Deeply unsettling and yet beautiful. I went into it knowing next to nothing, and I'm glad of that; I think it's best to enter this book with few preconceptions - so I won't touch on the plot here either! I was especially impressed by the writing itself; deep respect for Han Kang and her translator Deborah Smith alike.

Absolutely brilliant; hands-down recommendation. This book requires patience: it's two stories, two timelines, woven together - and one of them is tattered from the effects of dementia. And yet I raced through it, hardly able to put it down. Incredibly innovative storytelling! I only wish I could have read it before my grandma's dementia engulfed her, as this book expanded my empathy and understanding of her suffering tremendously.

Fun? Absolutely! Good? Ehh, just ok. It's a solid 3/5- a bubblegum novel: bright and breezy and with little substance to speak of. It's a fun beach read, but little more. The author is all too fond of eye roll-worthy similes and can be far too heavy-handed with her exposition, and ultimately, it just felt like there were too many conveniences to make it as believable, and therefore genuinely feel-good, as ideal.

The premise is fantastic and the imagery visceral. The characters, however, felt a bit 2D to me - lacking the development and motives that would make them feel more relatable. And the author, though doing his nature homework, was sloppy: suggesting ptarmigans (essentially Arctic chickens) would be flying over the open oceans, for one! Ultimately, too many oversights to give it more than a lukewarm recommendation.

I'd hyped this book up so much that actually reading it was disappointing. I absolutely loved the premise of detective work in the Middle Ages, but I seriously underestimated both the extent and the importance of the theological discussions within the book, which I found difficult to digest. It ultimately felt like slogging through one of my old college courses. If you're down for in-depth analyses of the likelihood that Jesus laughed, try it...?