Literary story about a young Korean-American, gay man who wakes from a nearly 2 year coma, and must navigate reconnecting with his estranged family, post-Covid society, and returning to the family's Korean/sushi restaurant that he'd walked away from 10 years ago. The pacing was slow, but the story was about emotions and not so much events.

The quick-witted narrator of this story, Jack Jr., has come out of a two-year coma to return to the family he fled ten years earlier. That family is a tight-knit Korean-American family whose members are involved to varying degrees in running a sushi restaurant. Yet even in this tight-knit family there are fractures with an attendant lack of communication. The family is quirky and engaging and running a sushi restaurant (a demanding family business) places the story in an interesting context. Over the course of the novel, Jack Jr. gradually finds his feet as he comes to understand what happened to those around him during his two-year sleep and figures out how to move forward, which is a lot about coming to terms with the past. Jack Jr. is entertaining and forthright as he carries the reader on his singular journey.

I'm sorry, this is a DNF for me. When the title of the first chapter and then first paragraph was full of obscenities, it was immediately disappointing. It's not a book I wanted to invest my time with reading.

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I Leave it Up to You shares the story of a young man as he recovers from an illness, awakening mid pandemic and returning unexpectedly to his Korean American family in New Jersey. I was really impressed by the unique plot and perspective of JJ's story. I was eager to know what happened but also happily paced by the way the story developed. I'll gladly seek out Chong's other book. This was a refreshing novel to read!

I debated whether I liked I Leave It Up to You while reading. I enjoy reading and reviewing literary books, and I sometimes thought this read like a romance. However, upon completion, I decided it qualified as literature when I considered the author's characterization and themes conveyed through the story. When the novel opens, we meet Jack Jr., waking from a two-year coma with his nurse, Emil Cuddy, at his side. Jack Jr. has missed two years of his life, most of the 2020 pandemic, and the changes it has brought to hospitals, communities, and his family's Korean sushi restaurant. Jack Jr. had been in a relationship with a man named Ren before his accident and coma. Early in the story, it becomes apparent that Ren has moved on to another love, and Jack becomes attracted to his nurse.

Jack, the first-person storyteller, is never just Jack. He is Jack Jr. In addition to the name, there is a solid connection to his father, Appa, even though Jack Jr. walked out on the family several years before his coma. Jack Jr. follows in his father's footsteps and plans to take over the sushi restaurant in Ft Lee, NJ, a Korean enclave. The father, mother, and brother spent countless hours in Jack Jr's hospital room when it wasn't clear whether he would wake. The family, like many others, suffers from strained relationships. Although Jack Jr.'s mother, Umma, works in the restaurant, she lives separately from Appa and has a man-friend named Jo. James, Jack Jr.'s brother, is married with a teenage son, Juno, and a baby named Sam. James is a recovering alcoholic and has difficulty communicating with the family, especially Juno. However, all family members have tacit ways of showing unconditional love.

Juno refers to Jack Jr. as Uncle JJ and confides in him. Juno represents the younger TikTok generation in the novel's generational plot points. Juno posts Jack Jr.'s story on TikTok and sets up a crowdsourcing account to help with the hospital bills and restaurant maintenance. Although this horrifies some, it develops the story while maintaining the strong family theme and also some humor about commodifying health conditions and sympathy marketing so popular among Juno's peers. Other themes include homophobia, racism, and ageism. Many of these messages are conveyed through dialogue, and I appreciate that. Jinwood Chong uses much dialogue and employs quotation marks in the old-fashioned way, which is something I appreciate.

One of Jack Jr.'s fondest memories from childhood is doing fish runs with Appa. They would go out very early in the morning and buy the best quality fish they could find for the restaurant at markets. Now, Juno accompanies them on the fish runs, and they provide significant time to bond. Of course, a literal fish run is often a pathway along streams and rivers, from the ocean to freshwater lakes and ponds, where fish travel to reproduce. On a symbolic level, the fish run was a beautiful expression that described Jack Jr.'s migratory nature and return. Juno has some of the same tendencies, and getting to know them made this an enjoyable and relatable read.

Thanks for the review copy. The best thing about this book is the cover. I tried my best to like this book but I just could not get into it. I’m sure others will like it more than me,

A coma can drastically alter a person’s perception of and interaction with the world around them, which a witty yet disoriented man navigates upon waking from his two-year coma in I Leave It Up to You by Jinwoo Chong.
Jack Jr. wakes from a coma after 23 months to a world very different from the one he remembers: his advertising job, Manhattan apartment, and partner are all gone but in their place are medical professionals bedecked in protective gear and his family, who he realizes he hasn’t really spoken with or seen in nearly ten years. Now reliant upon his family to help recover and rehabilitate himself, Jack Jr. rejoins the family sushi restaurant, Joja, which he had been set to inherit from his Appa before running away to the city before. While sliding back into the life he had previously left behind in Fort Lee, New Jersey and falling into some familiar patterns, Jack Jr. also takes up some new roles, including a budding romance with the nurse, Emil Cuddy, who was there when he woke up and an attempt at a sage uncle for his nephew and the young trainee at the restaurant. In navigating through territories both familiar and unfamiliar Jack Jr. reflects on the memories of what he had left and what this strange opportunity has presented him as he decides what he wants to pursue as his path forward.
In a witty and emotional exploration of relationships and the choices we make, or just go along with, that impact how they develop, this story portrays the various characters in detail, making it easy to become invested in them despite the wide range of ages and interests they represent. Jack Jr.’s personality, most notably shown through his sense of humor, is displayed well throughout the narrative as a much-needed and well-deployed contrast that tempers the heavier subject matter of both health-related traumas, both his and that of others, and the bearing the weight of familial expectations, actual or imagined. The dynamics depicted in the various interpersonal relationships, particularly the familial ones, were realistic with the niggling, frustrating conflicts that arose and persisted for seemingly no substantive reason, and the supportive interactions offered just the right amount of touching sentimentality before the mood was reset by a well-timed joke.
Overall, I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Jack Jr. wakes, His life has completely changed. He has been in a coma and and the world has passed him by. He has no time to grieve the loss of his high powered job, beautiful apartment and the love of his life as his Korean family scoops him up and takes him back home to New Jersey. Before long he is working in his father's Sushi restaurant. and dealing first hand with the pent up anger he has held for his family members, especially his brother.

Jack Jr. settles in and finds himself facing the unique opportunity of a second chance - at love, at life, at family. Will he take it? A funny, complicated and altogether entertaining story for anyone who tries to escape their hereditary.
#ballantine #ranomhouse #ileaveituptoyou #jinwoochong

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC.

I loved everything about this book. The characterization, the humor, the writing style, every single different relationship dynamic explored. Jack Jr. felt so real and human and I was so attached to him by the end that I had a hard time letting myself finish this book because I wanted to stay in this world a little longer.

It can be difficult to touch on certain current events and world issues in books/movies/media but this book handled it perfectly, in a way that felt natural and relevant.

Some of this book was deeply sad, heartbreaking even, but it was so realistic at the same time. Jack Jr.'s healing journey was beautiful to go on with him. I adored the ending. Without giving it away, it was hopeful and satisfying without feeling forced. It was more or less exactly what I was crossing my fingers for.

I could go on and on about how much I loved this. I highly, highly recommend it. But be prepared to start craving sushi because this book also made me incredibly hungry. The food descriptions were delicious.

I loved this book. Chong is such an amazing writer. The book has such poetic writing and I loved the writing style. This boom really made fall in love with Chong’s writing.

Imagine going about your life and suddenly, you wake up from a coma and it’s been a significant amount of time. Your partner has moved on and you’re stuck in your home state that you worked so hard to get out of, going back to live at home and working at the family business.

It felt like Jack Jr. was on his way to the life he always wanted. And after a tragic accident puts him in a coma, his world looks drastically different when he wakes up. Maneuvering through rifts in family dynamics, loss and grief, and a possible new relationship, Jack is just trying to hold onto something.

Trying to get back in his feet after the arduous recovery process, he joins his family working in their sushi restaurant, but it’s a flailing endeavor. He discovers he really wants to help. While tethers are frayed, his family is this vibrant presence. He is learning how to exist all over again, realizing that it never too late to go back home.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

WOW what a great story!! This one was hard to put down. I finished it in one sitting.

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 5/5

Loved this unusual book about family, culture, relationships, and … Korean style sushi — all told in a heartfelt, reflective, and often humorous style.

Jack Jr. wakes up from a nearly two year coma to a fair amount of confusion and a deeply interrupted life. So interrupted that his job, apartment, and husband seem to have all disappeared while his family — whom he hadn’t spoken to in years — seems reluctant to give him the information he needs. What follows is a kind of coming-to-age-redux story, as he in many ways has to start over again — forced to revisit familial relationships and previous life choices.

I loved the characters — all deeply drawn, realistic, and appealing (to me); I loved the personal and insightful description of working the sushi restaurant — everything from the creative new dishes to the “fish run” at o’dark thirty AM; and I really loved the clashes between cultural, familial, and internal expectations — also know as “family dynamics.”

I gobbled it up.

I love sushi but I never expected to love a novel about a Korean sushi chef. And the entire novel was pure delight to read. However, I must advise that those who are offended by "language" or reading about Gay love may not find this book to their liking. I loved it.

The novel begins with JJ (short for Jack Jr.) awakening from a 23-month coma after having been rescued from a car that had fallen into the Hudson River. His male nurse is shocked to discover his patient struggling to cough up his ventilator tube. JJ is soon surrounded by surprised medical staff. He awakes during the tail end of the Covid pandemic, having no idea what happened.

Before long, we meet his entire family. JJ Sr. runs a sushi restaurant in Fort Lee, New Jersey. His parents live apart though they work together, and we meet his older brother, sister-in-law and their teen age and infant sons. There are unresolved conflicts, untold secrets, and money problems. We learn how a Korean man learns to become a skilled sushi chef and how he has taught his son as well.

Jack Jr. is a complex character who, while making a miraculous recovery, still faces difficulties. He falls in love with his male nurse from the hospital but that too brings complications. His teen nephew Juno posts JJ's story on Tik Tok and it gains many followers and a Go Fund Me account. Another local youngster, Zeno, wants to be an apprentice Sushi creator.

I know this sounds like a lot, but every page contains information about fish you never knew (like how it's bought, cut, stored and turned into miraculous food. The process is unfamiliar, yet incredibly real. The family's problems, pain and misunderstanding work towards revelations and solutions as Jack Jr., his family and possible love work out their lives. It's fascinating and immersive reading. This, Chong's second novel, is so alive and moving that I plan to read his first one. Thank you to Net Galley and Ballantine for introducing me to a fine young author.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this!

This is the story of Jack Jr, who wakes up from a two year coma and has to figure out how his life will continue on from there and how to fill in the gaps from the time he has missed.

I loved this book. The characters were well written and I cared about them all. This kind of story always makes you think about your own life and the things we take for granted, and this book was no exception to that.

#ILeaveItUptoYou #NetGalley.
Spoiler Free Review
Wow, this book was a breath of fresh air. Imagine waking up from a coma after two years of slumber and the world around you has completely changed. That personally sounds like my own personal hell but this story was unexpectedly charming. Of course when our protagonist, Jack, wakes up he has nothing and he has to try and return to a life that was "broken" in a sense. His family dynamics were complicated as well as his relationship with his ex, who takes him in. But what I loved about this book was that even though there was dysfunction in Jack's relationships we really get to see that he has a village of people who genuinely love him. I was rooting for him on every page and the ending was so beautiful I actually cried. This is the perfect book to cuddle up with this autumn.

This was a beautifully done story about a man coming out of a coma, it had that element that I was expecting from this type of book. It was a beautifully done story with realistic characters and was invested in what was happening to Jack Jr. Jinwoo Chong wrote this perfectly and it left me wanting to read more from them. I thought it worked with telling the story that it needed to and that character development worked overall.

Thanks to Random House/Ballantine and NetGalley for this digital ARC of Jinwoo Chong's 'I Leave it Up to You.'

This is a delightfully enjoyable tale of a Jack Jr., young Korean-American gay man emerging from a near two-year coma to a different reality. No job, no home, no fiancée, no money, little hope, and a facing into an almost post-Covid world - a pandemic he almost completely missed. He moves back to the family home and restaurant to try to reset.

This could've turned into a depressing, bitter narrative but the author skillfully turns it into a funny, joyous story three (maybe four) generations of a family and their friends who are forced to confront their past, present, and future and - in the way of the human condition - it can get messy. There's a love story, family drama and, sure, maybe in real life there'd be different reactions and outcomes but Jinwoo Chong writes this journey that they're all on so beautifully that it's completely believable. Each character is drawn in surprising depth and we get a decent perspective of life in the Korean-American enclave of Fort Lee, NJ.

This would make a fine and enjoyable TV series, I hope someone picks this up. I'd love to see Jack Jr., Jack Sr., Emil, Ari, Juno, Noa, and all of the others again either in that TV series or a sequel to this novel.

Congratulations to Jinwoo Chong - wishing you the best of success.

This is a lovely story about reconnecting with your family because of a major event. I really enjoyed seeing JJ figure out his sometimes strained relationships and find his place. There’s a slight suspension of disbelief needed for the time line of recovery but outside of that it doesn’t hinder what is a really endearing story overall. They are a really easy family to root for.

This is such a sweet, charming book. Jack Jr.’s situation is at once totally unrelatable and yet sympathetic, and his reaction feels totally real. I loved reading about the behind the scenes of running a sushi restaurant and his relationship with his family.