Author: Cho Nam-Joo
Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK
Pub. Date: 01 Mar 2020
Book Reviews
The book introduces the life of Kim Ji-young; her childhood, early adulthood, adulthood, marriage, and current life. Kim Ji-young is an ordinary woman that isn’t any different from the other girls. She’s been born into a loving family that isn’t as strict as other families. The narrator leads us through her first days at school, college and first job. It tells a story of her love life, friendships, and family life.
The main subject of the book is motherhood and how it changes her life. She must give up on all the important things for her so she would be able to take care of her child. It drives her to the point she’s not the same person as she was before.
My thoughts:
It’s hard to write a synopsis of this book and don’t give any spoilers at the same time. The book has only 176 pages, but it takes you for a journey you will never forget. I always knew that women in Korea haven’t an easy life as we do in Germany, the Netherlands or other countries, but I didn’t know how hard it is for them. I felt so angry, sad and heartbroken when I went through Jiyoung’s life. The book perfectly shows the life of the Korean woman and all the limitations she meets on her way. They need to play a game instead of being themselves. They have so many rules, responsibilities and sacrifices no one even knows about. Even after that, they are treated like a possession, a thing not a human being. The other part that touched me is how they are judged by people whatever decision they make. Anything they do, it doesn’t satisfy people enough.
The story is heartbreaking it doesn’t have an ending so we can only think how the life of Jiyoung goes on. A lot of men don’t understand that the woman also has an aspiration and they are not the only ones that want to work and gain more experience. Living as a stay home mother isn’t as perfect and satisfying as most people think. Of course, they love their children and want to be with them as long as they can, but it also means that they need to give up on everything they worked for before they got pregnant. Kim Jiyoung is one of the examples. She loved her job and her colleges. She had so many dreams and ambitions but it all went away when her responsibility was to become a mother.
I love the personality of Jiyoung. She is not a pushover. She speaks out loud about what she wants in her life and knows her rights. She’s not letting man look at her as the thing but as a person. She fights for her dreams and to have a voice. She doesn’t let people tell her what she can or can’t. She does what she wants and that makes it even more heartbreaking to see her fall at the end. She’s pushed down and down until she’s not the same person anymore.
I like how the book is written. It starts with the ending which is called autumn and the rest of the book is an explanation of the whole life from childhood and how she ended up there where she is now. We can see all the aspect of her life that developed her personality and choices. It’s a very important and powerful story that should be spread throughout the world. I recommend it to everyone because the story should be known by everyone.
Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I would like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster UK and Cho Nam-Joo for providing me a copy of this amazing book. I’m definitely going to buy this book soon and recommend it to everyone I know.
cafeyre 
Beautiful review. And I really like the idea of this book. An important topic to talk about as well. I think I’ll consider putting it on my TBR!
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