Korean literatureMay 17, 2026
Book Review: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo
It’s an accessible yet quietly devastating feminist novel, precisely because it refuses melodrama in favour of accumulated realism.
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Category: Book reviews
Thoughtful reads, honest perspectives, and your next favourite book.
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Crime FictionMay 14, 2026
Book Review: Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami
It’s one of Kawakami’s most emotionally sprawling works, and perhaps one of her bleakest.
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Historical fictionMay 10, 2026
Book Review: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane is a richly detailed, emotionally driven novel that offers both cultural insight and personal storytelling.
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MysteryMay 5, 2026
Book Review: The Verifiers by Jane Pek
The novel is thoughtful, often sharp in its observations, though not always as propulsive as its setup might suggest.
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Historical fictionMay 5, 2026
Book Review: Meet the Newmans by Jennifer Niven
There’s a familiar promise attached to novels about messy families: humour, dysfunction, and hope that something might come back together.
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HumourApr 26, 2026
Book Review: The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
It’s not a novel that announces its intentions immediately. But once it settles into its rhythm, it becomes difficult to look away.
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Dystopian FictionApr 24, 2026
Book Review: The Compound by Aisling Rawle
This is less interested in the mechanics of competition and more concerned with what prolonged observation does to a person’s sense of…
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SingLitApr 22, 2026
Book Review: The Teenage Textbook by Adrian Tan
It captures adolescence in a way that feels grounded and enduring, avoiding the temptation to romanticise or trivialise the experience.
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ContemporaryApr 20, 2026
Book Review: Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
This is recognisably an Emily Henry novel: sharply observed, emotionally aware, and built around characters who feel like they exist.
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ContemporaryApr 18, 2026
Book Review: Swallows by Natsuo Kirino
It reads less like a thriller and more like a slow psychological unraveling, one that reveals itself through subtle shifts in perception.
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