I definitely kind of feel like an outlier here when I see the reviews this book gets. The thing is that it's not like I don't understand what the concept here is: this is an ode to what books do for us, it's about finding your own happiness, allowing yourself rest in a life that's often more focused on work than satisfaction and even about making mistakes while trying to find what's best for you. I get that. I totally do and I feel like for what it wants to do, it completes its mission with gusto. I love books, writing and I drink coffee by the gallons. So why was this so insufferable?
Insufferable might be a bit harsh honestly but initially I was reading this and The Devil Wears Prada sort of alternating before I decided to get a move on to finish this at which point I did actually like it a lot more, early on it's very enjoyable as we're set about learning about the MC and the dynamics surrounding the people who frequent the bookshop. It turns out putting full focus on finishing this book was awful.
I'm not even averse to comfy, low-stakes books but the only stakes I could vaguely see is that there was a guy who came into read without buying but after a brief interaction he bought some books. I would have even been intrigued if there had been an instance where the ongoing debate that Yeongju was waging about being financially viable vs. keeping her vision in tact for the bookshop. Hell I would have even taken a bit more drama between her and the writer. This book was like a yoghurt covered rice cake. I know it's slightly healthy for me and moderately tasty but after a few bites, it's lost its flavour and it's dense and cardboardy. I really did not care for this MC - I really did not like her, I was mostly just getting this vaguely pretentious, selfish and self-absorbed vibe. I genuinely felt quite sorry for her ex-husband, I can't lie.
The other main characters are enjoyable (if plain also), I liked reading more about them and whenever they didn't rattle off into an existential conversation. Whenever they had a grounded and realistic discussion, I was totally on board. If there was a chance to explore their personalities in the chapter or see more about their relationships? But there just WASN'T ENOUGH OF IT. I was sick to death of monologues. Did I agree and somewhat enjoy what the author was saying in discussing some of the harder facts about work and satisfaction out of life? Totally, but I was sick to death by the 15th time it was brought up.
The author beforehand specialized in essays and honestly, this is what it felt like. A big long essay. The writing/prose wasn't anything special nor anything egregious or terrible to read. It was just bland and to the point. It's precious, if you get what I mean? Like it feels like maybe there's a much deeper conversation that could be had here outside of 'only work bad, society need change, money not important' (I'll come back to that). It's really over-sentimental and far too simple for me to get really caught up in what the author was trying to converse with me about. That's also part of the problem in that I wanted a book and not a conversation??? Was this feeling exasperated by me reading a heartpumping action-filled horror banger in the span of two days beforehand? Maybe but I can change gears just fine but I don't think I have a gear set for snail.
Don't even get me started on this weirdly holier-than-thou energy that the MC brings about books. The attitude that she upholds about bestsellers while harping on about The Catcher In The Rye is a massive ick to me. I can't quote directly what the final chapter says but it's something along the lines of upholding diversity in her selections by making it that if a book suddenly gains popularity she's just going to stop ordering it. By the end of this book I was so sick of her but I was holding out that she was going to maybe err on the side that popular books are a good entry point for people that don't read much or that sparking joy in any reader is a worthy cause but nah let's just be pretentious and rec The Catcher In The Rye to every person she meets.I'm gonna say it: She doesn't feel like someone that actually wants to sell books or cultivate an interest in reading. It was more or less outright said that she just wanted a means to read to recoup from her burnout, a bookshop is what she claims is her dream but honestly I think just being a book blogger or some shit would have been more up her alley. I would have even demurred if she accepted that in order to keep the bookshop healthy she would need to take a bestseller on now and then begrudgingly but the nebulous pressure of money isn't really even a problem it seems? I know that this book is about comfy vibes and what have you but the issue of money vs what you actually want comes up multiple times but isn't ever really...a thing?
But I can't be all negative all the time, I really did love the way that the author painted the neighbourhood and the moments that I liked, I really liked! Minjun stood out to me a really likeable dude, his conflicts and his relationship with his university friend were really great (I was really pleased when we found out that he went on to become a movie critic!), Jungsuh was also up there and her journey to keep her negative emotions at bay. Special mention to the scene for The Book Club for Mum's too, liked that a lot.
My favorite NON-KYC crypto exchanges for trading cryptocurrencies.