We’ve seen countless spy and CIA novels to the point where the genre can feel a bit stagnant, but this novel brings a fresh, multicultural protagonist and background, adding a much-needed kick—kind of like a good dose of gochujang in my bibimbap (hope it doesn’t sound too cheesy!).

I also love the kimchi, ramen and multiple Korean food references throughout. Some of the dialogues are both intriguing and inspiring, offering thoughtful insights into how we perceive multiculturalism and its people.

I'm typically not the biggest fan of the spy genre, but after reading this I may have to amend that. I found it suspenseful and captivating, and the way Park explores the many-colored and often contradictory facets of what it "means" to be Korean were deeply compelling, adding a humanistic element to the thriller plot that made this SO fun to read

I don't think I've ever read a spy thriller before, but this was definitely an enjoyable first foray into the genre. The story was fast-paced and full of tension, and the characters were interesting and multi-layered. I really appreciated the themes of Korean culture and identity, and the nuances of the immigrant experience. I can't compare it to other spy thrillers, but I feel like this is probably an interesting perspective on the genre. Recommended.

Jinwoo Park's debut novel, Oxford Soju Club, skillfully blends espionage, cultural identity, and personal growth into a captivating story. The plot follows Yohan Kim, a North Korean spy who, after the death of his mentor, embarks on a mission that leads him to a Korean restaurant in Oxford. Simultaneously, Yunah Choi, a Korean-American CIA agent, works to uncover North Korean espionage activities. As their paths converge, the novel unravels a tale full of suspense and emotional depth.

Park excels in developing his characters, particularly Yohan and Yunah. Their struggles and determination are portrayed in a way that feels authentic and engaging, allowing readers to connect with their complex inner journeys. The novel also explores themes of identity, belonging, and the Korean diaspora, providing valuable insight into the motivations that drive each character.

The pacing is well-balanced, with Park seamlessly integrating action with introspective moments. The story is enhanced by multiple perspectives, which offer a richer, multifaceted view of the events. However, the plot's complexity and large cast of characters might be overwhelming at first, requiring careful attention to fully understand the connections between the storylines.

One of the standout features of Oxford Soju Club is its exploration of cultural themes and the immigrant experience, which sets it apart from typical spy thrillers. The Oxford Soju Club, a Korean restaurant, serves as a meaningful backdrop for the characters' interactions, symbolizing the importance of community and tradition in their lives.

Overall, Oxford Soju Club is a remarkable debut that combines the intrigue of espionage with a thoughtful examination of cultural identity and personal growth. Jinwoo Park’s storytelling brings a fresh perspective to the thriller genre, making this novel a compelling read for those who enjoy action alongside profound, character-driven narratives.

It's quite rare for an author to set out his intentions at the start of a novel and I was a bit taken aback to see that Jinwoo Park had done just this - telling us how he intended to explore different forms of Korean identity, but this is just what he did alongside creating a gripping spy novel. It took me a while to get into it, but I found it a page turner once I had.

Spy thriller is not a genre I usually gravitate toward, but I enjoy the author's videos on social media so I gave it ago. Overall, I really enjoyed the read! The book was fast paced, and I finished it in two days. I loved the main characters and how their lives meshed, tangled, and ultimately collided. Most of all, I appreciated the themes of identity (*sobs in Korean diaspora*), choice, and what makes life worth living.

Thanks NetGalley and Dundurk Press for the ARC!

“Oxford Soju Club”, for me, was a drastic step out of my comfort zone in terms of content. I don’t typically enjoy spy novels or media, but the premise of this one, as well as the restaurant as a focal point for the story, piqued my interest in a way that I could not ignore. The characters are varied and while that seems to have been a challenge for some readers, I found it easy to keep them all straight, despite the cover names. While, yes, this is a spy novel, it is also an examination of identity and how people’s experiences can be so different despite sharing a similar heritage, such as the individuals in this novel. I enjoyed the flashback glimpses provided in each chapter, as I felt they afforded us the opportunity to better understand the characters in a way that was just not feasible during the current events. By the end, I was crying over several of these characters. I really enjoyed this one.

Thank you NetGalley and Dundurn Press for the ARC of this book, as it was a good one! The story’s plot was intricate and interesting, and I grew to love the characters for their rich, multicultural backstories.

Though I did enjoy this read overall, I found it at times hard to follow since the characters and their pseudonyms were used interchangeably, leaving me a bit lost at who is who at some points.

With that in mind, I would still highly recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of mystery thriller!

Oxford Soju Club offers a fresh perspective on the spy thriller genre, delving into the complexities of identity and belonging within the Korean diaspora. While some readers desire more in-depth character exploration, the novel's inventive plot and emotional resonance make it a noteworthy debut.

This is a very difficult book to review without spoilers because let's just say every character I cared about died, so this review will be brief. I liked the idea of a literary spy thriller where spies all congregate at a Korean restaurant in Oxford, and I really liked the title, but ultimately this didn't work for me as a story.

This book tells the story of an American spy whose Korean parents worked at a bagel shop in New Jersey, a North Korean spy who is having doubts, and a South Korean spy who are all investigating each other in Oxford. The most interesting part of this was using the spy element as a conceit to explore the many layers of Asian immigrant identity, and I loved Jihoon, whose mother wanted him to go to university but his dream was to work at a restaurant with her.

But the spy thriller took up most of the book and as a thriller I found it boring and underwhelming, with a jagged pace and confusing time jumps. I almost DNF'ed a few times but I pushed through because it was such a quick read. I think a longer length and quicker pacing on the thriller elements would have done these characters more justice. I guess I should have known because I didn't like The Sympathizer either and this is very similar.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

i love it so much, i love the espionage tale about self identity and discovery. i really liked the writing style, it was fast paced and really fun to follow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for providing me with an ARC.

I would rate this novel 3.5 stars.

Jinwoo Park’s debut novel, Oxford Soju Club is a wild ride, that deposits us right into the heart of a spy thriller between North Korea, the U.S, and South Korea, set in Oxford in the UK. Korean-American CIA agent Yunah Choi attempts to get information on the North Koreans (Doha Kim and his protégé Yohan Kim), and this all converges in Oxford’s only Korean restaurant, Soju Club, run by Jihoon Lim, who moved to the UK from Seoul.

The novel is an interesting look into North Korean politics and the Korean diaspora, that explores identity and belonging, family, and questions of loyalty and freedom. The relationships between the characters were strong, and the characters felt real and life-like – especially Yohan, I felt like I really understood him as a character.

However, I did find it confusing at times. The storytelling is disjointed, flitting between characters, places, and time period every few pages – we moved from Yohan, to Yunah, to Jihoon; from Seoul, to North Korea, to Oxford, to the U.S. Sometimes I couldn’t fully keep up with what was happening and to who, and whether it was in the present or the past. The writing at times felt too simple, and I would have loved it to be a bit more fleshed out and to include more description. I felt like I was being told and not shown, and this felt like it let down the action scenes. A whole shootout or fight would happen in the space of a page, and I felt I had no sense of what people or places looked like, smelt like, felt like, etc.

Despite all of that, I really enjoyed this short novel and everything it had to say about the Korean immigrant experience, belonging and identity. I loved the use of Romanised Korean words as someone learning Korean too. One thing I appreciated was how much food was mentioned, as the novel was largely set in the Soju Club restaurant. It truly made me hungry reading about all the lovely food described, and how food brought the characters together and united them.

I’ve followed the author, Jinwoo Park, on TikTok for a while, and have always loved what he has to say, so getting the chance to read his debut novel early has truly been a treat. And shoutout to the cover too – a brilliant and interesting cover, which I would definitely pick up in a bookstore!

If you’re at all interested in Korean culture, including North Korea, and stories about immigrants and the Korean diaspora, I would very much recommend this novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dundurn Press for the opportunity to read and review this book!
THIS is a story about identity and THIS is a good debut novel.

Oxford Soju Club tells the story of the struggles and adjustments immigrants experience in a unique way.

At times I found myself struggling to distinguish the characters from one another as they intertwined in such a rapid manner. Regardless of this, I found myself invested in the story telling as I found it to be engaging.
From the outside. the main three points of view characters may seem driven by a singular task, but each character was quite deep and complex in their respective contribution to the story. The social identity & complexity intertwined with life's purpose (or lack there of) was fascinating to read in this spy thriller format.

I personally feel like it had potential to be a longer novel. I found myself wanting a deeper connection with the characters. Regardless of this, it evoked emotions in me that I didn't expect to feel for such a short novel. Jinwoo Park did a good job in managing to achieve this.

Oxford Soju Club is a good debut that explores difficult themes and evokes an emotional pull. The cover for this is also a lovely, clean, modern style that I can't wait to see on the shelves!

wow. i was invested from page one and never lost interest. the storytelling was phenomenal, and the subtle hints at the dissent between different korean dialects and regions were so interesting. i got a little bit confused about who was who for a while because i didn’t have my glasses on and two character names were pretty similar BUT once i figured it out we were smooth sailing. would 10000% read again and i recommend it to everyone!!

When North Korean spymaster Doha Kim is assassinated in Oxford, his protégé Yohan Kim is left with a single clue—“Soju Club, Dr. Ryu.” Meanwhile, Korean-American CIA agent Yunah Choi is scrambling to salvage her investigation, and at the center of it all is Jihoon Lim, the quiet owner of Oxford’s only Korean restaurant, trying to rebuild his life after a personal tragedy. As these three lives collide, the line between truth and survival starts to blur.

At its core, Oxford Soju Club is about identity—how immigrants from the Korean diaspora build new versions of themselves to survive and what it costs to finally face who they really are. One of the most interesting threads is how the novel flips stereotypes on their head—like the idea that immigrants, who may be used to making themselves small and invisible, are perfect for spycraft. As one character puts it, “The ego is used to looking down, not up.”

While the themes are fascinating, the execution is a bit hit-or-miss. The third-person narrative keeps us at a distance from the characters—maybe fitting for a spy novel full of secrets, but it made it hard to really feel for anyone. The plot meanders at first (is Yohan just trying to survive, or solve his boss’s murder?), and there are a lot of characters introduced quickly, making it tough to get attached to the main trio. Plus, the spy talk feels a little clunky—like there wasn’t quite enough research to make it flow naturally.

That said, the book does shine when it digs into conversations about race, immigration, and identity—turning the struggles of being “othered” into a strategic advantage. And the cover? Absolutely stunning—crisp, modern, and totally eye-catching.

Overall: An ambitious debut with some really thought-provoking themes, but the scattered plot and emotional distance kept me from fully loving it.

I loved the concept of this one, but had some trouble following the various story lines or feeling super connected to any of the story line’s main characters. Loved the concept though and the cover.

The Oxford Soju Club was a quick but intriguing read. It combined a classic three-way espionage tale with a study of identity, in particular self-identity. Although we didn't get to spend long with them, the characters were all well written and distinctive. The action jumped between present and past but was always clear to follow, and the ending was satisfying. Overall, this was a fun tale that also included some deeper themes, and I am giving it 4.5 stars. This is a short review, but I am wary of saying too much in this case to avoid any spoilers. If you like thrillers and contemporary fiction, this book offers a story that blends the two genres.

A solid debut novel that might have been better as a movie or limited tv show. With three narratives, each with a past and present timeline, it was a little hard to keep track at first. But after the first three chapters, the action really took off. It felt a little like "We Solve Murders" by Richard Osman meets James Bond.

The ending came on abruptly and I felt that some characters were introduced and then written off a little too quickly. Other story lines felt like they could have been fleshed out more. Perhaps it's because the novel was a little short, or perhaps that's the style of a spy thriller. It is not a genre I read often. But other than one character's fate that I felt did not make sense, I did enjoy the read and I would read more of Jinwoo Park's work if he were to write more.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book.

I found the premise of this book very interesting and was so pleased to have been approved for an advanced copy. While it took me a some time to really sink my teeth into, from about the 30% mark I was fully hooked.

The book tackles the concept of identity through the eyes of multiple characters of differing nationality. While I myself have luckily not faced the difficulties associated with packing up my life and moving across the world, I think the book did a very good job of portraying so this. I like that dependant on the reader and their lived experience, we each take away something different from this book.

The ways that the main characters lives intertwined, sometimes more intentionally than others, was fascinating, and although we didn’t have long to focus on each of the characters they felt believable and interesting. Each layer that was peeled back left you wanting to learn more before being directed back to someone else.

I did on occasion find myself a little lost within the plot and with the wheel of characters and their multiple names, as well as the flash backs. I did have to backtrack on multiple occasions in order to grasp the story again, but this improved the longer I spent which the characters and was possibly in part due to the layout of the copy.

A very solid debut that evoked real emotion and eloquently explored finding peace within yourself in spite of, or because of, your past. I would be very interested to read more from this author!

Love the book, love the cover, love the concept, love the characters! This book instantly grabbed me it was very engaging, I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t believe that this is a debut novel! The twists and turns Had me on the edge of my seat, I cannot wait to see what this author comes up with next