3.5/5 Stars: ‘Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982’ is an Adult, Feminist Fiction by Cho Nam-Joo and translated by Jamie Chang; ‘Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982’ is the South Korean story of one young woman born at the end of the twentieth century, raising questions about endemic misogyny and institutional oppression. This witty, disturbing book deals with sexism, mental health issues, and the hypocrisy of a country where young women are ‘popping caffeine pills and turning jaundiced’ as they slave away in factories helping to fund higher education for male siblings. As a treatise and a howl of anger; it describes experiences that will be recognisable everywhere. Its slim, unadorned narrative distills a lifetime’s inequities into a sharp punch. The book demonstrates the unfairness of the female experience and the sheer difficulty of improving it. It may be fiction, but Cho fills it with real-life examples and data about the state of gender equality in South Korea. While the message-driven narrative will leave readers wishing for more complexity, the brutal, bleak conclusion demonstrates Cho’s mastery of irony.