James Zerndt

What an interesting book.

There are multiple levels to this book and as soon as you're enthralled in it, it ends.

Poof!

I felt so cheated. I have so many questions left unanswered. I hate when authors do this.

The book is written in multiple points of views of three different characters: Moon, Billie, and Yun-JI. Billie and her boyfriend Joe take a teaching job in Korea. Moon, a worker at the school, is the first person that interacts with the couple. The character of Yun-Ji came out of nowhere. She also works at the school but never seemed like an important character to follow. It was confusing.

The novel takes place in 2002-2003 in Korea, while Bush was president of the U.S. Things were not easy for Billie and Joe to be in Korea at a time like this. Two Korean girls got ran over by an American Tank. Some Koreans hated Americans. It was a difficult journey for them from beginning to end, and it did end abruptly.

Moon. Poor Moon. My heart aches for Moon. He's my favorite character of the novel. He's the only character that is open about his past and has admitted to making mistakes. He is a strong character and has had his share of defeats.

Yun-Ji is a young Korean woman that is just finding her voice. She lives at home with her traditional mother and always working father. Yun-Ji is what is suppose to be the traditional Korean in this novel to show the cultural differences between Americans and Koreans - especially between her and Billie. The same thing happens to both of them and they handle that differently, of course.

It was a good, short, and deep book. I feel more educated about Korean culture and values now.

I also received it for free on Amazon's Daily Kindle Deals. The book is currently listed for $2.99 on the Kindle store - which is a good price.… (more)