book to read in one sitting. Even though the novel doesn't have a definitive ending, it was better for it in my opinion. The book focuses more on emotion and the characters rather than plot and I thought the ending was perfect and very heartfelt.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC of this book and the chance to write a review on it!

One Hundred Shadows is a strange, quick and accessible read, thanks to its straightforward language and manageable length. The story centers on two young, impoverished workers in Seoul, Korea, whose shadows begin to lift as they struggle with the pressures of their lives. At times, the narrative evokes the atmosphere of a dark Studio Ghibli film.

To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. It took some time for me to fully engage with the story. However, the social commentary stood out, particularly moments like, “I wonder if they call this kind of place a slum, because if you called it someone's home or their livelihood, that would make things awkward when it comes to tearing it down.” That commentary exists not only in dialogue though, it seeps through the entire novel. The perfect day the protagonists shared toward the end of the novel struck a chord with me. For them, a simple hike to enjoy a view and a delicious fish soup at a restaurant was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime experience. But for me, those moments are easily within reach—Just last week I went on a nighttime hike with friends, we climbed an eight-story tower in the forest to be close to the stars and clouds, and the next night my parents took me out to a restaurant. While we might both appreciate such a perfect day, the difference is striking—I can enjoy these moments regularly, while for them, it remains an elusive, almost unattainable dream. This disparity underscores the deep inequalities that persist, making their fleeting happiness all the more poignant.

The two protagonists felt authentic and fit well within the dark fairytale setting of the novel. The tone was often quite detached, many times the book was still poetic though. For example, the dialogue, “Of course it’s dark, it’s nighttime.” – “But it’s so dark it doesn’t seem possible that we’ll make it somewhere bright,” captures the blend of melancholy and lyricism that runs through the story. The ending, in particular, is haunting and left me wondering.

All in all, One Hundred Shadows is an astonishing debut novel, though it didn’t quite hit the mark for me personally. Rating: 2.25/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting and it’s such an important story to tell. However, I found the issues with formatting to be too numerous to get past and fully immerse myself in the story and it kept me from being able to fully enjoy it. I hope these are fixed.

This was, unfortunately, a miss for me. As someone who usually loves translated works, I can honestly say something must have gotten lost in translation. From the elementary-style dialogue, lack of true plot, and flat characters, I sadly felt the book’s powerful concept was outweighed by its poor execution. This book may land well with others, but I was extremely interested in seeing a more haunting experience of the shadows, which I didn’t get.

I was looking for a more in-depth exploration and comparison of how the oppressed communities in this book are being devastated—much like the resiliency of people, individually and communally, being overcome by the complacent and removable forms left behind—the shadows. Instead, the book felt mundane, and our two main characters felt repetitive and disjointed. The author missed the opportunity to better expand on the shadows and their mythos. Instead, we are left with what feels like two disconnected stories.

I understand that some of the repetitive and mundane prose is meant to mirror that of the bleak dystopian scene, but the characters don’t feel crafted well enough to carry this message. This book felt more like a slow love story centered around human connection’s ability to persevere than the book I was hoping to read.

But thank you to Netgalley & Erewhon Books for this digital arc

I read the first half of this novella (courtesy of Netgalley) on a day I was really tired. I have to say the general bleak atmosphere made such a deep impression on me that I had to close it. I couldn't take it any more, I found some dialogues repetitive and the atmosphere was just too oppressive. The story felt weird.
This morning, freshly rested, I picked it back up and this changed my outlook. I read the second half with my heart bleeding for the characters.

Enjoyable this book is not, social criticism it is. The story is about the little people living in the slums of Seoul and what their life is. Practically born with debts (those of their parents), the way Korean society works, they have no choice but to make more debts and live only to pay the interests. The characters we meet work in a building about to be taken down, they are small shopkeepers, employees, old, young, in crowded workplaces, with rotten windows. The atmosphere is stuffy, decaying, there is no room for light or air, as much as there is no hope for every one of them. There is a sharp contrast between their world and that of businessmen, the modern world around them that's closing in, progress. The dialogues are few and mostly stuck in a circle, reinforcing the feeling of hopelessness, of them having abandoned their dreams - if they had any to begin with.

However, near the end, the two young lovers escape for a day of sunshine, sea, mountain, food, that give us a glimpse of what their life could be. Of course, it's not as simple as that...
I was struck by the relationships between all characters, it's not obvious, they are just aware of the humanity of those around them. Despite the bleakness, their interactions felt good and warm.

The whole story is told with a metaphor using a touch of magical realism. I don't think I'll read this book again, but I will follow this author. She was able, in a few pages, to paint despair with poetry and the more I read, the more I was sucked in by a tale full of darkness.

I opened it up to the first page this morning, figuring I'd read a chapter or two before working on other things, but I ended up finishing it. A short, melancholic story about impoverished living and the toll it takes on people's spirits as they are constantly weighed down by trying to scrape by a living in a system that will happily discard them as if they're worthless. Even then, there is happiness that can be carved out even in desolate situation and that's mirrored well in Eungyo and Mujae and the quiet love they have for each other.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for sending me an early copy of this translation of One Hundred Shadows. This series of short stories will live rent free in my mind for the rest of my life. I've found it hard to put into words all of the things this book made me feel. I loved following the characters through each day and could feel every emotion that was intended to be conveyed. I've held of on writing this review in hopes of gather my thoughts and feelings a bit more, but this was written in such a way that I don't think that will happen. I highly recommend this read, it's quite short but will sit with you for a very long time

“I wonder if they call this kind of place a slum, because if you called it someone’s home or their livelihood that would make things awkward when it comes to tearing it down.”

This is an unsettling, almost fever dream of a book, about the cost of capitalism and the people who get pushed aside in the march for progress. This book was sad and strange, but it still offers glimmers of hope through the way characters come together and care for each other, even when life is at its bleakest.

"But it's so dark it doesn't seem possible that we'll make it to somewhere bright."

I find the concept of the book fascinating, unfortunately the execution falls short that it feels bland. The characters fail to make me care about them even for the slightest bit and I am still sad to think about it. It's not necessarily bad though, just doesn't really fit my taste.

The story did not hold my interest. The dialog seemed to drag on beyond its fictional purpose. The prose style felt choppy and simplistic to me. Not much happened, for too long. Sorry to not be more upbeat but this story was not for me.

I feel a little lost in translation.

One Hundred Shadows is about a community at risk of losing itself. I don't think the shadow metaphor worked and the plot (or lack thereof) went nowhere. I finished this book thinking - wait what did I just read?

This novel proves that speculative stories can be subtle, quiet, slice-of-life type stories and that melancholia can sometimes feel cozy. Our main character is Eungyo and she is experiencing romantic tension with her friend, Mujae. Or is she? They live in a world where people’s shadows can rise up, becoming entities that cast an eerie influence over people. This fact of life disturbs Eungyo and many of the people she interacts with. But, for the most part, Eungyo goes about her day-to-day life. She helps Mr. Yeo run his tiny electronics shop, eats deliciously described Korean food, and observes the changes and shadows appearing around her. This is a slim book that is packed with symbolism. Reading this book sometimes feels like looking into a snow globe and…wait…the snowflakes are tiny tufts of darkness.

Dear Author,

I cannot describe my feelings upon finishing your book. I fear it may take a second reading before I do. It was well written—a love story in the midst of tragedy in a post-apocalyptic Seoul suburb. I was there with the characters as they tried to navigate this sad world, wishing for them a brighter, less bleak future. I did enjoy it. And I will be reading it again.

Yours truly,
J. D. McCoughtry

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishers for the chance to listen to this e-arc.

I'm either not smart enough about this book or something (everything) was lost in translation or it's actually not great.

The whole book is just vibing in the head of the main character, a poor very young woman, going to work and flirting with the supporting character, a young college dropout. They're poor. They go to work. They eat together a lot.

The dialogue is bare bones, repetitive, and overly simple.

The whole thing about the shadows never came together for me. Maybe it's something cultural, some myth I don't know? But through the whole book, the shadow thing teeters on the edge of paranormal but never quite makes the jump.

I received an e-arc from NetGalley and Erewhon Books to read and review voluntarily and honestly. Because this was an unfinished digital copy, I'm not sure if the strange format is how the novel is intended to be written or lack of formatting for publication; however, if that's how it actually is, then take away more stars for the awful lack of line breaks and quotation marks.

A short slice of life with a dream-like atmosphere, and a window to Korean culture. Nothing much happens other than the characters going through their dreary lives amid some changes. Not a bad book, but not entirely engaging either, and it would’ve been easier to follow with dialogue tags. Definitely more literary than a genre book, despite having some fantasy elements.

So this wasn’t what i thought it would be. It read like a bunch of short stories between Eungyo and Mujae as they live their lives and tell each other stories while pining for one another. The chapters were super quick and was the book but i just couldn’t really get into it. The ending was also annoyingly vague and you don’t really know how Eungyo and Mujae are gonna end up.

I love when literature gets a little weird, and found that Korean writers often do that exceptionally well - and Jung Yewon’s translation of Hwang Jungeun’s One Hundred Shadows did not disappoint in that regard. With comparisons drawn to The Memory Police, which still occupies its own corner in my brain years after reading it, my expectations were high going in and met coming out.

The story follows a near-world where our first person narrator paints a picture of a bleak but magic-touched existence, the capitalist society they inhabit, and the not-quite-romance that builds necessary connection in the novel’s short run. If you like unsettling, real views of small human moments and unanswered questions, this is a read worth picking up. If you struggle with stylistically missing dialogue tags, it may not be. This feels like a book I’ll want to return to with time and perspective, to chew over more thoroughly - and that makes it a success in my eyes.

Lower end of three stars. While the shadow aspect was fascinating and the social commentary deeply felt, I struggled with the prose and readability. As a result it was tough to get through for a novella, and it leaned more literary fiction than horror as I had anticipated.

Hwang Jungeun’s novel is inspired by the 2009 Yongsan incident, where residents protesting redevelopment in Seoul faced deadly police action. The novel serves as a memorial to these events and is set in a tightly-knit electronics market in central Seoul, highlighting the struggles of the working poor. It follows Eungyo, a repair shop assistant, and Mujae, a workshop worker, whose budding relationship provides a glimpse into their community.

Hwang uses an element—shadows that act independently, growing monstrous or behaving like twins. These shadows represent unspoken traumas and anxieties, rising when characters are overwhelmed, creating space for open discussions about taboo topics.

Hwang portrays a world out of balance, where nature and low-status individuals are marginalized. However, I did not feel a deep connection with any of the characters and the writing style is somewhat confusing when it came down to the dialogue. The market faces threats from developers, symbolizing a clash with a consumerist society. However, there are suggestions of hope and character bonding throughout the novel.

An unusual novella of literary magical realism that leans hard into social commentary. There's no real plot but rather snippets about life in a slum that's being destroyed in favor of gentrification- and the shadows of people. Eungyo and Mujae meet and bond in this strange world but we never really get to know them. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. Over to others.