It’s the last Wednesday of the month, which means it’s book review time. This month, I decided to request something a little different. It’s a strange mixture of ghost story and fairy tale and some kind of literary fiction. Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur was released yesterday (the 27th) from Erewhon Books. As usual, I must thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me access to an ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to it!

Folklorn follows Elsa Park, a particle physicist, as she runs into an old friend in the most unlikely of places: Antarctica. The problem? Her old friend is imaginary. When the friend follows her to Sweden, then back to America, Elsa both fears for her sanity and relishes in the familiar comfort and safety her childhood friend provides. Elsa must fight for her place in the world, overcome family issues, and decipher the riddle-like fairy tales her mother left for her. Otherwise, she risks losing herself completely.

The plot of this story feels secondary to the character development, which gives it a very different vibe compared to more traditional genre stories. Yes, there’s an imaginary friend pushing Elsa to complete quests leading to a big reveal, but the monsters and obstacles are all too human. And the real payoff is Elsa’s realizations about her mother and father and brother, but mostly herself. Her own transformation is the best thing about this book, though the interspersed fairy tales are a close second to me.

Speaking of character development, Elsa isn’t the only one who grows throughout this story, but let’s start with her. We see her transform from a closed off, almost bitter person into someone who can work through their issues and open themselves a bit. She isn’t great at it yet, but she’s chosen to make the effort. Her father turns from the monster of her youth into a pitiful old man. Her brother goes from a knight to a manipulative jerk to a normal, struggling human being. Oskar is never really a prince, but he helps Elsa during her struggles, and finds out that he’s allowed to become a different person than he was in his youth. The only person who doesn’t get a chance to evolve in real time is Elsa’s mother, but even she morphs into something new in Elsa’s mind.

A big portion of this book deals with cultural identity and finding a balance between where you come from versus where you end up. It can be a little difficult to read at times, especially if you’re sensitive to race issues. But I ended up feeling like I learned some things from the book. There’s the whole aspect of immigrating to the US after the Korean war and how Elsa’s parents survived both the war and the move and found ways to both fit in and stand out in their new community. There’s also the racism Elsa and her brother faced as children (and still face) and the expectations placed on them, plus the ingrained anger between Koreans and Japanese. And there’s the racism Elsa and Oskar face in Sweden, despite Oskar being raised there. And Oskar’s entire story arc of being an adopted child. It’s about all of these things, but it’s not preachy or anything like that. It’s just people doing the best they can.

The writing was interesting. The flow isn’t as smooth as I tend to prefer. The rhythm feels jerky, like it’s trying to trip you up as you read. This works surprisingly well for this book. It mimics Elsa’s unstable emotions. It’s weird, but not altogether unpleasant.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed Folklorn. The combination of genres and the general growth of the characters made this an interesting read. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more work by Angela Mi Young Hur.

Overall, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. If you enjoy fairy tales and well-rounded characters, it’s definitely worth picking up. Even if you’re just looking for something different, check it out.

This book had so many of my favorite things: Antarctica, science, family, and folklore. I won't pretend that I understood the science, but the rest shimmered with the connections made between all the disparate elements. It even included a love story where the people ached to really know each other, not just to fall into lust. This is an amazing story. I can't wait for the author's next book.

I must say that I did not fully believe the description that Folklorn would be a blend of many different genres, but this one is truly hard to pin down and place in a single genre. It is a captivating piece of literature that uses elements from the past to shape a person in both the present and future. It is a heavier read than I expected, but it was well-written to keep the reader interested. There are enthralling insights into topics, such as, culture, grief, abuse, and generational trauma. Additionally, is a story that makes the reader question what is real, what is going on in someone’s mind, and what is going on supernaturally.

The story starts in Antarctica with Korean-American experimental physicist Elsa Park. From the first time we meet her, I must say that this is one of the few stories where I downright disliked a character outright. For the majority of Antarctic expeditions, you not only have to go through knowledge based merits, but personality compatible tests, too, since you are stuck with your fellow researchers for extended periods of time. I honestly could not figure out how this woman could be cleared even if she was the most brilliant person on the planet as she was not likable. At times she was conceited, even at one point saying she did not need a second for an equipment check (a huge no with major experiments), and she made a lot of off-handed comments. Luckily, she does get a lot better as the story goes on, but I will admit that even a few pages in, I was almost willing to give up on this novel based on the character alone. I am glad that I stuck with the story, though, as the rest of it was a brilliant example of writing and story-telling.

While in Antarctica, Elsa starts seeing her childhood imaginary friend out of the blue. Due to other outstanding circumstances, she returns to Sweden to continue her post-doctoral work. She then learns that her mother has passed away, so she returns to her hometown in California. The story explores the secrets relating to her mother and the rest of her family. The writing used family history, culture, science (physics), and folklore to weave together into the plot. I am somewhat familiar with some Korean folklore, but there were still many new elements that were taught to me. I loved to learn the historical elements, such as the adoption relationship between Korea and Sweden.

The other main characters in the story were her brother, Chris, her father, and her eventual love interest, Oskar, were very interesting. The four of them, plus Elsa’s mother and the imaginary friend that appear throughout, were all a very interesting mix and fascinating to read about. Although I was not a huge fan of Elsa, I did enjoy her relationship with Oskar and found them to be captivating to read about. I love that through the other characters and general time invested in reading the story that a lot of Elsa’s character is revealed about how she became this way and it makes you reevaluate your initial thoughts about her. The author did a great job of chipping away the layers of Elsa’s armor to the reader and so the reader is truly getting to know the character through experience rather than through telling.

Overall, I am very glad that I took a chance on this story. My original request to read it came initially from the Korean folklore aspect alone and I am thrilled that I had the chance to read it. Although it is not the easiest book to review, due to the material and the restraint to not give away spoilers, it is a satisfying read that beautifully illustrates heavier topics. Many of these topics, even the physics itself, could have been written to be very inaccessible, but the author’s word choices and general writing help the average reader understand everything. Angela Mi Young Hur is an excellent storyteller and I would gladly read more of her works!

**I want to give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Erewhon Books, for a review copy of this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

"I know how to suppress giddiness while exploiting the ever light- it's fine dusting of cocaine in espresso, shot through my veins."

Haunting, raw and chaotic- That is how I would describe this <i>metaphysical fairy tale<i>

SYNOPSIS:
Elsa Park is an experimental Physicist- spending her days between Antarctica and Sweden, and avoiding the family and life she has in America.

Her father is scary and violent, her brother resentful and lovable and her mother is a mystery. Years ago, before the spa incident, her mother had warned Elsa of the destiny she was doomed to fulfil because of her ancestors- Tragedy forces Elsa to return to her parent's home but it also forces her to start to unravel years of family secrets.

The book interweaves Elsa's current life, her childhood and the myths and legends that haunt and drive her.

MY THOUGHTS:
I am not sure what I was expecting when I started this book. But when I haven't been reading it I have found myself thinking about it.

I enjoyed the perspective Elsa gave of being a woman in STEM academics- A Korean-American woman at that. The story also strongly touches on themes such as family, intergenerational trauma, immigration, transnational adoption, expatriation, racism and Korean mythology/folklore.

The author has ingeniously weaved reality and magical realism to explore grief and guilt.

I will say parts of it made me feel gritty- but I think that was part of the purpose of the book. I also appreciate how Elsa was presented- she is one of the most authentic characters I have read.
This story is very different to anything I have read or experienced and I think the thoughts and feelings it has evoked will sit with me for a long while.

Her thoughts and experiences relating to expatriation hit me especially closely!

All in all, I would recommend this book again and again.


(CN: Racially motivated assault/violence, drug use, mental illness inc. references to hallucinations, domestic violence, references to miscarriage).


Thank you to Netgalley and Erowhon books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Initial feedback, since I won't be able to finish it before tomorrow AM! To update by EOW.

The story follows Elsa Park, a Korean-American particle physicist stationed in Antarctica, as she navigates her complex family relationships and generational history. Myth and memory are intertwined, in particular, by the presence of Elsa's childhood imaginary friend, a long-haired young woman with red ribbons.

Folklorn isn't an easy book to read, but it's mesmerizing and certainly worth the read. Its description as "genre-defying" is fully accurate: the story slips easily between past and present, reality and myth, such that everything always feels a little wibbly-wobbly in the best possible way. It's creepy without ever being scary (at least so far), heartbreaking without ever becoming maudlin. While I'm not Korean, the questions of identity and family history are deeply personal to me as the child of immigrants.

I received this ARC from @NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I wanted to love this. I remember seeing the description on a blog a month or so ago and I was so excited to be approved. Something didn’t click for me. I didn’t get any sense of connection with the characters and some of it was confusing when going from one scene to another. I will definitely try reading from the author in the future but this one didn’t work for me.

"You and I-we are descended from women whose lives have been degraded into common folktales."

Angela Mi Young Hur has crafted a unique story. She has gracely woven a modern folktale using complex threads such as immigration, racism, misogyny, violence against women, mental problems, forgiveness, siblinghood, and more.
There’s so much meaning in this story. I feel like a can’t write a proper review, one who could make it justice without revealing too much information.

I don’t want to give you spoilers, so I’ll just tell you that the main character of this story, Elsa Park, must find and understand her mother’s stories in order to finally live her own life. She never understood why her mother used to tell her all these folktales when she was a child, therefore she didn’t understand their true meaning. The only way to understand her mother and herself is by seeing beyond the words of these tales.

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur is a genre defying epic that spans three decades. Hur weaves Korean mythology with general fiction and historical fiction with poetic style.

This novel is entirely character driven and doesn't move quickly, but the writing and story that the author is telling isn't boring by any means. Elsa, our main character and narrator, is a Korean-American woman who needs to leave Sweden where she is a professor working on a scientific discovery to go home for a family emergency.

The less you know going into this story likely the better, this novel tackles grief and family dynamics and what a family owes each other in such a well done way and as I pointed out, Hur's writing is exquisite. Every character feels pretty fleshed out with the exception of a few of Elsa's colleagues.

Where the story loses some of its steam is when we look into Elsa's relationship with Jesper, a colleague. Luckily we don't spend too much time with Jesper, but it definitely distracts you from the story a couple of times. But still, the good/great outweighs the bad in all of this.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC for an honest review.

Trigger Warning: racism, miscarriage, domestic violence


Folklore by Angela Mi Young Hur is hard to pin down. It defies genres and expectations, and its imagery stays with you - it is a book about memory, trauma and ghosts - it will surely haunt you.

This was achingly beautiful and I am finding it difficult to gather my thoughts, so I'll start with a short preview. Elsa, a Korean-American post-doc physicist living in Sweden, thinks she has gotten rid of her family ghosts and all the hesitations that come with them. Despite that, it's not long before the woman she considered to be her imaginary childhood friend comes back to haunt her all over again.

Elsa's mother -catatonic for more than 15 years - had been an avid collector of Korean folklore and had warned her daughter that women of their line are doomed to repeat narratives from said folklore in their own lives. The story really picks up when Elsa's mother speaks after a long time, and tragedy forces Elsa back to her childhood house, with a father and brother each fighting their own demons and one another - and, to different extends, resenting her for having gotten out of the toxic family environment. Elsa must unbury family secrets and long-suppressed ghosts if she's to find any sort of peace.

Folklorn is one of the most multi-layered and nuanced stories I've read this year. Elsa's struggle, as a woman born in America to Korean parents, now living in Sweden where's she an outsider both due to her roots and due to her American upbringing, is portrayed in believable and realistic ways. The microaggressions she and her family faced their whole lives is heartbreaking to read about. But these things are important to read about if we are to understand unconscious biases and misconceptions. I feel I learnt so much about the issues faced by Koreans who moved to the US in the late 20th century.

Elsa herself is an extremely conflicted character. On one hand, she's a scientist on top of her game, logical to a fault, careful, trying to banish anything supernatural from her life. On the other, she's a daughter of a woman she never really knew, whose secret life she only begins to make sense of when it's too late. I didn't always like Elsa's choices or her overall behaviour, but it can't be denied that she's a believable, well-rounded character. At times, I was a bit bothered by the fact that she seemed to stereotype women of other backgrounds, but as a white woman, I cannot begin to understand what Elsa faced throughout her life and, nevertheless, she develops quite a lot by the end of the novel, opens up to others and recognizes some of her own mistakes.
What I did relate with, was some of Elsa's feelings as an academic, and an immigrant in a country she feels too loud for.

"Not like my landlord can evict what's not there, and you can't deport a specter, however unassimilable [...] I never felt fully in my body when abroad, always jet-lagged, though more linguistically and culturally in misstep."

This takes me to my favourite part of the book, the language and imagery. This is such a lyrical story, full of sentences I wanted to highlight and save on a journal, so insightful and memorable they were. The mundane and the scientific are juxtaposed with the magical and the spectral, making for a dreamy narrative, full of hesitation and violent beauty. "Enjoyment" is not the right word about the folk tales found in between chapters, as these are about the violent experiences of Elsa's ancestors, but they did intensify the magical realist qualities of the book.

All in all, Folklorn was part dream, part catharsis, part punch in the gut, and it'll definitely stay with me. The images this book creates are impossible to forget and while inter-generational and racial trauma are main themes, there's also hope that some cycles can be broken - and perhaps they will.

Folklorn is a quite beautiful story that spans quite different topics from physics to folklore, with childhood trauma, mental illness, domestic violence, racism, war , stillbirths, death, myth, religion, tradition and cross culture adoption. The main character is Elsa Park, a Korean American physics student. She is working in Antarctica and Sweden and returns to California when her mother dies. The story isn’t really told in a linear fashion. There’s flashbacks to childhood, and family history. Her relationship with her mother is a strange one, and the book is really about Elsa understanding her mother. Her mother has always told her folktales and these tales are through the book. There’s a bit of physics, Elsa studies sterile neutrinos, “the ghost particles ghost” almost mythical itself! The flow between all these different ideas is smooth and I very much enjoyed the magical realism.

Folklorn is a difficult book to describe, let alone review. Part magical realism, part literary fiction, all bout identity, race, and family, it transcends genres and leaves me at a slight loss for words. Elsa's story is beautifully written and told in such a lyrical yet easy going way, yet I'm unable to say exactly what her story is.

The two difficulties I found myself facing whilst reading this book were, firstly, how intelligent everything about it was, and, secondly, how unlikeable I found the majority of the characters. From the start, we're flung into Elsa's world of physics and academia, and I found that a lot of that went over my head. I was reading it, but the words weren't having an impact on me simply because I couldn't understand anything about the neutrinos she was studying. I admired the intelligence of the writing and the subject matter, but it was honestly wasted on me. Add to that the fact that I couldn't connect to any of the characters - because of race, intelligence, choice of degrees, and just the simple fact that I didn't like their personalities - and the reading experience becomes... less fun than usual.

Not to say that I disliked this book - because I didn't. Not at all. I just couldn't connect with it or understand it, and thus I found myself slowly dragging my way through Folklorn. I'm glad I gave it a chance, as I very much enjoyed learning about the Korean folktales that were included in Elsa's story, but I just don't think I was the target audience.

This may be one of the most complex, multi-layered stories I have ever read. It is not an easy read, so if you are not in a place to deal with parental death, child death, child abuse, drug addiction, racism, and mental illness, save this book for a different day.

Elsa Park is in Antarctica studying particle physics when a ghost from her past suddenly returns. Her imaginary friend from childhood is now once again visible to her and Elsa is determined to discover the significance of her presence. When she returns to Sweden, Elsa receives news that her mother who has been nearly comatose for over a decade has spoken her first words in just as long. When Elsa discovers that her mother´s unexplained sudden speech coincides with the return of Elsa´s imaginary friend, it sets her off on a journey that will uncover long held secrets that span across the globe. Elegantly combining folktales, flashbacks, and unreliable narrators, Folklorn is a compelling and memorable story of family, love, and desperation.

This is such a complicated story and full of so many layers it´s difficult to know where to start. Elsa easily comes off as insufferable and rude, but as the story unfolds and we learn more about Elsa´s childhood and family, you quickly become more understanding of her interactions with her friends and the people who are trying to help her learn more about her mother´s past. Her parents did not have a healthy relationship and her mother´s pregnancy that ended in a stillbirth while in Korea visiting family alone, only made matters more tense. Add in her brother´s epilepsy diagnosis and the everyday strains of money and racism, and it quickly becomes clear that the family was under constant and intense stress. While on a celebratory road trip to take Elsa to a prestigious boarding school she won a scholarship for as an early teen, Elsa´s mother suffered a stroke-like attack that left her unable to speak or communicate. With one parent in a nursing home and another who had changed after a violent attack, Elsa was essentially left on her own.

To complicate Elsa´s life even more, after her mother´s death, she discovers that the baby her mother lost may actually be alive and had been adopted out. As Elsa looks further into her mother´s life, she believes that she has uncovered a secret message in the ancient folktales her mother told her growing up. When she reaches out to an expert on Korean folklore, she discovers that the expert was part of a large group of children who had been adopted from Korea by Swedish families. As the two work together to find meaning in her mother´s stories, Elsa and Oskar discover what it truly means to be Korean and how central and complicated their identities can feel. All of these matters, from the strained and abusive relationships to the struggles with identity and possible mental illness were written with such love and care for these characters. Every story, every flashback, felt essential to better understanding Elsa and her journey. It was fascinating to learn more about the history of the Korean children who were sent to Sweden and the importance and significance of the folktales included in this story.

While this is a tough read, it is one I highly recommend for the compelling and compassionate writing.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

I was attracted by the description of the book, but unfortunately the story did not get me interesting enough to keep reading until the end (I read about 25%).
What I liked was the unusual story of the main character - Elsa - her scientific job, her experiences in the Antarctic.
What I did not enjoy was the writing style of the story - I found it difficult to follow and it did not captivate me.

🎀🎀🎀🎀🎀 (five stars as rated in red ribbons trailing along behind your friend each time she visits)

Stationed at a research center on Antarctica, Elsa Park is confident that she’s finally put as much distance as she can between her and the generational trauma of her Korean-American family. When a “ghost” from her past reappears unexpectedly, Elsa must come to terms with her history – both myth and fact – whether she’s ready to or not.

Folklorn is an exploration of diaspora, identity and self love at it’s most revolutionary. The experiences – both real and imagined – of the protagonist, Elsa, as well as her brother, Chris, her parents and particularly that of her friend, Oskar are all written, even at their worst with so much compassion. And while the pain was visceral at moments, it does ultimately lead to a place of healing that is deeply deserved by the characters and was profoundly satisfying for me as the reader. For me, of course, the best part of this book was getting to share it with my friends (for whom similar stories and experiences of the Asian diaspora are starkly underrepresented in publishing) relate and empathize with Folklorn so deeply. There really is no “reviewing” an experience like that.

Oskar was easily my favorite character (though the more I look back on the book I find myself really empathizing with Chris as well). Described by my friend Moon as the “hottest Korean in fiction as of now,” I was enamored with the acceptance and empathy that Oskar held for Elsa even when she could not find the will to feel it for herself. From a mental health standpoint, I hold deep appreciation for Oskar’s because of his insistence on Elsa’s value and attractiveness to him even when she was clearly not healthy. Love is not something to be withdrawn when we are at our worst. And we are not only worthy of it once we’ve found the strength – more often resources – to “fix ourselves.” The Park family exemplifies how much of a privilege the idea of “mental health” can truly be as well as the weight of generational trauma. This aspect of Elsa and Oskar’s arc together, in particular, really affected me personally.

✨ Rep in this book: Multiple East Asian characters, gay supporting characters</p>

✨ Content warnings for this book: drowning, death of a parent, racism, domestic abuse, violence

First I want to thank Netgalley and the author for giving me an ARC of this book.

Elsa is a scientist that is working in Antarctica when things start to go weird for her. She sees another Korean woman that she doesn’t recognize, but yet… she does. Once back in Sweden, she realizes that it is her old imaginary friend that has come back to her. She wonders why all of a sudden this happens out of nowhere until she gets the dreaded call from her brother telling she must come back home (don’t want there to be spoilers). She is soon hit with the reality of her brothers illness and her fathers rage that filled her childhood. She starts to lose herself in her mothers old Korean myths and is now on a mission to figure out what her mother was hiding and why.

I first want to start off by saying there is A LOT of trigger warnings in this book that I did not realize prior to reading it. Going back to the description of the book, I see there is mental illness listed its at the very bottom and honestly the first few lines of the description are what grabbed my attention and I jumped right into this book. So here is my warning to you: LOTS of trigger warnings about mental illness and not just a specific kind, but everything. Lots of abuse, trauma and loss in this book.

I think it is hard for me to really rate this book because it was wonderfully written but there is a lot about it that I thought would be different. I don’t want to say that this book wasn’t for me, because truthfully it was, just parts of it I felt “Meh”.

There is tons and tons of scientific data talk. I honestly skipped a lot of this simply because I wanted the mystery and the myths. I felt that I needed to be there and clearly the author did her research, but maybe too much? If you love science, you will love everything she added. If you can get past that (which is a good chunk of the story) I think you could really enjoy the book.

I wish that she would have focused more on the myths and the whole “mom broke the circle” I guess I was a bit confused on how she broke the chain? By telling her daughter the stories? That didn’t seem like the right answer but the only one I could come up with. I really like the mystery and I think the author laid it out very well to keep you hooked. I also now want to live in Sweden. I would say about 50% or more of the book is based here and the most significant part of this book is held in the most dreamy of islands in Sweden. We get a really good look at Elsas life as an immigrant and I think it was really enlightening and sad to have to read how hard it was for not only her family, but specifically her brother.

I honestly was very confused on if the myths were “true” or if she was just mentally ill. I think this is really hard for me as a reader to understand because I am left with so many questions. I am assuming the author did this because Elsa did not know if she was ill, there for you do not get to know either. But then at the end I second guessed myself so I truly do not know.

The ending was heart breaking and I honestly did not think the author would do that to her readers. I would not say it was a bad ending, just a heart breaking one. I was really hoping this book would be more about a “curse” and myth than a sad book about mental illness. Regardless, I couldn’t put this book down. It was different than anything I have read before and it was very refreshing even though it was so sad.

This story is unlike anything I've read before.
It took me quite awhile to get through the novel but I'm glad I took my time as it allowed me to take in all the elements I was reading and have them sit with me.
There is so many layers. In some parts it feels reminiscent of The Vegetarian by Han Kang and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath but mostly it's just completely different.
It explores grief, mental health, family relations, race, folklore and physics. Everything feels well explored and put together.
Elsa is a very strange character but she's quite loveable and really grows on you. She's so complex and feels so real.
I knew very little about Korean folk tales so it it was really fascinating to learn about them. It was also really interesting to hear about the experience of being part of a Korean immigrant family.
The choice to parallel physics' ghost neutrinos and a potentially paranormal ghostly character was really fascinating. It gave this connection between the sciences and arts that I feel like is often missing.
I feel like have more to say but nothing is coming to me know. Highly recommend!

This book is nothing short of a masterpiece. It weaves together science, history, and magic to tell a truly fascinating story. I found myself drawn into Elsa's world from the first chapter and the story kept me gripped throughout. I especially loved the folk tale retellings throughout the novel to add to that sense of history and heritage. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves magical realism and science fantasy.

Folklorn is a beautiful yet dense novel, utilizing Korean mythology and magical realism to tell a story of intergenerational trauma, mental illness and family secrets. The story follows Elsa, a doctoral physics researcher who divides her time between the Antarctic and Sweden, chasing elusive ghost particles. Early on, she becomes haunted by another much more tangible ghost, a young woman with red ribbon in her hair that she describes as “my friend”. What follows is an ambitious international saga, that sends Elsa on an emotional journey to uncover hidden family secrets, and heal deep familial wounds- all with her friend in tow.

While lyrical and deeply emotive, I found the prose to be challenging and at times too obtuse, leading me to consume the novel in smaller bites, rather than becoming wholly engrossed by the story. The plot itself was clearly well-researched and expansive, covering Swedish immigration, to the Korean War, to esoteric scientific concepts. Ultimately, I felt disconnected from Elsa, and found myself admiring her journey from a far rather then becoming wholly invested in her quest for self and familial discovery. I would have loved to have spent more time with her unpacking the revelations made about herself and her mother, and much less time following the men in her life.

All in all, Folklorn is an ambitious and expansive work of magical realism, that defies true genre categorization. While it did not entirely resonate with me, this is the kind of impassioned, gutsy literary fiction I am so happy is being written.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TL;DR: A one-of-a-kind mythological psychological thriller about mental illness, marginalized racial and ethnic identity, and nerdy academics with family trauma. My rating: 4 of 5 stars

CW: Mental illness, intimate partner violence, racism (including slurs)

Folklorn is epicly haunting. It opens in Antarctica, where a young Korean woman postdoc is researching subatomic particles. Almost immediately it takes on some serious psychological thriller vibes when the main character, Elsa, starts hallucinating her childhood imaginary friend. As the story unfolds, reality and myth intermingle as the reader struggles to determine which memories and perceptions are based in fact, fantasy, or mental illness.

This is ultimately a story about 1.) mental illness and trauma in an immigrant family and 2.) Korean identity. When Elsa returns home due to a family emergency, she is confronted with the trauma of her childhood--her mother’s mental illness, her father’s physical abuse, her brother’s self-sacrificing resentment in the name of duty to family. Compelled by visions and suspicion, Elsa follows folkloric clues to uncover her mother’s dark secrets.

In terms of identity, the main character is a second generation Korean American whose parents fled to LA during the war. As an adult, she traded one experience of other-ness in a majority white culture for another when she moved to Sweden. Her love interest, Oskar, on the other hand, is a Korean Swede who was brought to Sweden as a young child and adopted by a white Swedish family. Besides their different experiences of being Korean, they also have very different approaches to the world. Oskar is a humanities scholar through and through. As he helps Elsa parse through the Korean folktales passed down from her mother, Oskar opens her mind to ways of knowing beyond the hard sciences. Their differences in experience and outlook make their connection really compelling to read.

When Elsa returns home due to a emergency, she is confronted with the trauma of her childhood--her mother’s mental illness, her father’s physical abuse, her brother’s self-sacrificing resentment in the name of duty to family. Plagued by visions and suspicion, Elsa feels compelled to stay in LA and uncover her mother’s dark secrets.

Folklorn is unlike anything I’ve read before, and for that reason alone, I would recommend it. Angela Mi Young Hur blends genres, themes, myths in uniquely intriguing ways.

Angela Mi Young Hur’s self-described “literary/spiritual debut” is an epic novel, following particle physicist Elsa, as she attempts to navigate her academic career, love life, and unconventional family history. In Elsa’s youth, her mother often spoke of disturbing folktales, and the associated fate that beheld women in their family. When Elsa’s mother dies, leaving hints at an estranged sibling, Elsa embarks on a complex journey attempting to make sense of her past, before she can consider her future.

The contrast between the “hard” science of Elsa’s studies and her supernatural heritage are very interesting. Elsa is clearly a character stuck between two opposing worlds, which contributes to her internal struggles. She does not find the answers science so readily supplies when she delves into her past.

There is no doubt that Folklorn is sprawling, given it takes place in many geographical locations. However, I found this location-hopping detracted from the narrative. Elsa is totally invested in this journey; I was more interested in where she was emotionally rather than physically. However, given some thought, this may reflect the sense of displacement immigrants often feel, which is a big theme throughout the novel.

Some of the conversations in Folklorn seemed a little unnatural. Angela Mi Young Hur is clearly a fiercely intelligent author, with a lot of knowledge she wants to share with the reader, but it sometimes feels a little forced. Some of the dialogue between Elsa and her paramour Oskar falls into this category, although I appreciate they are trying to educate each other in their respective fields of expertise.

Elsa is an incredibly likeable, flawed character. Her relationship with her brother is truly heartwarming, and completely rings true. And I’m always a fan of imaginary friend/ghost characters, which is another big part of this book.

I mostly enjoyed Folklorn, as it covered a lot of my bases (female protagonist, folklore, supernatural elements), but I found the more “scientific” aspects of the novel uninteresting, and at worst superfluous. I enjoyed getting to know the central characters more than the story itself.