justinkhchen's reviews
571 reviews

A calming, cleansing read, In the author's afterword, Hwang Bo-Reum mentioned while she didn't have a solid plot planned when writing Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop, she did have a very specific 'atmosphere' she wanted to capture, and I think she achieved it—centering around the theme of self-discovery and defining one's success (outside of societal norm), the novel reads like a dose of encouragement among everyday chaos. I appreciate the presence of an actual plot and character development (rather than a series of disconnected vignettes typical of cozy fiction), and as a independent bookstore goer and coffee drinker—the sprinkles of factoids related to running these businesses are much welcomed.

Typical to cozy literature, there's always certain amount of 'life lesson' throughout, and personally I still find these advice overly generalized and trite ('one doesn't need to pursue higher education if they don't want to'); wishing they are more seamlessly embedded into the narrative, rather than sticking out like highlighted quotables ready to be shared. While Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop's overall message is universal, there are details that can only be appreciated fully if one has a general understanding of Korean culture, custom, and cultural worldview.

This is my first Korean cozy fiction (ones I've read in the past were all Japanese ones), and it definitely provided some food for thoughts during a frantic week at my corporate job. Still don't have a favorite from this sub genre (What You Are Looking For Is in the Library ranks the highest for me thus far), but I'm willing to keep exploring! 

A whirlwind of twists and deceits, You Are Fatally Invited takes the conventional locked-room mystery setup (a group of seemingly unrelated people stranded at an isolated location), and amps it up to the extreme sport version of a brain teaser. Sprinkling in tidbits about mystery fiction writing and thriller tropes, this is essentially a love letter to the genre.

As much as I appreciate its intricacy and ambition at packing as much red herring and plot twist as possible, it does start to resemble a convoluted mess rather than a calculated chaos—there are so many layers of who has hidden/twisted what information from whom, and who was where at certain moment, that by the end I was still left confused regarding some major plot points (even considering if the book has in fact made factual errors in its explanation).

It is always a fine line with mysteries, making the reader feels involved by providing reliable clues that could lead to reasonable deduction (which this novel has accomplished in some instances—I was glad to getting some of my guesses confirmed), yet still have enough misdirection in the mix so there remain surprises. In an effort to be unpredictable, You Are Fatally Invited has ever so slightly breach into confusion territory, where I was starting to question perhaps even the author has lost the plot in the name of thrills. Still, overall this is a very decent debut, and an atmospheric homage to the classic murder mystery framework. Would be curious to see where Ande Pliego will write next!

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**

A surprisingly involving character study, I've been putting off reading The Shining, mainly because I love Stanley Kubrick's version, and knowing Stephen King was not a fan of that adaptation made me skeptical for the book being different for all the reason I might not appreciate. Fortunately my concern was proven to be redundant, as the novel is just as unsettling, if not even more emotional, than its cinematic counterpart.

The biggest difference centers around how Jack Torrance's character is presented; in the book he's a much more tragic, sympathetic character—a flawed individual with good intention, but got pushed over the edge by his unfortunate circumstance. I also really enjoy the depiction of Danny, while I understand the criticism of him not coming across like a child of his age, it does contribute an air of otherworldliness surrounding him (he does have the 'shine', after all), and I don't find the discrepancy distracting. The Overlook Hotel is just as ominous and malevolent of a presence as in the film, and it was a delight to find a lot of the filmed visuals already exist in text (when I assumed they were Kubrick's addition). Stephen King has packed the novel with abundance of hotel's lore, while deepening its world building, at times I find myself preferring the plot to keep progressing, rather than having characters reading documents for pages.

So in the end I love both versions of The Shining equally for vastly different reason: the film being a visceral, bleak yet poetic experience, while the book offers a more character-centric slow-burn with a little bit more optimism—which is possibly the best outcome I can imagine! 

A plot twist delivery device rather than a fleshed-out narrative, The Business Trip's audiobook has a stacked list of 10 narrators, which seems extravagant considering this is a debut from an untested author—but after finishing the novel, I start to understand the publisher's strategy for such a lavish production; the actors really add the needed personality and emotion, because without their distinct voice and performance, on paper this is some of the most bland, bare-bone writing I've read in quite a while.

The Business Trip's plot only works because it centers around an implausible protagonist who shape-shifts at the author's convenience; the character's initial helpless desperation (she didn't even know how to use Uber) propelled the story, yet within the span of a week she suddenly became cunning and merciless, pulling off elaborate schemes requiring layers of planning. There are also tons of shortcuts throughout its narrative, from red herring characters simply disappeared after they serve the intended purpose, to overuse of stereotypes (gay character is flamboyant and loves musicals, and straight White male character is self-obsessed, cannot cook, and misogynistic).

The Business Trip is catered to readers who enjoy fast-food thrillers from the like of Freida McFadden, where unpredictability eclipses style, logic, and character. There's definitely some easy, immediate gratification to be had, seeing how its ridiculousness unravels, but I also couldn't help but feel like I could've better spend my time elsewhere.

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**

Short-changed by its gimmick, told in reverse, Kill Your Darlings counts down by year events of a secret-filled marriage from its end to beginning. While the atypical structure immediately stands out among other titles in the genre, in execution, I don't think presenting a mystery thriller in such a restrictive manner actually enhance the experience, and wish it has gone for an already proven method (such as a dual-timeline or flashback) — because its plot and characters are very solid.

Due to its narrative choice, we are constantly learning the 'effect' before the 'cause'; not only is it unnecessarily taxing mentally (my brain has difficulty reverse-engineer what I read to make it right way around), it also inadvertently lessens many of the potential shocks and stakes (we are made aware of character deaths and their ripple effect — is the 'how' all that intriguing to learn at this point?). I think Peter Swanson also realized the obstacle of this storytelling choice, so he introduced small, self-contained twists and turns within each 'year' section (chapters within these sections are still in chronological order), but this only further demonstrates the absence of meaningful impact these filler moments have towards the story at large.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed the theme explored (how lasting guilt transforms an individual) in Kill Your Darlings, and there are some punchy character moments throughout that are signature Peter Swanson, but the unusual storytelling choice is an unavoidable obstacle, all in the name of hiding the punchline in its last chapter (I've seen some readers finding the reveal shocking, I thought it was pretty ho-hum). Probably a fun writing experiment for the author, but as a reading experience I expect more.

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**

Think Lord of the Flies + Catherine House, presented as fragments of journal entries, The Unworthy in an immersive speculative fiction about a small community of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. Soaked in vibe and purposefully ambiguous, do not go into The Unworthy expecting an traditional narrative with a defined exposition, and closure with answers (also, stayed away from the synopsis on Goodreads, as it essentially covers 60% of the plot), instead, the strength of this novella lies in its poetically grotesque imagery (sadistic behavior within a religious environment), world-building, powerful prose, and bread crumbs of clues available for interpretation.

Tender Is the Flesh is a difficult one to follow, as the subject matter in that novel was so under-discussed (in fiction), and the presentation so effortlessly shocking. In comparison, The Unworthy was almost too obvious of an attempt trying to recreate a similar impact, but its theme / commentary felt overly familiar (there are already loads of medias out there covering similar topics), and the violence less well-integrated, but mostly there for shock value. However, judging on its own it is still a provocative read with vivid writing and morbid imagination, just don't let the halo of Tender Is the Flesh cloud your expectation.

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**

A well-rounded romantic adventure, As You Desire gives me the same sensation as when I was reading Ravished by Amanda Quick—densely plotted, snappy humor, compelling secondary characters (happy to see all got the proper closure to their arc in the epilogue), and a romance featuring 2 dimensional leads with fascinating quirks and flaws. As someone who enjoy plotting in addition to the romancing, this novel is right up my alley.

I particularly enjoy the dynamic of its romance—two people who have practically 'friend-zoned' each other, and are now trying to re-navigate their feelings due to outside pressure. Also appreciate how they are explicitly set up as each other's foil: fatally romantic vs. street-smart, language genius vs. dyslexia, etc. The Victorian Egypt setting is fully utilized (treasure hunting, artifacts, sandstorm...), and the story is told with plenty tangible details, as well as containing some neat twists and turns that are beyond my expectation (I was fully ready for the treasure hunting side plot to disappear until it returned in a surprisingly meaningful way, and I was glad the author didn't do the full-on 'jealous woman villain' route regarding one of the characters—she just dabbled but still gave the character a heart).

As You Desire is overall an exciting discovery (the author was not at all on my radar), even though at times the prose can be a little convoluted for its own good (I have to caveat it might be due to me trying to rush-read it for a book club), but I can see her becoming another reliable historical romance author for me, the same way as Amanda Quick!

***Historical Hellions Book Club | January 2025 Selection***

A ultra-dark true crime mystery, this is my first time reading Gillian Flynn (shocking!), and I can now understand her reputation—there's a raw, in-your-face grittiness in her writing that is very distinct from the typical concise, streamlined thriller prose, it reads almost literary in parts.

I can say I appreciated Dark Places more than I enjoyed it, if the label 'dark romance' exists for romantic stories featuring shadier subject matters, then Dark Places would be a prime example as the equivalent in the mystery/thriller genre. The compounding effect of unfortunate events happening to characters living at the fringe of society can feel gratuitous and mean-spirited at times (reminding me how I love horror movies, but dislike ones bordering on torture porn). So while I appreciated the layers of storytelling (the ending is definitely unpredictable and very over-the-top complicating) and character development, part of me also felt slightly repulsed about reading bad things happening to under-served people as entertainment.

I did not expect Dark Places to bring on so may philosophical self-reflection about enjoying thrillers, but this novel is indeed very dark, and it has been awhile to have a story actually impacting me emotionally after finishing (I binged animated and comedy films for a few days to re-calibrate). So yeah, guess I really should read Gone Girl now!

**The Book Troop Book Club January 2025 Selection**

A horror fest with emotional depth, I went into The Haar expecting pure kitsch, a story existing primarily as a delivering device for gore and violence. While it definitely checked off that aspect in spades, I was not anticipating the empathy I felt towards its elderly protagonist—her open-mindedness towards the end of life, mixed in with her melancholic longing regarding her younger years, made her a very engaging character to follow from (I had a similar experience while reading We Spread by Iain Reid, even though the overall tone was not at all similar!).

In comparison to the nuanced depiction of its protagonist, the rest of The Haar was a little more straightforward and garish, particularly regarding all the 'Bad with a capital B' villainous characters—which could be argued was intentional, as we relished their otherworldly, violent demise in gory detail.

Overall, I think The Haar contained the best of both worlds: delivering on the horrific, but with a human core preventing it from becoming a mindless excess. With it being a Kindle Unlimited title, this has to be one of the must-reads from that particular library! 

A fast food page-turner, A Killing Cold is the definition of a popcorn thriller—an overused premise that still has appeal (a woman with 'suspicious' past visiting her fiance's rich family for the first time at their remote mountain lodge), with cookie-cutter characters, and a convoluted web of twists and reveals, throwing every character's morality for a loop once or twice. There's an instinctual desire to keep on reading because it is SO easy to digest, but if one were to pause and think realistically—this pivotal mystery could've been a written email, and then none of the subsequent chaos would ever happen—but what's the fun in that?

This reminds me a lot of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger, another sensationalized 'family with secrets at a winter gathering' story where characters performing unrealistically elaborate action for the sake of being inside a thriller (leaving unsigned, threatening note wrapped within a gift box—why doesn't anyone just tell people in their face when they want something done!?). While I quite enjoyed What Lies in the Woods from Kate Alice Marshall, I might have to re-calibrate my expectation, as A Killing Cold turns out to be a lot more silly and nonsensical than I anticipated.

There's always a time when I want a story that I can shut my brain off, be entertained for its duration, and forget it once it's over. A Killing Cold is exactly such title (the audiobook is perfectly produced for an even easier consumption), BUT typically I do prefer stories that provide a lasting impact, either emotionally or stylistically. This is ideal as a library loan, or when one's in a bit of a reading slump.

**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**