4 ⭐

This book reads like a classic 90s spy thriller, throwing curveballs at you left and right, incredibly suspenseful, and featuring minor on-page violence. But the most captivating part was the characters' inner monologues; feeling the loss of identity, your past being erased and rewritten under the guise of National loyalty, being forced to make choices between serving your country and losing a part of yourself in the process, or losing your life for a second of bliss.

How much are you willing to sacrifice for your country, and how many lives are you willing to sweep under the rug to prove your loyalty to a country that would not hesitate to eliminate you the second you cease to become useful?

`Thank you so much to Dundurn Press and NetGalley for an early proof in exchange for an honest review.

A debut crime thriller, Oxford Soju Club (2025) by Jinwoo Park is an espionage tale set in Oxford. A dying Korean spy master, Doha Kim instructs his protégé, Yohan Kim to meet Dr Ryu at the Soju Club, a Korean restaurant owned by Jihoon Lim. Yunah Choi is a CIA agent who has been investigating the spy ring led by Doha. The narrative flows seamlessly between these three characters and includes flashback to better understand the interconnected dynamics of the trio. Overall, An engaging spy tale, yet it’s more focused on the protagonist and is more a low-key espionage thriller with a three star read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement. With thanks to Dundurn Press and the author for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes.

Another great read, this one took me a little longer to get into the story and understand what was happening but overall I really enjoyed it in the end.

This spy thriller surprised me: it's so much more than espionage—it delves deep into identity, diaspora, and belonging. The multi-POV structure in Oxford’s atmospheric setting initially felt complex, but that mirrored the characters' cultural dislocation. I appreciated the moral grayness and how each character carried emotional and ideological baggage . The pacing is taut, though the prose can feel a bit distant emotionally. Still, the cultural nuance and the Soju Club’s symbolism lingered long after I closed the book. It earns a thoughtful 3,5 stars: intelligent, introspective spy story with real heart.

This book reads well if you know a bit about Korean history, about the tension between North and South Korea. It's a story full of suspense, tense moments, it explores themes such as immigration, identity, survival. What was a bit difficult to understand were pseudonyms of the characters and non-linear story telling. You have to pay attention to figure out where you are, what point of the story is being told but once you get used to it, it becomes a very interesting and intriguing novel to dive into. I recommend this book to anyone interested in Korean history as well as any connoisseur of international political schemes.

2.5/5
I’ve tried time and time again to try and finish this book but I just can’t seem to finish it unfortunately. My expectation was a fast paced mystery thriller but everything about this book is flat with too many confusing pov’s due to the fact the characters do not have a distinct personality.

Thanks to Netgalley for an e-ARC.

Incredible. I'm not through the book yet, though I have crossed the 50% mark. The action literally starts from the first page and it immediately pulls you in. It's been such a long time since I started feeling for the characters from the first page, but this is just... . I will come back to post my full review once I finish, but I just wanted to put this here before I forgot.

**

Alright, so I finished the book a few hours later and here's my full review:

I read the other reviews and saw a few issues raised, though I have to say that I did not face the same issues. That is not to say they're not valid, but just to say: if you're considering getting this book to read, do give it a shot for a few pages, because you may like it. I thought the pace, plot and characters were all solid, especially given this was a debut novel (though I'd say that would make the stakes higher).

It's a spy thriller, but at the end of the day, it's also a deep introspection into the multitude of Korean identities that exist today. Longer thoughts to come on my blog (which I will post the link to here once I've sorted my thoughts out), but that's the gist of it.

If you're wondering whether this book is for you, think of it as Min Jin Lee's Pachinko meets Viet Than Nguyen's The Sympathizer.

My review is 2.5 stars but I can’t round it out to 3 stars.

The premise sounded really interesting, it is exactly as the description says.

What felt short for me and almost made me DNF this book was the writting. The characters were too flat, with little emotion to them. My biggest issue though was with the different POVs and different time-frames. It took me a while to understand who was who and at what time the passages I was reading were set in.

i ended up enjoying this more than i anticipated at the start of the book, but not enough. the beginning was slow and somewhat confusing, but i just stuck with it and it eventually all started making sense. i found that the writing lacked urgency, which contrasts the plot and genre of the novel. it's mystery thriller, but i didn't feel all too thrilled. even in the climax of things, i found it to be mild. the different povs made it hard to keep track at certain points, and once i had them all figured out, they were changed. the scenes were also hard to keep track of. we'd switch between the present and past, and each character was kind of experiencing their own timeline in a way. it was not linear, which is fine, but written in a way that was confusing and hard to follow as a reader. the ending kind of felt like a cop-out in my opinion. my lack of korean history knowledge made it a bit harder to grasp the ideas and plot. anyways thank you netgalley and dundurn press for the arc!

Coming into it, I had the expectation this would be a fast paced thriller- the downside (it wasn’t), the upside (it was something better). While the surface level story is espionage, the deeper story is a family drama and dialogue on identity and immigration. I particularly enjoyed the switching perspectives between different main characters, and how you got to better understand their story and self perception.

This book was not what I expected in a good way! It’s such a fun mix of literary and thriller in my opinion. The book touches on so many topics That really were interesting .
This book largely covers the theme of koreanness , one’s identity and feelings of belonging to that population and culture while living abroad. I think any immigrant or even a person who comes from different cultures would be able to identify with the characters in a lot of ways. It also touches on family and blind Loyalty to one’s country. I found the dialogue of the North Korea vs. South Korea vs. The Americans so interesting and insightful. The book was fast paced, and the flashbacks were slightly confusing at times but still understandable and helped the story to have a unique format. This book was a fun time and while the ending kind of crushed me I really thought it was well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Oxford Soju Club was a great debut novel from Park. Another review mentioned that the writing style was formal, but I think that fit the tone of this story and I really enjoyed it. This was a great book from Park and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

there are some parts of this book you just can’t write if you haven’t genuinely experienced them & i loved reading those. the spy thriller parts i thought were too on the nose but i guess you gotta have a backdrop and an appeal. i just would equally (if not more) enjoy this if it was a slow-paced book of just conversations between these characters drinking soju after closing time

it was also hard to keep track of similar names (starting with the same letter) but that might have been just me

2.75⭐️


The writing feels abit too formal I feel like I am reading an essay as opposed to a story

I really liked the southerners story I thought it was a good look into the life of a Korean immigrant and the different emotions and view points that come with it. I wasn’t a big fan of the American or the northerners stories I felt like they didn’t make much sense and didn’t really add anything to the overall story I think the point that was trying to be made could have been done in a much better way

I liked the different relationships each character had with Korea and Korean people they each felt very differently each persons views reflecting what they had been taught to believe by others and how that had shaped their overall view

I dont think the whole undercover thing worked well in the story I think it hindered a lot of what could be done within the story and made it very convoluted and confusing

Thrillers aren't my usual genre but this was much more than this. Jinwoo Park uses the spy storyline to add a new layer to the identity of this of the characters.

At the times, the story was a bit confusing as we are taken between different POVs and timelines but it is was beautifully written. It is hard to believe that this is a debut.

Because all the characters have their own identity and the spy identity is took me some time to emphasize and care for them but at the end I cared for all.

There were moments that I doubted/didn't understand where the story was going, but Jinwoon's writing has something that makes you trust him and the story. And with reason, all is wrapped niced and with (at least for me) some unexpected twists.

The ending was bittersweet but I must admit that it was at the story demanded and deserved, even if the characters deserved better. It was a smart choice and made me like the book even more.

I really loved this and it had me captivated start to finish. I was a little confused when the character titles started to change but I understood once their stories began to connect again

I am very picky when it comes to thrillers and unfortunetly this one was not for me.

The writing felt flat, the was no real suspence,I also didn’t feel attached to the characters but I'll tell you what it's about so maybe you'll pick it up and like it.
The story takes place in early 2012 in the aftermath of the death of Kim Jong-il, it starts with a person dying in a alleyway. And the story follows as it's told "The lives of a North Korean spy, a Korean American CIA agent, and a Korean immigrant are entwined, and in the center of it all, is the Korean restaurant called "Oxford Soju Club"

It's in no way a bad book, it just wans't my cup of tea.

This is an original spy novel that I really liked. The story is thrilling and I really liked the writing style which is pretty stylistic.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I'll be honest, I've been in a bit of a reading slump. Not the kind of slump where I don't have enough to read, but the "the world is on fire, and reading takes a lot of focus," slump. Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park was a great option to help get back into books. There were so many great elements of a great book in addition to the base storyline of a spy story.

Taking place in Oxford, the reader follows several different characters' backgrounds and stories as to how they got to where they are at the time of the novel. At the center of all of their stories is the Soju Club. There's an assassination, a North Korean spy cell, and a Korean American CIA agent. What more could a reader want? In addition to the base spy story is also the teasing apart of what life is like as part of a diaspora, and not necessarily fitting in with expectations. It takes a little bit to keep the characters straight, but I think the confusion at the beginning as the characters deal with various fall out actually adds to the novel.

I really do recommend this book if you're looking for a spy novel, or one about identity and being the only person in the room who looks like you. The story is intricate and has so many twists and turns. It's unique and something different than what I have been reading lately, and I got lost in the book as we find these characters' lives intertwining in a race to the end of the novel.

Please be advised I received an Advance Readers Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book just kind of fell flat for me. The writing style didn't seem very developed, and neither did the characters. I ended up just not caring about anyone really. There were a couple twists that were intriguing, but overall I felt that the relationships and plot were pretty predictable and overused.

Received a free copy from Netgalley.