B, Book, and Me

“At turns raw and piercing, dreamy and surreal, Kim’s latest import…is a pressing indictment of today’s too-often onerous transition toward uncertain adulthood.”

“Best friends are especially important for those who have no family to understand them, and South Korean writer [Kim Sagwa] tells the eerie story of what can happen when those friendships are cut off. It's a familiar picture of teenage pain, despite the faraway setting.”

“Readers looking for fresh, new voices will want to pick up b, Book, and Me, a story about two friends struggling to move into adulthood in a South Korean town…It’s a perfect novel for lovers of translated fiction and coming-of-age stories alike.”

“A haunting and complex portrayal of teenage angst in today’s modern society…Kim skillfully probes the relationship between the dangerous and existential angst of adolescents and the pressures of trying to survive in a globalist-capitalist world.”

“…the text is broken into short, sometimes-dreamlike sections that capture [the characters’] teenage angst and moods… A dark, dystopian view of South Korean adolescence, hopelessness, and the cruelties children are capable of inflicting on each other.”

“[Kim's] polemics lurk rather than pounce…she wants us to feel not only the immediate hurt but the dread of pummeling to come. This, Sagwa implies, is what we’re all in for unless the word ‘unless’ stops sounding absurdly impossible.”