ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ocean's Godori is an adventurous yet initimate space opera debut set in a future where Korea is the preeminent power in the galaxy and follows a spaceship crew as they try to uncover the conspiracy behind the mysterious murder of the one of the galaxy's most influential conglomerate families. This is one of the most enjoyable debuts I have read in a while - I loved reading about a world where Korean culture is intrisically woven into society, the distinct but counterpointing character perspectives and the natural gradual unfolding of character backstories. I do agree with the comparisons to Becky Chambers' 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' both genre-wise, synopsis-wise and emotionally. Ocean's Godori creates a similar initimate atmosphere where you can watch the tender relationships between crew members develop but I preferred the higher stakes and the more direct influence characters had in galaxy-spanning events in Ocean's Godori.

The story is told through the perspective of three characters: Ocean, Teo and Haven. Each are forced by the circumstances to go through their own interesting journeys of (reluctant) personal growth - Ocean processing her personal tragedies, Teo dealing with murder of his family and being framed for it, and Haven who has unwillingly left his sheltered religious life for the wider galaxy. The murder of Teo's family only happens halfway through the book and as it is such a critical event for the story it makes the first half feel slow and meandering.

Ocean was my favourite pov, she's a more quiet subdued protagonist with an air of lingering tragedy and I enjoyed seeing her passions unfold as she deals with her trauma and the understated way she cares for her friends. I especially liked her connection to the haenyeo (I do wish this was more present throughout the book rather than popping up near the end) and part on her connection to swimming was such a lovely piece of writing.

I also unexpectedly really liked the romantic subplot, Cho is able to create some sweet romantic tension and genius decision on her part to include a physical touch taboo for one of the characters.

I seriously hope a sequel is in the works because this book ends very abruptly. I personally don't mind cliffhanger endings as long as there has been some emotional resolution which I think Cho could've achieved if she had extended the final scene for just a few more pages. But more than that, the adventure's not over and I very much want more.

DNF 37%

Received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for honest opinion, thanks!

My dislike for rating media without fully discovering the story is pretty strong; I believe it's unfair, as you lack a whole picture. But in the same time I must be true to myself, and boomeranging from and to "Ocean's Godori" in span of few weeks is more tiring than hopefull. The story was a miss, despite that fantastic premise – murder, space, journey of self-discovery? Sign me up!

And then I am moving like a snail during reading. Unability to find one element that would keep me going was the last nail for me – I don't think it's a bad book. It's not a book that made me regret having eyes, it was absolutely okay, but because of this okay-ness it become bland. Sadly, not my cup of tea.

DNF p73, chapter 5... 20% of the way through the book and nothing happened yet. I think it's definitely too slow of a.start for a sci-fi.

This story is a great K-Space Drama. It was a tad difficult to get into because Cho begins with a prologue set in Iceland that won’t make too much sense until you’ve read the entire book. Chapter one moves to future Seoul, where Ocean is breaking up with her steady, Haven is seeing a beautiful girl dance to music only she can hear across the platform of a busy subway station, and Teo is wining and dining a celebrity and a fancy restaurant. Once Cho has finished the brief introductions and her characters move into space, the story progresses rapidly into an action-packed sci-fi adventure. This could be the next best Netflix series, if only Netflix had the ability to pay homage to the Korean snacks and food that Cho lovingly features. Cho’s characters are intriguing. It’s important to put Cho’s writing into the cultural context that it embodies, albeit in a future sci-fi realm. K-Drama’s are all about the intersecting stories and the wow factor of surprise plot twists, and feature tropes that Cho sprinkles throughout Ocean’s Godori. The characters in Ocean’s have a glossy, anime feel to them, resting in archetypes: Ocean is the ace pilot known for her ability to hit difficult targets; Teo is the rich pretty boy; Dae is the grumpy Alliance pilot taking cuts on the side. However, Cho manages to pair archetypes with additional facets (i.e. Ocean is a diplomacy school dropout), and this creates winning combinations. There are lots of ways the story can go, and I can’t wait to read the next installment.

Reader Advisory: Go and watch some K-Drama, and look up the Korean words that Cho sprinkles around. She ties future Korea to its past. Look up “Seonbi” for sure. Finally, go back and read the prologue once you’re done. You may have an aha moment like I experienced. Enjoy the trip!

Thank you to Zando and Netgalley for access to this ARC. All opinions stated here are my own, and I don’t receive any remuneration for my review.

3.5 stars, rounded up. An uneven but promising science fiction debut, this is a book of two halves for me. For the first half, I felt somewhat disinterested and bored. Had this not been an ARC, I likely would have DNF'd it. Around the 50% mark, the story really picked up and I became fully invested. A found-family ragtag band of misfits setting out to right a terrible wrong is a very popular trope at the moment, but that also means you need to do it really well to stand out in the genre. Cho's world-building is very good, as is her writing. She envisions a future where a unified Korea is the dominant force in the space industry, so the book is filled with Korean words, foods, and cultural references. Where this book could have used more depth is in its characters. The many side characters needed much more depth to flesh them out, as they came across as very one-dimensional. I also would have liked the plot pacing to be spread out better, not all bunched up in the second half. That said, though, this novel was still enjoyable enough for me to continue on when Cho writes her next book. Thank you to NetGalley and Zando/Hillman Grad for a digital review copy.

It took me longer than it should have to get into this book. On the one hand, there was all this excitement and all these intriguing characters, the kind I'm familiar with from action novels. On the other hand, this book is set in space and there are a lot of foreign words and names. This combination made the experience more fun but it took me a few chapters before I felt like I was in the story.
Once I was in the story, I did not want to get out. There were a few characters I loved a lot, but Ocean especially, paying for the mistakes from her past while keeping her loyalty. I really really hope I get to read more books with her as a main character.
The book has a satisfying ending but there is room for a lot more to happen in this world. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this and introducing me to this author.

I'm fascinated by the world (or universe really) that's built in this novel. It was so interesting to me. I feel like the advertisement of similar to Firefly was actually accurate for once.

4.5 stars, unfortunately rounded down (which I’ll get into in a moment)

I love a wholesome spacefaring crew facing an unknown but very sophisticated enemy.

All of the individual relationships were lovely and felt incredibly real. This book said interesting things about morality and capitalism and culture. And I totally loved how immersive the world-building was, and all the pieces of Korean culture that weren’t just weaved into the story but were at the heart of it.

So, why four stars rather than five? I hate to say it, but this is half a book. I don’t mind when books end with loose ends untied, and I don’t even always mind cliffhangers. But this was worse than that: this basically ended out of nowhere, seemingly randomly. I wouldn’t have picked it up if I’d known, and I’d have waited for the next book to be published.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This book had some great strengths, but I also had some issues with the way the plot was executed. I like to break up my SFF reviews into parts, so I'll start with worldbuilding.

I thought that the setting was the strongest part of this book. This space opera is set in a future where Korea is the dominating force in space. Korea is a fairly small country when looking at where we are currently, especially in terms of space exploration. When I think of space exploration and who is dominating currently I always think of the US's NASA and Russia's RSA. I looked into South Korea, and they do have an agency called Korea Aerospace Research Institute. So this future world that Cho created was very cool to read about. Not only was space travel operated by Korea, but the culture itself had a very heavy Korean influence, from food to music to clothing.

The characters were where I struggled. There were a few main characters that had a lot of time yet I felt like the side characters were extremely one-dimensional like cardboard. I could not distinguish between them other than the job that they served, and other that they blended together. I really tend to dislike when side characters don't feel real, because it's like they were an after thought. It causes the character interactions to feel less genuine and leads me to be confused about who is who. I really enjoyed Ocean as a character, although I did start reading certain chapters and got confused when she was being called a different nickname. I thought they were two different characters for a short bit and had to go back and reread. I did appreciate that the romance subplot was not a major focus in any way. It was slow build, felt very natural, and didn't cause me to cringe at all.

Now for the plot. Nothing happened for a vast majority of this book. Then came the end and finally something happened, and I didn't even realize there was so little left to read. I do understand that this is a setup for a sequel, but I was quite disappointed in the way this book ended. From the description, I was expecting more of a found family and fun space adventure with a murder mystery thrown in, but with this being marketed as Becky Chambers meets Firefly, I feel like this was a very bad way to describe this. Firefly is one of my favorite shows ever, and while Ocean did have a curmudgeonly way about her like Mal, there was no comparison between the two plots, vibes, and story. I do see how it is similar to Becky Chambers' Wayfarer's series, but that is probably why I was expecting really strong character work.

The writing itself I have no issues with. I feel like Cho is very talented and the prose was easy and quick to read. I really liked the way she described settings as I am a very visual reader and was easily able to place myself within the book. I would have loved some heavier sci-fi elements, but overall, this book will definitely find its audience.

Thank you NetGalley, Zando/Hillman Grad, and Elaine U. Cho for the free ebook.
“Ocean’s Godori“ by Elaine U. Cho ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Sci Fi Space Opera. Location: Reunified Korea (geocentric hub of the galaxy), and across space. Time: 23rd Century.
In this book’s world, Korea runs the Alliance space agency which dominates the solar system. Ocean Yoon is a disgraced Alliance space pilot-a mission went sideways and she was a little too quick with her gun. When her friend,Teo Anand, is framed for murdering his family, Ocean and her misfit crewmates from the “Ohneul” Class 4 Transporter end up in a high-stakes ideological conflict, dodging bullets and space pirates to save Teo. Ocean is the XO/pilot. She comes from a long line of haenyeo (Jeju Island, Korea’s female divers). There’s Medic Haven Sasani, a Mortemian (“death hands”) from Prometheus; Captain Dae Song who makes ship decisions based on her personal needs; Maggie Thierry, hoverboard skater/mechanic (with 3 wives and a husband back on Venus); and loyal Von Kent (xenobotonist). When they run into the notorious Phoenix and his smuggler crew, you know they’re in for a wild ride.

Beneath the space opera antics, Author Cho reminds us that prejudices and privilege are often encouraged by capitalism and colonialism, no matter the century. It’s a space adventure full of action, with a bit of romance and a whole lot of quirky characters with varying morals and integrity. We can relate to her characters’ complicated pasts, presents, and futures, even if ours don’t take place on space ships across the galaxy. Cho includes scifi/pop culture references, and it’s fun to see which references have survived in this 23rd Century world. You might want to tag “Maggie’s Glossary” at the end so you can refer to it as you read. It’s Becky Chambers meets Firefly, and that’s just what I like! It’s witty, fast-paced, it’s clearly set up for a sequel, and it’s 4 stars from me🌵📚💁🏼‍♀️

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC of Elaine U. Cho’s debut novel.

I must admit that the beautiful cover art caught my eye first, but the description of a space opera is ultimately what captured me. I am a sucker for spaceship pilots and Ocean is my new favorite FMC. I also love the “found family” trope, the action sequences, and plot line. I’m rating this 4 stars because I very much enjoyed the book. My only wish is that it did not end so abruptly.

For fans of space operas, spaceship pilots with great taste in music, quirky characters, and snarky banter, pick Ocean’s Godori up on its release in April. You shall not be disappointed!

It's fun, action-packed, and uplifting. I admit the ending didn't grab me from the beginning but as I continued to read, the story and characters grew on me. I'm not a fan of romance, so I wasn't crazy about the fact it played a significant role here. This, though, can be good news for fans of romance. Anyway, a good read and well-worth a shot.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elaine U. Cho and publisher for sending me a free ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review.

2/5*

This shall be a negative review in general, however by this I mean no disrespect to Cho and am still thankful for the ARC.

Overall this book was not for me. Initially it seemed perfect, a space adventure with a bagasse female pilot and a found family trope to top it all off. However I just couldn't get into it. For nearly 5 months I tried to get through this book but eventually I gave in and DNFed at 64%.

Each time I tried to read it I just couldn't concentrate and would wander, and nothing in the plot actually made me want to continue. I will give it the caveat of I had an ARC copy with very weird formatting which would have made any book more difficult to read, but I don't DNF a book easily. The plot itself seemed pretty bare bones, and predictable. I personally have nothing against predictable plot when there's interesting characters, but this had niether.

My main issue was that I just found the main character Ocean annoying. I found her to be whiney and unable to make any character progression, and the bits she did make seemed out of nowhere. The initial crew which is ament to be very close to Ocean don't get a lot of background rather than the basics. I didn't connect with any of the relationships and they all seemed to be very surface level, with little to dig into. The characters we are later to introduced to such as Pheonix are a bit more interesting, but not enough to save it.

Onto the things I did enjoy though. I really liked the representation of Korean culture throughout the book, however as someone who isn't Korean I cannot comment on the realism of it. The set up to the plot was intriguing, but for me didn't deliver. Teo (the main male character) was the only one who felt fully fleshed out to me. I enjoyed all the scenes with him in, and through those did find myself connecting more to Ocean than I originally would have done. I would also love to give a shout out to the cover art as it is absolutely stunning.

Overall, this was not the book for me. I found the characters too 1 dimensional and the plot lacking. There was bits of the plot and characters that were intriguing though, so I would like to keep an eye on the author in the future when they have written a bit more. If you really like Korean culture, and are new to found family trope this could be a book for you as a more simple version, but this isn't a book I will personally be recommending.

StoryGraph Catogories:

Mood of the Book:
Adventurous
Tense
Reflective

Pacing:
Medium

Plot or Character Driven:
Plot

Is there strong character development?:
No

Do you find the characters loveable?
No

Is there a diverse cast of characters?
Not really

Are the flaws of the main characters a part of the book?
Yes

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity!

This was such an interesting debut! I loved the protagonist, it was such an amazing experience to live in this sci-fi world and to live through this story. I’m so glad I gave this debut author a chance.

We have K-Pop, we have K-Drama and now Elaine U Cho gives us Ocean’s Godori - K-Space Opera – science fiction inspired by and powered by Korean culture, food and traditions. In Cho’s future the two Koreas have united to become the Alliance which has become a leading power in the solar system. Cho creates a found family of misfits to play in this sandbox.
Ocean Yoon has been significantly demoted to a Class 4 freighter as a result of not following orders. She also maintains a close relationship with Teo Anand, second son of one of the richest men in the galaxy and she has the respect and loyalty of everyone on her crew except her captain. Readers get a little time to get to know the crew (through newcomer Haven) before they are on the run from just about everyone as they get in the middle of a plot to frame Teo and bring down the Anand family.
Ocean herself is a great character to anchor this book (and possible sequels?) around. Ocean is descended from the haenyeo women freedivers, a tradition from the Korean island of Jeju, a birthright that comes in handy at one point. She is very good at what she does, being shooting a gun or piloting a spaceship but is headstrong and takes risks. But Ocean is incredibly loyal to her friends and crew and it is this connection that drives the story and its resolution.
Ocean’s Godori has the feeling of a space-set K-drama, with a focus on character and action over particularly detailed world building. In fact much of the opening section, set in Seoul, feels like present day Seoul with some space craft added for good measure. But it is refreshing to read space adventure stories that draw on something other than Western culture and tradition. And the K-drama/K-pop vibe is a fun one. In this register, Cho delivers great action sequences anchored around an engaging crew of characters and even manages to throw in a little bit of romance. With plenty of elements of this universe unexplored and an open ending, Ocean’s story is definitely left wide open for a welcome sequel.

This book was fantastic! Cho’s writing is descriptive and beautiful, and I was immediately pulled into the story. In the grand scheme of things, not much happens until the end of the book, but it never felt like it dragged. I enjoyed discovering the complexity of the characters and their personal stories.

The book’s premise is that Ocean Yoon is a spaceship pilot in the Alliance. She’s clever and brilliant, but people erroneously call her cold, rude, and standoffish because of her intellect. However, she cares fiercely for her shipmates. There’s a lot of build-up, learning backstories, and such. The central conflict is when Ocean’s best friend Teo arrives at her ship after he has been framed for murdering his family. There are outlaws, chameleons, romance, death rites, and hovercraft bike chases.

This was such a beautiful book, with many references to Korean history and culture. I cannot wait for the sequel (based on how it ended, there has to be a sequel!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the ARC! I look forward to reading more by Cho.

This is a super-fun adventure about a Korean-led future in space, a pilot trying to figure out who she is and wants to be, corrupt officials and power brokers, and found family. While the end feels abrupt and sets up a sequel, I enjoyed the way Cho slowly doled out information about this universe, its people, their customs, and more, always giving the reader just enough context and explanation to keep up and figure things out on their own. The characters are well-developed and continued to develop through the book, something I particularly like. Fans of K-drama, SFFH, and Korean culture will love this.

Ocean's Godori is a refreshing, character-driven space drama with a really intriguing (if underdeveloped) cast - would definitely recommend for fans of Battlestar Galactica or Becky Chambers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First, the good: It's strengths really do lie in the complex character interactions (dynamics between Ocean and Haven and Ocean and Teo had me frothing at the mouth at parts I'm not gonna lie). Ocean is just all around a fascinating lead. You don't see a lot of female characters like her, and I feel like her god-level pilot skills and cool, analytic demeanor were offset nicely with her actually being a bit of a train wreck who makes impulsive decisions that frequently come back to bite her. Haven's relationship with his father and his religion were also *chef's kiss.* I want to know so much more about Prometheus!

I could go on about our main three for a while. This book excels in the quiet moments. For a relatively action-packed novel, the two scenes that stood out the most to me were the quiet grocery run Ocean and Teo take near the beginning, and a later conversation between she and Haven as they pass a soda back and forth.

Which brings me to a couple disappointments: I do honestly wish we'd gotten this much time and detail with the side characters. The supporting cast was interesting, but flat and a bit one-dimensional. And just as you're starting to get familiar with one group, BAM. Another is dumped in and mixed with the main cast in dramatic fashion. Both sets of characters have potential, but they're all introduced too quickly and I don't really have any emotional attachment to them.

I think this book could have benefitted from some extra length - tell me more about the world, I'm so curious! Give me more scenes with Ocean's brother, with her mother and her home community, give me more snapshots of this intricate world. Certain plot points happened that had me asking "wait, is that normal? Are there aliens/tech that can do that commonly? Why don't people have some sort of vetting process for this?" etc. Give me more quiet moments on the ship with side characters DOING, not just telling us things. I think beefing up the exposition and cutting the first book at the moment Phoenix's crew boards the Ohneul would have made more sense, taking us into the second book to meet and integrate with this new crew. The slight pacing issues and awkward blocking in a few action scenes took me out of the story a bit.

That being said, I did really appreciate how the book doesn't baby the reader with the Korean terms and culture references. I'm white, Korean readers might have had a different experience, but I felt like the author allowed you to learn and pick things up from context clues without over-explaining.

Overall, 3.5/5 stars for potential, I couldn't put this down once it picked up, and I'll definitely be reading the next one!

This had everything I want from a space opera. Action, romance, colorful characters, comedy, drama, betrayal, more drama, queer people and moderate amount of world building. I really enjoyed all the Korean culture references.

However the ending felt very abrupt. I changed the page and suddenly I was reading the acknowledgements. I assume the author has plans to continue the story in a sequel, but I wish this would have had more concrete end.

Still extremely enjoyable and I'm anxiously waiting to read more about the adventures of the characters from this book.

While I generally like the space opera genre in science fiction, there's something about "Ocean's Godori" that never quite pulled me in to the story. It centers on young firebrand Ocean Yoon who is seeking to find her path forward after a mission she was involved with for the Alliance went sideways. A crack shot, she gained a seemingly well-deserved reputation as being too reactionary and therefore dangerous in the wild west of the far galaxy. Ocean (confusingly, sometimes called "Ocean" and other times "Yoon" for extended passages, as are all the characters) bounces from ship to ship with various motley crewmates, ending up a prisoner/new pilot on a pirate vessel (or rebel ship, or...?) with her friend Teo, who has been framed for the murder of his family through complex and poorly explained means. The stakes are increasingly high, the chaos keeps increasing, and characters go from standoffish to intimates in the blink of an eye. This leads to a rather confusing narrative that while colorful and interesting, never quite came together for me. Your experience may differ, of course.