2.5 stars - rounded down.

As the blurb for this book indicates: "On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.

That clearly summarizes the entire plot for this novel. In a somewhat convoluted style, we get the pieces of the puzzle as Yoona speaks to Jaesung in her mind while the ordeal proceeds. In this narrative, she lays out all the events that lead up to the hostage situation and reveal the character of both Lloyd and Yoona, herself. The beginning of the novel is very slow, and I considered bailing several times, but the second half moves more quickly and carries more weight. In the end, It was neither a good nor a bad book.

While it was apparent to me from the beginning that Lloyd was a pretty volatile creature, I failed to understand why Yoona did not make the connection. Perhaps benefit of the doubt at first meeting, but really hard to explain how long she goes before she makes the commitment to his not being a very reliable source of information. Even during the hostage situation itself, she shows signs of naivety that are astounding.

Toward the end I did begin to feel the pressure of the situation on all the girls. So, after a fairly detached and unemotional read, there was some emotional connection. I think Jimin Han has talent as a writer and if you put this into the perspective of being a debut effort, it is quite well done.

This book was furnished to me by the author in return for a fair review. ( )

Yoona and her friends are held at gunpoint in their college housing. Lloyd, the gunman, believes his best friend Jaesung, Yoona's boyfriend, is being held by the Korean government after they faked his death. The book alternates between a summer Yoona, Lloyd and Jaesung spent in Korea, and the present-day standoff.

I'm not really sure how to rate this book. It was told from Yoona's point of view, as if she was speaking to Jaesung. This didn't really work for me. It came off a bit stilted, a bit slow. However, the story itself was interesting. Seeing Lloyd's deterioration, and Yoona's desperation was like watching a car wreck - I couldn't turn away. Although I wouldn't re-read this book, I would be interested in reading more from this author. ( )

In her startling debut novel, Jimin Han captures several genres at once—a terrifying thriller, a coming-of-age story of first love, a historical novel of 1980s Korea and Korean Americans, and a work of literature with an interesting structure and use of point-of-view that only ramps up the tension. I am reluctant to talk about the actual story so as not to ruin its surprising drama, though it has been often reviewed, but do want to say it’s a writer’s book and a compelling read as well. Who said fine writing couldn’t take one’s breath away with suspense and action?

I'll admit I was a little hesitant to give this a shot, as it's usually not the type of book that I read. Anyway, I finally finished it today. Haunting, sad, and hopeful all at once.

Haunting for the way the book was written. Such beautiful imagery and prose about a time of revolutions and unrest. Sad to watch the shooter's descent into madness, and at times, hard to read. I felt sad for our FMC, as well, for losing her first love, and holding onto the hope that he may still be alive, until the finality hits her at the end. Her parents' relationship was hard to read, as it was a topic that is unfortunately close to me.

Having been to and lived in many parts of Asia, I'd never had the chance to visit South Korea, and I appreciated reading about a culture and place that I'd like to see one day.

The beginning and end were very well-done, but I thought the middle dragged. I'd find myself losing interest in some parts, then finding myself intrigued during the next chapter. The story takes place in the past and present, but it was done in a way that the flashbacks didn't bog the story down too much, and were necessary to explain what was happening in the present. It is told in first person, but narrated in a way that she was speaking to her lost love.

I enjoyed this title and don't regret reading it through to the end, at all, and it definitely left me thinking about revolutions, both big and small. ( )