The Mermaid from Jeju

Nothing wrong with the book, just not for me.

Another book about the horrors of war and what people are capable of and how it affects people's lives and their future...

This book was okay. The history and culture dealt with are tragic and interesting, but I didn't think the story was that well executed. The dual timelines felt unnecessary since we know from the beginning that Junja will survive the war, and because she dies in the prologue we don't get her perspective on her postwar life. The romances, especially with her first love, felt very superficial considering all that comes later - lots of love at first sight but not really that many interesting character interactions. The entire final third of the book is about men for some reason, which isn't really what I'm looking for in a book ostensibly about haenyeo.

I have mixed feelings about The Mermaid from Jeju.

The storyline was compelling, but I didn't connect to the characters at all. There were so many would-be heartbreaking moments, but I didn't feel anything. I'm usually not a fan of first-person narration, but I think that would have been a better fit for the story.

I added it to our library's eBook collection because it was an enjoyable read. It just wasn't memorable, which is disappointing because it had the potential to be.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review to come.