⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5)

Phew. Okay.

To be completely honest, I thought I had to read this book for a tour by next week... well my tour stop is tomorrow so I sped read this.

It was good! Totally heartbreaking and maybe even ugly cry inducing.

Mina’s story was fascinating to learn, but also hard to read. My parents didn’t personally go through that when they immigrated, but we know plenty who did.

Margot- oh man Margot. You brought me all over the place. I wanted to slap you, hug you, throttle you then hold and cry with you.

As for plot, be prepared for the ups and down, down downs of Mina’s life. Seriously girl almost NEVER caught a break.

Maybe it was because I was in a rush to read it, but it definitely felt x2 longer than it needed to be.

Overall, this is definitely a character driven story. It’s sad, touching and sensitive.

Mash ups: Joy Luck Club, Searching for Sylvie Lee, The Astonishing Color of After and Miracle Creek.

BLOG TOUR: THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE
Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Last Story of Mina Lee: A Novel by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

BOOK SUMMARY
THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE (on sale: September 1, 2020; Park Row Books; Hardcover; $27.99 US/ $34.99 CAN). opens when Margot Lee’s mother, Mina, doesn’t return her calls. It’s a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot, until she visits her childhood apartment in Koreatown, Los Angeles, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. The discovery sends Margot digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous and invisible strings that held together her single mother’s life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother.
Interwoven with Margot's present-day search is Mina's story of her first year in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. While she's barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a series of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nancy Jooyoun Kim is a graduate of UCLA and the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Guernica, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s The Margins, The Offing, the blogs of Prairie Schooner and Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Her essay, “Love (or Live Cargo),” was performed for NPR/PRI’s Selected Shorts in 2017 with stories by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Phil Klay, and Etgar Keret. THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE is her first novel.

HAPPY PUB DAY 🎉 & *𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 𝑅𝑒𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌*
The Last Story of Mina Lee
By Nancy Jooyoun Kim
4 / 5 🌟

After a few chapters, I was completely drawn into The Last Story of Mina Lee. Told in alternating timelines, we get the perspectives of Mina herself, as well as, her daughter, Margot. As past and present come together we see the realities of life for Korean immigrants and their families. What they dreamed of here in America and all that they left behind in Korea.

When Margot Lee discovers her mother, Mina Lee, dead in her Koreatown apartment, Margot feels certain that her mother’s death was not an accident. She sets out to investigate and unearths many more unanswered questions about her mother’s past. Mina was a Korean war orphan who came to America as an undocumented immigrant. Margot had been raised by Mina, never knowing who her father was. The more Margot digs, the more she realizes she never understood her mother’s struggles and the grief she carried.

Mina’s story is about perseverance, it is about love and survival. Mina came to America to try and rise above the grief and pain, she never expected to love again. Yet, the relationship she found set in motion events that eventually lead to her death.

This is a unique story that blends not only love and mystery, but the tension between mother and daughter. Not just the generational gap, but how their cultural identity, once a source of contention, will now forever bind them.


Thank you to @parkrowbooks and @netgalley for this advanced copy for review.

Get your copy TODAY!!

🥒 There was so much Korean food mentioned in this story! Do you enjoy learning about food from other cultures and countries? I do!

Margot’s mother isn’t answering her phone. Margot’s mother, even though she only has land lines and cell phone she doesn’t know how to work, always answers the phone. When Margot shows up to surprise her mother, she finds her mother dead. While cause of death is ruled an accident, Margot is determined to figure out the events leading up to her mother’s death and has learned that maybe she didn’t know her mother at all. Being a first generation American born, Margot has a hard time relating to her Korean immigrant mother and only realizes after her death that maybe that aren’t so different.

This book is told in a dual timeline and alternatives being Mina & Margot’s POV. I really enjoyed the extra level of mystery that this timeline added, as Mina’s takes place when she first arrived in American and Margot’s is present day (2014). The stark contract between the two characters is immense and getting to see what they’re versions of ‘The American Dream’ were was enlightening.

This is a debut novel and while it’s synopsis makes it sound more of a mystery (it does have a mystery aspect to it) it’s more of ‘learning about’ than a ‘discovering/unearthing’ type mystery. It’s also not you’re typically paced mystery book, because the story focuses on Mina and Margot’s relationship the most and the mystery is a subplot. I will say that I don’t normally enjoy character driven novels, but this one was just the right amount of character driven vs. plot based. The characters of both Mina and Margot are both so different but at the same time incredibly similar and I really loved getting to know both of them. Mina is resilient and has quite the sense of humor, though most people wouldn’t know it because she’s so quiet. Margot seems lost when we first meet her but as the story continues, but with a massive capacity to grow.

This book is a fabulous view into a complex mother-daughter relationship, which struggles with language and culture barriers. This complexity I found really unique but it a problem all to real for many immigrants and their children. The struggle to hold onto old tradition and yet the younger generation wanting to be more modern is a problem I think many cultures face, especially when immigrating to America.

I really enjoy this book. It is a slow burn and not something that would be considered page turning, such a thriller or a cute rom-com. This book needs to be slow though, in order to digest the information so I’m all for the slow pacing. I would have like a bit more about Mina after her first year in America and I would have enjoyed a bit more of a mystery plot line, however this book was still really great. I give it ★★★★ and really recommend for anyone looking for a solid literary fiction book.



I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on The Last Story of Mina Lee. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books. Huge Thank you to Park Row Books for my advanced copy.

An authentic and raw look at the life of an immigrant. A compelling debut packed with culture and secrets. Margot is first generation Korean American, She grew up in LA’s Koreatown. Margot was always a little embarrassed of and never fully understood her mother, so she went to college in Seattle and never looked back. Now she is home, her mother is gone, and Margot is learning that there was much more to her mother than she ever realized. Told from the alternating perspectives of Margot and her mother Mina. Not only do we watch Margo try to figure out what happened to her mom we are also privy to Mina’s life when she first arrives in the US from Korea. This really allows the reader to glimpse the full picture of this complicated mother daughter relationship. As well as a real look at the life of an immigrant. Greta Jung narrates the audiobook masterfully. She gave the perfect voice to both Margot and Mina and what I appreciated is I always knew which character was speaking. I also really appreciated both her Spanish and Korean pronunciation.

Nancy Jooyoun Kim grew up in Los Angeles and that as well as her Korean Heritage really shown through on these pages. I love seeing the diversity, especially the representation of the Asian and Latin cultures. This is the California I grew up in, I grew up in LA County in a neighborhood that was more white than this one but diverse none the same. So often this area is portrayed as this glitz and glamour place of privilege where the majority of Californians don’t live. The LA Mina lived in was broken and dirty, yet beautiful and diverse. I have to admit I enjoyed her parts of this book more than Margot’s. Mina was such a wonderful character! She was so strong, so resilient, so stoic, and yet she had a quiet sense of humor. I was humbled by how brave she was to uproot her life and move to a different country where she had no knowledge of language or culture. Her tenacity was admirable and she really made a good life for herself. What was unfortunate was that Margot never recognized it and part of that was on Mina there was so much she could have shared but didn’t. The mystery in the story was probably the weakest part of the book a lot of it depended upon coincidence. I think I would’ve liked more about Mina, more about her life in Korea and more about her life after her first year in America. A lovely story looking forward to what’s next from Mancy Jooyoun Kim.

This book in emojis 🍱 🍵 👗 🧸 🖼 🛒

*** Big thank you to Park Row & Harper Audio for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

In this book we start out with Margot going back to California to help her friend move as well as see her mother, but she's been very worried as her mother has not picked up the phone and we very quickly find out that it's because her mother has died.

From there on the book is dual perspective, with us learning Mina's history in one perspective and Margot digging up information about her mother that she never knew. It's a very heart wrenching story about family, what it's like to be a Korean immigrant and what it's like to be a child of one. There was so much to unpack with this story and I felt that for the most part the author really succeeded.

The writing style was absolutely beautiful and I really enjoyed the flow and cadence of Kim's writing. For a debut this was really solid and I look forward to seeing what else she writes.

Reader Friends, I am so excited to share one of the most beautiful stories I have read this year. Nancy Jooyoun Kim gives the story of two women, mother and daughter, and the heartbreaking secrets that define their relationship. I loved how the two perspectives are intertwined into a compelling and gripping story of love, loss, and how inner strength can look so vastly different to different people. This is a fascinating tale of immigrating to the United States and the stresses that come with it. From securing housing and a job, to learning how to use a grocery store and public transportation, adjusting to a new country seems incredibly daunting. The way that Mina Lee was able to do that, all while mourning the devastating loss of her husband and daughter is amazing. Seeing her bravery and fortitude, over and over, and then to see how her daughter interpreted her mother’s actions was so interesting. Mina Lee held her former life and immigration experience so tightly that Margot never knew the extent of her mother’s experiences. Watching Margot slowly unfold the many layers of her mother’s life was both heartbreaking and beautiful. Reading this as a mother, I thought often about the many things I will never tell my son. Our drive to always protect our children will always keep a part of ourselves secret to them.

This is a gorgeous and compelling story that I know many of you will love.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title.

The Last Story of Mina Lee follows Margot who is on her own way back home only to be struck with instant grief. Mina’s mother has passed and Margot struggles to grasp with her death. She loved her mother and feels deep regret that she wasn’t able to spend more time with her. The story alternates between Mina’s point-of-view of her past, when she started out in America, and trying to adapt to a new life. The present day follows Margot picking up pieces of her mom’s life and trying learn more about her.

In Mina’s view we get to experience her overwhelming culture shock and trying to navigate life in America. Everything is so new to her and she struggles to grasp new customs and the language. She tries to make new connections while dealing with the grief of her husband and daughter. Margot’s narrative focuses on her becoming her own detective into her mother’s past and tries to learn more about her. There was a part of her life that was secret to Margot’s and she wants to piece together her mother’s last moments. On her journey she discovers the life that her mom left behind while reconciling with her own past.

This can be heavy book at times but I really enjoyed the interwoven narrative of mother and daughter:

“Perhaps, despite the distances between them, the differences in their experiences as a mother and a daughter, as individuals, as women of a certain time and place, what had made them a family was not simply blood but never fully giving up on each other.”

Mina embraces Korean culture while Margot strives to fit in and be more American is one of driving forces for a split in their relationship. Their lives seems so different at the beginning of the book but they share many things in common. All the main character are dealing with grief, traumatic pasts, and striving to look towards a clearer future, but obstacles keep getting in the way. I also appreciated the discussions of family, culture, and immigration.

This was a fantastic debut novel with a powerful narrative!

Very touching read. From the horror of finding a loved one dead - to the searching and finding the answers to life long questions - this was a great read.

A good reminder that we can't know everything about anyone even those we love most. No life is perfect - but the living of each day no matter how hard is what makes is what we are!

I'll admit, The Last Story of Mina Lee started out slow for me. I didn't know if I wanted to continue it. But Nancy Jooyoun Kim's writing style is so unbelievably beautiful and poetic that it had me hooked, whether I liked it or not. And then, of course, I ended up liking it. This book pulls you in as if sweeping you up in a net, enveloping you in its world rich with detail and imagery and smells and tastes that are just as real as can be. I loved getting to know Mina throughout the pages, her development from beginning to end. My main complaint is that I didn't feel the same about Margot. In fact, I didn't feel like I knew much about Margot at all, and I'd have loved to know a little more. Overall, I'd definitely recommend The Last Story of Mina Lee and I would love to read more by Nancy Jooyoun Kim!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own. I live this book. Since this book is not about my demographic I just want to acknowledge the importance of having books where the main characters are nonpoc. Even though I am black I could still see similarities and sometimes as a reader that is good enough.

I felt this story started a little slow but then I understood that we really had two stories. One is a story of Mina Lee’s daughter and we learn a bit about her as she searches for some truths that she never knew. The second story is about Mina Lee herself and how she rebuilt herself when she came from Korea to the United States after some tragedies hit. I received a copy of this book from Harlequin Trade Publishing for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

3.5 stars.

"Sometimes, agreeing to the same lie is what makes a family family, Margot."

How well do we truly know those we love?

Margot has never quite “gotten” her mother, Mina. Growing up she was always a little embarrassed of how hard her mother had to work to keep them afloat, she was embarrassed by their rundown apartment, and the fact she never really made an effort to learn much English.

Still, when her mother doesn’t answer her home or work phones for several days, Margot worries, and when she and a friend get to her apartment, they find Mina on the floor, dead, from an apparently accidental stumble.

Margot is devastated and wants to understand what happened to her mother, especially when she learns that Mina had been seeming sad lately. As she goes through her mother’s papers and possessions, she realizes there was so much about her mother she didn’t know, so much that made her who she was and shaped her relationship with Margot.

The book is narrated by Margot in the present as well as Mina, tracing the time period from when she arrived in the U.S. until just before her death.

I liked The Last Story of Mina Lee, particularly Margot’s discoveries about her mother. Margot herself isn’t the most sympathetic character, but you certainly understand her actions. Mina’s story was a sad one, but probably one which mirrored many immigrants’. Nancy Jooyoun Kim is definitely a talented storyteller and this is an impressive debut.

The “mystery” part of the plot didn’t really work for me. I found a lot of the connections to be coincidental and a little too unbelievable. Still, on the whole, it was a well-written and compelling book.

I was honored to be part of the blog tour for this book. NetGalley and Park Row Books provided me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The Last Story of Mina Lee publishes 9/1!

'The Last Story of Mina Lee' is one of those stories that sticks with you long after you finished reading it. A mother/daughter story always tugs at my heart strings. When Margot calls her mother while on a road trip to L.A. and she doesn't pick up, she immediately feels like something is wrong, and she's not wrong. The story is told from two perspectives, Margot and her mother (Mina). Margot feels there's more to the story of her mother's mysterious death. Her curiosity and grief lead her to start investigating what went wrong.

This story is amazing and shows the struggle of being in immigrant in the United States, falling in love with the wrong person and where it leads to, and also the struggle between a mother/daughter relationship. I love books that show people's struggles that have arrived to a new country (not in a bad way), because we're all human and have to adapt. Just like myself and countless others. Thank to Harlequin Blog Tours, Park Row Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Part women’s fiction, part thriller, The Last Story of Mina Lee had an intriguing premise that drew me in immediately. And while this isn’t a perfect book, it does pack an emotional punch and it left me feeling breathless.

I love the way Margot’s search for answers in the wake of her mother’s death is interspersed with Mina’s story of coming to America and experiencing all the drama and heartbreak this new experience brings her, and ultimately tying into the reason for her death.

I found it fascinating how Margot has to confront her issues with her mother, including her disgust with aspects of her mother’s past. While this is a very extreme case, I felt it rendered a very realistic depiction of the generational divide between immigrant progenitors and their more Americanized offspring.

My one major complaint is that I felt like it resolved a little too quickly and abruptly, and I definitely wanted more from the suspense aspect. However, the ultimate concluding moments do hit home poignantly, delivering on Margot’s character growth and acceptance of her mother.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking book that discusses important, relevant topics. If the book sounds interesting to you and you’re prepared for a deeply emotional read, I strongly recommend picking it up.

A major thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this arc.

Trigger warnings for: Death (parental death), cancer, sexual assault

I'm not even sure where to begin with this review. I'd been intrigued with the premise, but couldn't have expected to love this book as much as I do. I was hooked from the first page, and didn't want it to end. I remember texting my friend partway through saying that it took me an hour to get through 12% of the book because I kept stopping to cry.

As an Asian immigrant, who was raised by a single mother, this book really hit home. I found the story and dynamic of Margot and her mother, Mina, to be so relatable. The dichotomy between being too Westernized, or not Westernized enough was a struggle that I know all too well. It made me reevaluate my own identity, and my relationship with my mother. Learning about Mina's struggles to assimilate into a society that didn't care for her, didn't want her, and how hard she worked was heartbreaking, and necessary. I felt like Margot's "ungratefulness" to her mother might come off annoying, or whiny, but it felt all too real to me. I saw so much of a younger version of myself in Margot, who didn't understand why things were this way; why her mother clung to tradition and was so harsh on her.

By interweaving Margot's present day search for the truth about her mother, and Mina's journey during her first year in Los Angeles, we get to learn and feel so much more for both Mina and Margot. I was so enthralled by Mina and Margot's stories that I almost forgot about the mystery behind it all; at times I would try to guess certain plot points, but each time I was pleasantly surprised - the twists and turns were really well done.

I found Margot's relationship with Jonathan unnecessary - especially since he didn't seem to have too much to do with the plot, and I'm generally uncomfortable with relationships with large age-gaps. Overall, I thought this book was so well written, and is probably one of my top reads of 2020 so far.

Margot hasn't heard from her Mom Mina in over 2 weeks. She is driving from Seattle to LA and has been trying to let her mom know she is coming for a visit. When Margot goes into her childhood home, she finds Mina dead. As Margot tries to piece together what happened to her mother, we learn about Mina's life. I loved Mina's courage coming to America from Korea and not speaking English. I enjoyed Mina's chapters more than Margot's as I found Margot being ashamed of what her mother could give her all her life very selfish. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful book of family, loneliness and moving forward.

We meet Margot, a Korean-American, venturing back home to LA with her friend Miguel, expecting to see her mother despite the numerous phone calls that oddly have not been answered. When Margot finds her mother dead in her apartment from an apparent accidental fall, we see a daughter begin to unravel her own mother's secrets.

The switching viewpoints between Margot (in the present) and her mother Mina (in the past) offer a beautiful reflection of misunderstanding in family - the secrets parents keep to protect their children, the stubbornness of both to simply reach out and try harder to understand one another. These two perspectives, side by side, were beautifully written. Tiny details from Mina's past reach out a hand chapters later in Margot's present - making the reader smile and nod in acknowledgement. But perhaps the most spectacular part of this book was the FOOD. The author joins food, Korean food here particularly, with family: taking care of and serving one another, and sharing a table, memories and heritage. I found myself salivating at points with the gorgeous description of food and could almost smell the aromas in Mina's dingy apartment or in the Korean restaurant where her friend Mrs. Baek worked.

I enjoyed the storyline, the tinge of mystery and the tangible environments that the author created. Highly recommend!

Margot's mother Mina hasn't been answering the phone but the last thing she expected was to find her dead on the floor of their apartment. Mina Lee was a strong, determined Korean immigrant who raised her daughter alone- and never told her who her father was. Margot, as she goes through her mother's things, discovers his identity and so much more. The reader, however, will know earlier because this dual time line novel traces Mina's early years in the US in the late 1980s as an undocumented immigrant who lives on the margins and eventually falls deeply, tragically in love. The real heart of this is Mina and her struggles. Margot struggles too with both her mother and with being first generation. . Margot's hunt for information eventually leads her to Mina's friend, Mrs, Baek who is key to the story. There are terrific descriptions of food, btw (I spent some time googling for more info on some of the dishes) and of Koreatown. I very much enjoyed this- there's emotion here and a clear love by the author of her characters. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Although positioned as an immigrant story, this will resonate with mothers and daughters across the spectrum. Highly recommend.

// 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 / 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝗪 //⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Title: #TheLastStoryOfMinaLee
Author: @njooyounkim
Publisher: @harpercollins, @parkrowbooks & @bookclubbish
Pub Date: 9/1/2020
Type: #⁣⁣Paperback #ARC
Total Pages: 384⁣
Genre: #WomensFiction
Must Read Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⁣⁣

Thank you so much to the team at HarperCollins for my opportunity to participate in a flash #bookstagram tour for Nancy's debut novel, The Last Story of Mina Lee! I was eyeing this book for months and it didn't disappoint. Once again, another debut author completely floors me with their lyrical and honest writing. I loved that this story was told from alternate POV's which will keep you completely engrossed the entire time. It helped the reader connect on a very personal level with both Mina and Margot. One of my favorite aspects of this book was learning more about the Korean-American experience and each time Kim mentioned food in this story, my mouth was watering. This was a magnificent read and incorporated a lot of different genres that I enjoy - women's fiction, romance and mystery/thriller. You can't help but fall in love with these characters and become very invested in the plot. Bravo, Nancy ... this book is a winner!