Jack Jr wakes up in a hospital bed with no memory of how he got there. What he does find out is that he’s been in a coma for almost 2 years and that he hasn’t seen his family for almost 10. As he is released from the hospital, he decides to return to Fort Lee, New Jersey with his father and his sushi restaurant. As he rebuilds his life, he also realizes he needs to rebuild his relationships with all of his family.

This is a solid story about a man figuring out who he is when he doesn’t really remember who he was. Jack Jr. missed the hardest part of COVID and trying to help his family with their restaurant that was struggling before the shutdowns is a challenge since he doesn’t know what went on. I liked how this was addressed but also talked about as someone who didn’t get it. Through the story, Jack Jr. meets a few new people in his life that didn’t know him before. I loved his relationship with his nephew, as it felt very genuine and real.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Available March 4, 2025.

I enjoyed reading "I Leave It Up To You" for its premise: an Asian-American gay man awakened from being comatose and found himself having to learn how to live and love again. There's the messiness of being Asian with all the cultural obstacles, secrets being kept from him by his family, desperately trying to find out what happened in his past life, etc. What I did not enjoy as much was the uneven pacing. The book started off with a bang. It was easy to turn the pages during the first quarter of the book...intense and edgy. Then it went into a long lull that made me want to stop reading. Not until the last quarter did the pace pick back up again. This book has its moments. Thanks to NetGalley for the courtesy read.

4⭐️

**Thank you Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC**

TW: story does reference COVID 19 pandemic

Jack Jr. has just woken up from a nearly 2 year coma. The world is post Covid pandemic. His fiancé is gone. He is going to be living and recovering with his somewhat estranged family. Life is complicated. Jack Jr. does the only thing he knows to do: work in his father’s sushi shop. He works to rebuild family ties and figure out what he wants from life.

This book is so well written. It has depth and really creates a group of characters you get to know. However, there are some moments that are so full of thought and almost run on concepts that I would have to stop and reread to understand what it was saying. The dialog is wonderful. At times it’s full of banter and makes you laugh out loud. Juno, Jack Jr.’s nephew, is the perfect person to bring humor but also make them all stop and reevaluate themselves.

Highly recommend this book.

Really enjoyed this. Excellent family drama with nice characters. Good to see a family getting along well after divorce. Jack Jr’s story was a sad one but it felt real and honest.

RATING: 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars

Thank you to the Jinwoo Chong, Netgalley, and Random House for a copy of an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel as if it has been forever since I willingly read an adult contemporary/literary fiction novel for leisure. As a fan of Asian cuisine, an advocate for Asian American characters in novels, and a continuous seeker for LGBT media, I Leave It Up to You ended up checking all criteria and has made me want to read more non-romance focused contemporary books.

The story follows the aftermath of Jack Jr's awakening from a coma. Waking up in a reality post-COVID era, he finds that his life has changed forever. His fiance has left him, he no longer has his big city career, and he's forced to move back home with his family in New Jersey. From there, Jack Jr. gradually gains his passion back for sushi-making as he aids his father in saving their struggling restaurant from closure.

It's definitely refreshing to read a book that's rooted in themes of family bonds and Asian identity, with just a smudge of an MLM romance. I enjoyed Jack Jr's cynical humor and being shown the various relationships he has with various characters-- from the strain of his relationship with his brother, to the uncle-nephew bond he has with Juno, to the slow friendship he has with Emil. I also liked the glimpses of Jack Jr.'s past, serving as pieces to explore the reason why Jack Jr. abandoned his original goal to take over the family restaurant.

I did wish Jack Jr.'s conversation with Ren happened a little sooner than I did. While I was invested in the mystery behind what their relationship was like prior to the accident, I think having their encounter earlier in the book could have helped with adding more development with Jack Jr. and Emil's romance. Nonetheless, this didn't take away too much of my overall love for this book and would highly recommend adding to your TBR!

This was an interesting read for me. It took me a long time to read (compared to how quickly I typically get through books), and most of the time, I didn't find myself eager to pick it up and read it. It was a somewhat slow and "quiet" read, yet I was interested enough in the characters and plot to keep going.

I'm glad that I didn't give up on it. The author writes perfectly flawed and very realistic characters. He writes relationships incredibly well. The family dynamics in this book felt so real and authentic to me. I love when books about families feel so realistic to me. The tension, grudges, frustration, anger, and above all, love, that are such a part of family life are weaved beautifully throughout the pages of this book.

I will admit that I was initially drawn to the book because of the Korean characters and the concept of someone waking from a coma after two years to find their old life essentially gone. The idea of having to return home to your childhood bedroom and start over (as an adult) was fascinating to me. The book ultimately ended up not putting much focus at all on the coma, but rather what came after. The rebuilding of Jack Jr's life was happening page by page, but in an understated, natural way. It wasn't dumbed down or put right in the face of the reader. It felt so authentic and visceral, the way one would rebuild their life - day by day, each interaction building upon the rest, slowly rebuilding old relationships and forming new ones. Really, the same things that made the story understated and quiet are the same things that made it really beautifully written. I could personally feel the emotions the characters were experiencing. I don't want to spoil anything, but there was one interaction between two characters that felt so painfully raw and real that I felt the emotions right along with the characters, despite one of the characters not having actually been in the book at all up to that point.

There were some minor loose ends; one in which a supporting character just kind of disappeared without any further explanation or follow-up. I'm not sure of the reasoning for that as it didn't seem to serve a purpose in the story. It felt more like the character was just forgotten altogether towards the end of the book.

Overall, I really did like this book. I think it's one I'll appreciate more the longer it sits with me. Even though it took until about the 75% mark for the story and pacing to pick up for me, I really felt it was worth it. I love when authors write characters and relationships so well, and Jinwoo Chong did this so beautifully that I'll be sure to check out his future work.

Thank you to Ballantine Books (Random House Publishing Group) and NetGalley for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

"I Leave It Up to You" by Jinwoo Chong is a novel that tells the story of Jack Jr., a young man who wakes up from a two-year coma to find that his life has changed a lot. The book explores themes like love, family, and getting a second chance in life. Jack Jr. has to deal with the loss of time and the challenge of reconnecting with his Korean American family in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Jinwoo Chong, writes in a way that is both emotional and sometimes funny, making the story engaging and relatable. Jack's journey back home is filled with moments of self-discovery as he tries to understand his past choices and how they affected his family and his own identity.

An interesting aspect of the story is how Jack learns about sushi-making, which becomes a metaphor for understanding life's complexities and the importance of knowing where you come from. As Jack works at his family's sushi restaurant, he learns valuable lessons from his father and faces his own fears and insecurities.

"I Leave It Up to You" is a touching story about starting over and the courage it takes to face the past. It's a book that many people can relate to, especially those who have experienced personal growth and family challenges. The story is both entertaining and moving, reminding us of the power of love and the importance of staying connected to our roots.

There is something surreal about reading someone who doesn't know what Covid is or how they ended up in a coma. But this book doesn't dwell on the implications about the pandemic. Instead it focuses on the relations of a gay Korean who is still trying to piece together his life.

I can honestly deeply relate to how Jack Jr. (MC) and Juno feel as a fellow first generation Korean living in America. Sometime parents are too much and the inherent guilt about wanting to leave is just a lot to deal with. But also parents don't always mean what they say, sometimes you need a break, and others you need an escape from their ideas of a perfect you.

If you ever wonder what asian generational guilt would feel like this book has it, but also the cast and dialogue feel so real I wonder if any of this is Biographical.

I loved this one! Jack Jr was such an interesting character to follow, and I felt like his story was too. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC!

A complex story that melds food, familial relationships, and the unknown so well. This is one of the only books post COVID that I've not minded having it in the book. Expertly done, I found myself so connected to each of the characters and their motivations.

Imagine losing two and-a-half years of your life to a medically induced coma. Then imagine waking up to find you lost your fiancé, your car, your apartment, your job, and your independence. For Jack Jr., this means moving back in with his parents and resuming his high school job cutting fish in his father’s sushi restaurant. But it also brings some gifts: a renewed relationship with his dad, a chance to mentor his nephew, and a new love interest. While some might sink into a depression and rot, Jack Jr. chooses to get back up again. But it’s not so smooth as Jack Jr. deals with what he left behind the first time, relationships he cut short, family he ghosted. A sort of going back in time and being able to do it all over again and get it right this time.

I really enjoyed Chong’s writing style and narrative structure. He delays some details and reveals them with subtle drama when the time is right. At times the narrative feels like it verges on melodrama, but Chong reels it back into balance. Jack Jr.’s character is easily relatable and easy to root for, even though he makes some questionable decisions. That’s where the humanity is.

I have not read Chong’s first book, Flux, but after reading I Leave it up to You, I would pick it up.

The writing was so gorgeous and poetic, but the actual plot was kind of hard to get into.
The feeling of connection and family was told so beautifully that I enjoyed reading it enough, but I don't think I would pick it up to read it again.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I am now a fan! I am going back to read the author's first novel. I enjoyed how the authors wrote about a complicated Asian American family without following the stereotypical Asian American family tropes such as cultural identity and immigration. I also enjoyed the premise of the novel. I will be recommending this to everyone.

After Covid Jack Jr. has just woken from a 23 month coma to find his estranged family by his bedside, but not his fiancé. His life - career, relationships - is not the same anymore. This was a story of loss and redemption. Jack Jr. rediscovers his love of making sushi along side his father while he builds a relationship with his teenage nephew, works to repair his relationship with his brother and his new-found romantic interest in one of his care nurses, Emil. This is a book about second chances, finding your way, redemption, family and life.
Thank you Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Books for the arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. Released on March 4, 2025.

I absolutely loved this book. The beginning is very gripping. I found the book an absolute riot for being about such a dark topic and that is something will resonate with so so so many people. As an Asian person having books that feature Asian families is so important and makes you feel so represented. I will definitely be recommending this to people. Loved this book so much. Like a a gay Asian While You Were Sleeping. I was laughing so hard at the main characters rant against Jersey especially. bravo haha.

I really enjoyed this book! I read it over a few weeks and really got to know the characters. Each family member was well thought out and contributed significantly to the story. I loved the backdrop of food preparation - the descriptions of sushi made my mouth water. Definitely a 5 star read for me!

A book about second chances, family and redemption - it was very well written and heart warming. The way the writer depicted the relationships was beautiful and the descriptions of food was delightful.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book but I found myself engaged in the story right away. The “hook” is Jack Jr, suddenly waking up in the hospital after being in a coma for 23 months. He asks his nurse, Emil Cuddy to call his fiancée, Ren but is faced with his estranged parents and brother instead. With no job and no place to go, Jack Jr. has no choice but to return to his father’s home and work in the family’s Japanese-Korean fusion sushi restaurant.
This story is surprisingly engaging from the beginning and throughout. This talented author includes so many important topics in subtle but interesting ways. As Jack Jr. re-assimilates into a post-Covid world, readers are also assimilated into Korean-American culture, family struggles, addiction issues, coming of age and of course, Jack Jr.’s blossoming relationship with his former nurse, Emil. And although some issues seem obscure, such as what happened with Ren, Jack Jr. eventually gets answers around the many things that he missed while he was in a coma. I really enjoyed how the family issues came together as the book progressed but the ending was still open, leaving the rest of the story up to the reader’s imagination. An usual book that I thoroughly enjoyed!

I was immediately drawn to the cover, love anything with food involved. Also, the premise was interesting, Jack Jr has been in a coma for two years and wakes up to a new world full of COVID, reconnecting with estranged family and a missing lover. I kept trying to pick this book up and get into it but couldn't find myself invested. I was disappointed because the prose is beautiful but I just couldn't get into it.

Thank you for the advanced reader copy Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Ballantine Books.

It’s not my cup of tea.

Jack jr is a gay Korean who has fell into a coma for the past two years and as his story unfolds he learns about what happened in the world (covid) and his life while he was intubated. I didn’t think the story would be so emotional and tragic. Take a breath you are doing alright