The Mermaid from Jeju

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.