As a Korean adoptee, Hara Wilson doesn’t need anyone telling her she looks different from her white parents. She knows. Every time Hara looks in the mirror, she’s reminded that she doesn’t look like anyone else in her family—not her loving mother, Ellen; not her jerk of a father, Pat; and certainly not like Pat’s new wife and new “real” son.
At the age of twenty-five, she thought she had come to terms with it all, but when her father suddenly dies, an offhand comment at his funeral triggers an identity crisis that has her running off to Seoul in search of her roots.
What Hara finds there has all the makings of a classic K-drama: a tall, mysterious stranger who greets her at the airport, spontaneous adventures across the city, and a mess of familial ties, along with a red string of destiny that winds its way around her, heart and soul. Hara goes to Korea looking for answers, but what she gets instead is love—a forbidden love that will either welcome Hara home…or destroy her chance of finding one.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
May 25, 2021 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
- ISBN: 9780593100158
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780593100158
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780593100158
- File size: 2762 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
Kirkus
March 15, 2021
A 25-year-old woman travels to Seoul to find her birthparents. Hara Wilson has struggled with feeling like an outsider her entire life. As a baby, she was abandoned in Seoul and eventually adopted by a White American couple in Iowa. Hara was often the target of racism during her childhood and coped by refusing to learn anything about her homeland. The novel opens with Hara at her father's funeral, where she overhears whispers that her race and her adoptive status mean she doesn't count as his "real child." Upset at the slight, Hara is surprised to find herself longing to visit Korea, hoping the information she gleaned from a DNA test will help her locate her birthparents. The first person Hara meets upon her arrival in Seoul is Choi Yujun, an attractive and friendly man who helps her find a sublet apartment. As she searches for her birthparents with the help of friends and roommates, Hara gains a new understanding of her own identity and what it means to belong. When Hara keeps bumping into Yujun, he suggests that fate might be bringing them together. Frederick's novel is a journey of self-discovery for Hara; however, the last third abruptly shifts to betrayal, family secrets, and other dramatic situations. The soapy ending feels out of sync with the emotional, reflective tone that carries most of the book. And although this is billed as a romance, readers should know Hara's relationship with Yujun does not have a happily-ever-after or happy-for-now ending. Thorough exploration of the complicated emotional impact of transracial adoption.COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
-
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.