Sadly, this is the only book I finished for Korean March this year. This is an unsettling book that is sometimes set in dreams, so it isn't always clear where the lines of reality are. Both hard to read and difficult to put down. For so short a book it does so much: bullying and class and misogyny and the way a child with a chronic illness can upend the lives of an entire family. Also features sexual harassment and assault, so take care of yourselves, dear readers. ( )

This novella starts off as a description of a middle-school Korean girl's not atypical life: friendships, bullying, school, misunderstandings, loneliness, curiosity about the lives of others, and so on. I found it well done, and on the mark for the crazy range of emotions and misunderstandings and boredom and odd things kids enjoy and so forth. But then it went off the rails and I was just confused--was this a fever dream that didn't actually happen? Are the girls hanging out with an adult that gave them drugs? Is Book actually an adult, or is he a high school-aged kid? I was just confused and without understanding what was going on, I can't really form an opinion on it. ( )