Some of the information about the Korean War was interesting. I like books about food, so the sections talking about food were enjoyable. I thought the writing was often clunky, unnecessarily wordy, and very self-conscious. I don’t think the nonlinear format was used as effectively as it is in other narratives—the jumps happened too frequently and didn’t always connect thematically in a way that felt fulfilling or better than just telling it straight through. Sometimes it felt like the author/narrator was putting on a performance beyond just telling a story. At about the 33% mark, I considered DNFing this one because I found myself not wanting to read it, or skimming passages that felt overwrought, but I finished it anyways.

After I finished reading and gave my rating (without writing a review), I came across the controversy of the author’s family claiming the story is untrue. I came back to write the review to clarify that my rating is for the writing itself, separate from its truthfulness. I don’t know this family in real life and therefore don’t know who is telling the truth (I typically assume that the truth is somewhere in the middle). Regardless, it’s unfortunate that this book has caused such a rift in the family, but my rating is based solely on my experience of the book—I liked about half of it.