This young adult book (13 and up) is set primarily in South Korea, centered around one of the protagonist’s mother’s clinic, Sori of Us Clinic (Sori Clinic run by Dr. Bae), a memory removal center. When Yena Bae, Dr. Bae’s daughter, comes to the clinic to work for the summer from her home with her dad in Canada, she is troubled by memories herself; memories mostly of her best friend and possibly first love, Lucas, who seemingly dumped her and disappeared when he moved to another province of Canada. All attempts at contact were met with silence. Years later she still remembers Lucas, and working in her mother’s “mixtape archive” in the clinic, runs across a mix of sounds that remind her exactly of her times with Lucas. Could it be a coincidence? The tape turns out to be his. How could he have possibly wanted to remove all memories of her? Why?

When she meets Lucas by accident outside the clinic, the mystery deepens, as do her memories of their time together and her longing to have him as her best friend again. Perhaps more than a friend…. Lucas remembers nothing of her existence. Can she remind him? What would happen to him?

And what about Lucas’s grandfather, whom Lucas wants to participate in the clinic’s new retrieval of memories study they are proposing to do. Can Lucas get his grandfather into the already booked-up study before he has to go back to Canada? Yena wants to help but can’t reveal herself as knowing the family previously.

In getting to know Lucas, Yena learns more about herself, her own memories, and what the Sori Clinic is really doing and has done in the past.

Sprinkled with chapters told from the point of view of the memory soundscape tapes themselves (a popcorn machine, a film projector, an ice cream truck, etc.), chapters alternate between Yena and Lucas. The mechanism of memory being tied to sounds isn’t a new one in neuroscience, it’s used to good purpose here and is easily accessible to younger readers. The twist in the book isn’t what you think it will be, and the characters are well drawn. Altogether an engaging read, a quick read, and a satisfying book. I would recommend this to any young adult interested in stories about relationships (both romantic and friendship), Korean culture and food (which is used lightly but to very good effect), and what makes us us — our memories.

The book description caught my eye immediately, and I was so excited to get an ARC for it. This is the first book I’ve ever read by Sarah Suk, and it was an interesting one too.

Her writing style is phenomenal. I loved chapters of their sounds coming to life, giving us the background of our characters in such a different way. Once I started the book, I wasn’t able to stop.

I loved the Sci-Fi aspect of it all too. The idea of a clinic that can erase and bring back memories is such an interesting and unique concept that Suk brings to life incredibly well.

I really enjoyed the dual POV’s because seeing Yena’s grief of realizing her best friend forgot about her and seeing Lucas realize there’s something about Yena that’s extremely familiar was incredibly to dive into.

Yena and Lucas reconnecting made my heart hurt, especially when looking in through Yena’s perspective. Their story was beautiful and one I will never be able to forget. This book made me extremely emotional, and I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC, and thank you to Sarah Suk for this incredible book.

I absolutely adored Suk's sophomore last year, and when I became of this book's existence, I knew I could not miss out. Even though it didn't quite live up to my reading experience with The Space Between Here & Now, this was still a really good book!

The premise of the book is incredible. 'If we had the technology to erase memories, should we use it? If so, what are the consequences?' I really feel like Suk took that concept and ran with it. I really loved the different perspectives we get from various side characters, specifically Yena's co-workers at the memory clinic, who were affected when their loved one erased their memories, with the heartache and troubles that came after they made that decision. It was my favorite parts of the book because it really made them stand out while fleshing out the worldbuilding. The book really does a wonderful job in making you question if this technology would do good, or if it's ethical, in general.

Yena and Lucas are also great leads. Their voices stand out in their respective POV, and the layer of their relationship, with Yena having their whole history and Lucas not having an ounce of it, makes every interaction between them rightfully sad and a tiny bit angsty. The mystery of the reason behind Lucas' memory loss really kept me invested, especially when it came to both of their parents who were obviously keeping very big secrets from our leads. I already mentioned Yena's co-workers, but Lucas' grandfather is another huge character highlight, too. Anyone who's had a relative with Alzheimer's, dementia, etc. would find the relationship between Lucas and his grandfather to be one of the biggest emotional centers of the book.

Overall, another great contemporary sci-fi from Suk. I love sci-fis that focus on character rather than the worldbuilding but still are able to balance between the two, and I personally believe Suk achieves that balance so well. I can only hope to see more like this and The Space Between Here & Now from her in the future

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Meet Me at Blue Hour by Sarah Suk is a first person multi-POV YA contemporary sci-fi romance exploring the price of memories set in Busan, South Korea. Newly graduated Yena Bae is spending the summer with her, a famous doctor who runs a memory clinic based on sounds (the Sori Clinic for short). When she runs into her childhood best friend and first love, Lucas, she sees her chance to rekindle their friendship only to learn that he has no idea who she is.

The technology and the structure of the novel are firmly married together. After one chapter from Yena and one chapter from Lucas, we get a chapter from the POV of one of the sounds that was used to take away Lucas’ memories. The personification of the sounds allows us to see the development of Yena and Lucas’ relationship, from when they first became friends to before Lucas disappeared, through the lens of the objects and places that helped define their relationship. Because it’s outside of Yena and Lucas’ heads and outside of the POV of their parents, it’s more the POV of an outsider looking in and observing a brief moment in time. It’s very cool and I’d be curious to read an entire book using this structure from Sarah Suk.

Lucas’ grandfather, Harabeoji, has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and has started to lose his memories. Lucas wants Harabeoji to get treatment at Dr. Bae’s clinic, treatment that Harabeoji is quite resistant to despite the promise of what Dr. Bae’s research has shown in studies. This hit me really hard as I lost my grandfather to Alzeheomer’s and I believe he would have felt exactly the same as Harabeoji: that as scary as getting older and losing your memories is, maybe there are some things we shouldn’t be tampering with. I’m fascinated by the concept of using sound to help people keep their memories or lose them, but I do agree with the book’s thesis statement that even if technology is designed to do good, people can still abuse it.

One of the things I really liked about Yena’s POV was that she referred to her father as Dad and her mother as Dr. Bae in her head. It conveys a strong distance between her and her mother that might have gotten worse since her parents’ divorce but given her mother’s work-driven habits, that distance could have always been there. I also liked how Yena is so stuck in her head because she can’t move on from the loss of Lucas but she also knows that something has to give and maybe she has to make some changes to her life.

I would recommend this to fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind who would love something more romance genre-leaning and those looking for a YA that explores possible technological advances in relation to memories or sounds

I’m a sucker for stories that break my heart in a million pieces and then mend it together again. Meet Me at Blue Hour is such a story.

Sarah Suk’s writing is gorgeous and immediately pulled me in. This story has so much to offer, including grief, healing, and character growth. Books with dual POVs are my favorite, and I adored both the MCs (even though my heart was with Lucas the most).

I highly, highly recommend this incredible story! Actual rating 4.5 stars.

Sarah Suk brings us the story of Korean Canadian, Yena, visiting her mother in Busan for the summer. When her work at her mother's memory clinic creates the opportunity for a chance encounter with her long lost childhood soulmate, Lucas, Yena struggles to understand why he has no memory of her.
Their newly re-developing friendship (maybe more...) raises many philosophical questions about the work her mother's cutting edge lab is doing both to recover lost memories and to erase painful ones. The novel is in many ways a love letter to Busan as Yaena and Lucas venture through the city to collect sounds related to experiences they share. The friendship and butterflies that develop throughout give readers a backdrop to a complex, slightly sci-fi plot. At the heart of it all are these questions: If we experience loss, would it be worth it to erase all memory of that lost love to save us from pain? What happens to the people left behind in the memories?

As a fan of Sarah Suk's other two novels, _Made in Korea_ and _The Space Between Here and Now_, this title was much anticipated to say the least. I was happy to encounter the elements of Suk's writing I love most alongside new approaches to storytelling and a deeply thought provoking plot. Suk populates the novel with characters that are interesting and flawed, yet ultimately good people. Though the key sense here is sound, Suk takes readers along for this gorgeous ride with rich sensory detail. The alternating narrative voices create deeply sympathetic characters and Suk's experimentation with narratives by inanimate objects were a refreshing risk in the YA genre.

Looking forward to giving this another read! Loved it so much.

Yena Bae had a best friend, years ago. They were inseparable. But then, Lucas had to leave Vancouver to move to Edmonton with his family. Yena tried to keep in touch, but he never wrote or texted back. It was as though he had vanished.


Lucas has been having dreams of drowning, yet this never happened to him.


The two run, literally, into each other in South Korea when Yena is visiting hermother, a famous scientist who has been doing studies on memory.


Yena recognizes Lucas. Lucas does not recognize Yena. What has happened?


Interesting take on memory and what it does to those who keep memories, as well as though who lose them. I loved how, told in two voices, the two tried to work why they both seemed familiar to each other (although, granted Yena’s mystery was why Lucas had forgotten).


I ripped right through this novel, thoroughly enjoying it. I loved the two distinctive voices of the dual protagonists.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 1st of April 2025.

Such a fun read! Highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Amazing book love the character development and the plot line. Will definitely recommend to friends and family

Oh...oh wow. This was lovely. Poignant writing in a highly emotional story of love and grief and growth. The author did an amazing job of both drawing out the reader's emotions, as well as drawing connection and sympathy from the reader to the characters. It really shatters and heals your heart in one go.

I was already hooked when they said that <i>Meet Me at Blue Hour</i> was if <i>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</i> meets <i>Past Lives</i>. Like we already know it's gonna be a beautiful story, and it truly did not disappoint.

The summer after high school, Yena goes to Busan, South Korea to work at her mom's clinic, which erases memories through sound. She has felt lost and disconnected from everything ever since her best friend Lucas moved away without a word. Fate would have it, and she bumps into him in Busan. Lucas is visiting this summer to spend more time with his grandpa who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and he also has a plan to get him into the clinic's new memory recovery study program. Yena realizes that Lucas had his memories of her erased at her mom's clinic, but she has no idea why. As they reconnect, they find themselves being pulled towards each other again and towards answers that may be more heartaching than they remembered.

The writing of this book is so so pretty and beautiful. I love that Suk includes both Yena's and Lucas' perspectives in addition to the perspectives of the sounds that formed the mundane, but essential, parts of their relationships. Relationships between two people are just that, between them two, but it is more beautiful when this relationship has witnesses, and these sounds had accompanied Yena's and Lucas' relationship from the very beginning. The romance in this book is so top tier, I love love LOVE YA romances <3 Like catch me highlighting everything that Lucas does and says in pink.

A lot of times, we feel very disconnected from our own lives for inexplicable reasons from the past. It's like feeling a pull but not remembering or knowing what it really is. It's just there and you can't ignore it because it has such a strong effect on you. This book captures that muddy, suffocating, but also, hopeful feeling. For people who believe in past lives, reincarnation, soulmates etc., maybe when we feel pulled towards certain people, it is because we had deep connections with them in the past but forgot them during reincarnation. It is why we might feel that inexplainable pull towards some people.

<i>Meet Me at Blue Hour</i> guides the readers so meticulously, unraveling bits and pieces to form this heartwrenching love story. This story shines light on the inextricable relationship between memory and people, exploring the many layers that come with memory loss, identity, loneliness, grief, and most of all, love. I highly highly recommend this book!!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books/Quill Tree Books for an e-ARC of this book!

alsoooooo . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.⋆｡°✩. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.⋆｡°✩. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.⋆｡°✩. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.⋆｡°✩
because this book is all about sounds and the collection of sounds that form memory, here are some songs that reminded me of this book <3
⋆˙⟡ love you with all my heart by crush
⟡⋆˙ tsunami by niki
⋆˙⟡ first love by hikaru utada
⟡⋆˙ love song by lana del rey
⋆˙⟡ sudden shower by eclipse

This book's got the power to smash up your heart and put it back in one piece again!!!
A poignant and captivating tale of love, loss, and memory. Yena and Lucas's story will tug at your heartstrings and leave you pondering the complexities of human connection. Sarah masterfully weaves together themes of identity, grief, and redemption, set against the vibrant backdrop of Busan, South Korea. The journey from disconnection to self-discovery is beautifully rendered, and her chemistry between the mcs is undeniable.

The exploration of memory and its impact on relationships is fascinating, and the supporting characters add depth and nuance to the narrative. The writing is evocative and immersive, making it easy to become fully invested in Yena and Lucas's story. The scenes and sounds of Busan are described in such a way that makes us feel as of we are living through those moments ourselves.

This book is a must-read for fans of contemporary romance and anyone looking for a story that will resonate long after the final page is turned. Be prepared for a emotional rollercoaster that will leave you smiling through tears.