Meet Me At Blue Hour by Sarak Suk
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance I Science Fiction
Length: 288 pages
Release date: March 25, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

"Seeing Lucas again this summer, I realize that as much as I've missed him, I've missed myself even more."

Thank you @coloredpagesbt @epicreads for a finished copy of the sophmore release from @_sarahsuk

Yena Bae is in Korea for the summer to visit her mother who moved from Edmonton, Canada to Busan, South Korea after divorcing Yena's father. Yena's mother runs a memory erasing clinic that had been very successful, that is trying out a new procedure to regain memories once lost. The procedure is fairly similar to the erasure to memories, the paitent is to record sounds on a casette tape to help locate memories that are to be tampered with. One day while in a rush and listening to patient #201's tape, Yena is distracted while running as she hears her voice on a tape and coincidentially runs into her best friend she hasn't seen in years, Lucas Pak. Lucas and Yena were best friends, until one day they weren't. Lucas has no memory of Yena, he is patient #201. Yena has no idea why Lucas would want to wipe his memory of her, but could rekindling a friendship do more harm than good? As the two reconnect, they unravel the mystery and heartache of what happened between them all those years ago--and must now reckon with whether they can forge a new beginning together.

As a HUGE fan of The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I was immediately intriged the premise. I have been on the hunt for a long time for a book similar to the plot and I this novel scratched that itch. I loved the young adult aspect of this story, I think the thought of wanting to erase a person from you life is so relatable. Speaking for myself, I have thought it before. Would my life be better if I could forget the person because then you wouldn't have to deal with loss? I think it's such an interesting concept, but then we wouldn't be who we are without knowing loss, pain, regret, love, etc.

As Yena and Lucas grow closer they go on many fun adventures, having never been to South Korea, it made me want to know more about the locations mentioned. The vivid imagery really put the reader in the locations with them. All throughout there are delicious descriptions of Korean food and adorable moments between Yena and Lucas. I enjoyed the alternating POV chapters of the two leads and in between the chapters we have flashback chapters featuring sounds. (The sounds go along with a specific memory to be located for the procedure—a bustling movie theater with popping corn or a gifted wind chime.) This such a beautiful story with deep themes that touch on grief and growing through it all.

We follow Yena who is working at her mom’s memory-erasing clinic, when she runs into Lucas a boy who she was once really close with except now he doesn’t seem to remember her and she realizes he had his memories of her erased. Now, Yena is helping Lucas get his grandpa in the new trial program to restore memories with the hopes of finding out why he erased her in the first place.



This book captures the longing of a friendship that ended without explanation so well, you can see the connection from the first moment they meet again that the friendship they had was real and it makes it more confusing why Lucas would have Yena erased in the first place. As the story goes on you begin to have an understanding of what really happened and all I have to say the responsible parties weren’t punished enough.



Set in a world where the possibility to erase memories exists and I love that it doesn’t shy away from how making the decision to erase memories/people has a negative impact on the people that still carry those memories and the knowledge that someone choose to forget leaving them in this state of unresolved sadness.



Solid 3.5



Thank you NetGallley and HarperCollins Children’s Books | Quill Tree Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

Set in a near-distant future where one company, Yena begins a post-high-school job at her mom's company, Sori for Us, which has invented a way to erase memories via associated sounds. Yena, whose parents believe her to be driftless and unmotivated, moves to Busan where she runs into Lucas, a boy-now-young man named Lucas. He, however, has no memory of Yena. Told in dual POV between Lucas and Yena, this book explores the complex relationship we have with our memories, good and bad, wanted and unwanted, forgotten intentionally and slowly drifting from us as we age.

This book was easy to read with a really clean narrative structure despite the fact that missing memories were central to the plot. There were a few well-written moments between Lucas and Yena that were cute and quotable, but for the most part, readers will be most interested in the futuristic, yet still realistic conflict and the plot twists (which surprised me!). However, there were a few places that had me questioning the ethics of the entire business and those involved.

If you've loved sci-fi/dystopian fiction like the works of Kazuo Ishiguro, you'll enjoy this one (and question if the world comes to this, would you participate?).

I love the sentimentality of the book. Of the two characters. I felt like Suk dropped me in the middle of a k-drama, complete with cherry blossoms raining on Lucas and Yena. Even Mina Bae's company seems like something from a k-drama trope: amnesia. I love the way I was immediately drawn into the story from the get-go -- I think I read this in a day and a half! The whole "blue hour" thing is so beautifully painted. I feel like I was floating through a haze watching from above. There probably could have been more character development with supporting characters but I do appreciate that it was all succinct.

I expected this to be angsty and emotional. It definitely was, and I loved every bit.

With the idea of intentional memory loss being essential to the story, I thought this book had a really great discussion of what the implications of loving memories could be. Maybe you’re just forgetting a single event or maybe a large chunk of your life. Or perhaps, like Lucas in this book, you’re forgetting about a person dear to you. I liked how the book considers not only the life of the person forgetting, but also those around them.

I thought Yena was a really relatable character. Not everyone has clear goals in life, and especially after losing a person you loved for years, it’s hard continuing with your life like nothing has changed. I also loved Lucas and his determination to help his grandfather. It’s difficult when your loved one is slipping away from you day after day. Knowing there’s a chance, no matter how slim, to bring them back, is bound to make you hope for more.

The book is told from both Yena and Lucas’s POVs, along with a few short chapters from the perspectives of some objects. I thought this was a really cool way to show glimpses of the past when Yena and Lucas were best friends. We see their time together from the perspective of an observer, and it gives so much insight to their relationship. Just these few chapters do such a great job of showing the strength of their bond.

With these chapters showing us their bond, Yena’s POV tells us how that bond has been shattered with Lucas’s loss of memory. I loved seeing their relationship as childhood best friends, but also as two people who endlessly love and support each other.

I’ve never watched the works this book is compared to, so I’m not sure how similar they are. But reading this definitely makes me want to watch those.

Overall, this was so beautiful, with writing and storytelling that enhance the story.

I really enjoyed this book, and found myself looking forward to continue reading it. I found the idea of memory erasure very interesting, and I like how this book tackled this topic. I enjoyed the sweet romance between the main characters.

I enjoyed the writing style from Suk and felt that the pacing was well suited for this story, especially having dual POV's. The reveals were kept at a good pace to keep the story interesting without giving the entire story away at once. I definitely recommend this story!

Thanks to NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for a copy of this eARC, all opinions are my own.

It was easy to see the parallels between The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and this book. The storytelling is more linear in the book than that movie, though. For the most part, the story alternates between Lucas’s and Yena’s viewpoints. Periodically, short scenes show erased memories from unusual perspectives. For example, one memory is told from the viewpoint of a windchime that one character gives another for a birthday present.

One of my favorite elements of The Eternal Sunshine is the way that the movie explores different facets of a memory loss procedure and how it might be used in harmful ways. While Meet Me at Blue Hour doesn’t follow that thread, it does explore the impact of memory loss on the community surrounding the person who has had memory alteration. The narrative leads us to think not only about the ramifications of erasing memory but of preserving it as well. Pretty fascinating stuff!

In addition to the thoughtful exploration of those ideas, the author delivers a compelling romance between two people with past connections. The pacing of their relationship is perfect– I felt like I was on the edge of my seat hoping for them to find the answers they were looking for.

Additionally, I loved the South Korean setting. It’s been a long time since I visited Seoul, and I have never been to Busan, but I found some of the descriptions of the markets and stuff triggered fond memories for me, too.

If you like thoughtful stories or sweet summer romances, add this one to your reading list! Adam Silvera just announced that he will be hosting a speculative romance book club, and this book will be the first pick for the group to read.

Meet Me at Blue Hour stood out from the other sci-fi books I've read. It's more slice-of-life with no big dystopian threat, which was a nice change. The take on memory erasure and recovery was really interesting. The characters felt unique, and the interactions between them felt natural. Overall, I thought the book was thought-provoking and interesting.

This book had such a cool concept, memory erasure, childhood friends, and emotional reconnections. I really wanted to love it, but sadly, it didn’t fully work out for me. The story had some strong emotional moments, and I enjoyed the setting in Busan and the idea behind the memory clinic. It was unique and had potential.

That said, I didn’t feel as connected to the characters as I hoped to, and some parts felt a bit slow or underdeveloped. Still, I did enjoy the overall vibe and the soft, nostalgic tone of the story. It’s one of those books that wasn’t a perfect fit for me, but I’m sure it’ll really resonate with other readers.

i read suk’s previous book, the space between here & now, as an arc a couple of years ago, so when i saw that this book was available on netgalley, i knew i had to try to get a copy, and the effort was worth it. suk’s ability to create these really interesting elements of magical realism never cease to fascinate me. the idea of memory erasure and its consequences are at the core of the story in more ways than one, and i absolutely ate it up. yena and lucas are really solid characters, and both of their internal monologues are so complex and engaging to read. both have very real worries, whether it’s lucas’ fears of losing his grandpa or yena’s concerns about her ability to commit to something, or the relationship that both have with their parents, there was never any shortage of fodder for internal monologues or character development. maybe i should have, but i absolutely did not see the twist coming at all. it totally changed the way i viewed some of the characters and the story as a whole, though not necessarily for the worse. it was a bold choice in my opinion, but one that worked out in a really cool way. it was a contributing factor to a few of the loose ends that were left, and those were mildly annoying to me. but they were definitely not make-or-break, and i had such a good time reading this. i think it maybe took me three hours of actual reading spread out over a few days, and i wish i’d had the time to read it in one sitting. i’ll definitely be getting a physical copy of this, and if you like speculative fiction with a dash of romance, you should check it out as well.

Sarah Suk is one of my favorite authors to recommend to my 9th-grade students! Her books are clean YA, have light romance, enough substance to add some depth, and very fun plots.

I loved seeing another Suk book with a unique storytelling POV and sci-fi elements. In this one, Yena's mother's company is able to erase people's memories through sounds. In the story, we get small glimpses of Yena and Lucas's stories told through the POV of objects/sounds -- very cool!

I found this to be a very quick, easy, light read. I do think The Space Between Here and Now had more emotional depth, but I did still enjoy this. I appreciated how it truly makes you think about the implications of memory and how they affect others. I'll definitely put this one on my students' radar.

3⭐

“It starts with a sound”

I truly enjoyed Meet Me At Blue Hour. The whole book felt incredibly poetic, especially with that use of sounds to erase (and stimulate) memory. It was enhanced by Lucas and Yena’s wanders to record the sounds associated with his grandfather’s life, and by the addition of the interludes when the objects associated with the sounds “remembered” a memory. I did a tandem reading with the audiobook, and I ADORED that these objects’ parts were read by a third narrator, making them another character even more.
Both characters are very endearing in their solitude, their relationship with their parents, and how they are completely dragged to each other like magnets. Their relationship felt as fragile as it felt indestructible. I loved that, and it filled the whole book with a soft melancholy, in which the time retrocedes, remains up in the air.
Beyond this Sci Fi mixing sensoriality, poetry and reflexion, the book also questions reality with the “science” side, which confronts the memory wiping with ethics and a lot of questions: what it can mean for the person who forgets, but also their loved ones. What are the possible consequences? It is moral? If I’m the only one to remember something, is it true? Did it really happen? Does it change who I am, who are my loved ones?
That book was a perfect balance of all of it. I loved it.

Thank you to the author, HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books and Colored Pages PR for the eARC sent via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

This was such a lovely story! The story is basically a contemporary with a speculative twist- what would happen if someone erased you from their memory... and then you saw them again? Well, this is what main character Yena is facing when she spends the summer with her mom in Busan. Thing is, her mom isn't just her mom, she's the doctor behind this memory erasing business. And guess who else is in town? Yena's former bestie Lucas, who she hasn't seen in years, since he basically ghosted her. And while we're guessing stuff, guess who has no memory whatsoever of Yena's existence? Yep, the aforementioned bestie! So let's just say, the summer should be interesting!

It was a very heartfelt story, with tons of family bonds to be explored for both Yena and Lucas, as well as a lot of thought provoking talk about memory and the ethics of all of that stuff. And of course, we are taken on the journey of Yena and Lucas being re-introduced, at least for Lucas. I adored this book, and loved how much emotion there was, and how thought provoking it was, and how much character development there was.

Bottom Line: Emotional and thought provoking and full of heart. A win

"People who don’t care about you anymore shouldn’t still get to hold on to pieces of you."

Would you erase your most traumatic memory for even a moment of peace?

The whole time I read this book my face alternated between these two: 🤠🥲

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Past Lives in a dual-POV YA contemporary about two friends who grew apart with the aid (or hindrance?) of memory tampering, set in South Korea. This is an excellent choice for a book club!

TW: Side character with Alzheimer's; Near-death experience (drowning); PTSD and nightmares; Grief; Chronic migraines; Panic attack (on-page)

CW: Divorced parents; Friendship breakup; Mentions of abusive relationships & death of a parent

Possibly a 4.5? I keep going back and forth. I didn't cry so I'm leaning toward the 4 for Goodreads purposes. A good cry changes everything, as you know!!

MEET ME AT BLUE HOUR is kind of about two different main themes that intersect: a friendship breakup and the significance of memory, specifically the sanctity of memory and how it shapes both us as a people and the people in our lives. We follow both leads, Yena and Lucas, in first person POV, along with snippets from the influential sounds from their past. You'll get it when you read it, I promise.

I don't want to say much about the plot because it's more emotional and impactful with this particular story, but it's definitely worth a read and then a really good long shower afterwards so you can stare at the wall and contemplate your entire existence!!

Rep: Korean-Canadian main character; Korean-Canadian main character with chronic migraines, PTSD, and anxiety

Thank you to Epic Reads for the copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This novel is a compelling blend of 𝘌𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥 and 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, written by the acclaimed author Sarah Suk. It was such a good read! I also felt it had some elements of 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘰𝘵 with its memory-altering plot.

I appreciated how Suk addressed the ethics of memory erasure and its role in shaping one’s experiences. One memory can influence multiple other memories or experiences. I’m also a big fan of friends to lovers trope and this one was done so amazingly!

Another thing I liked was how this book also touched on the impact of Alzheimer’s on family members and the lengths they will go to in order to prevent their loved ones from fading away. The best way to describe this book is that it is heartbreaking, emotional, and gripping. It will leave you wanting more while still feeling satisfied with the ending! 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘳 by Sarah Suk is out now!

Narrated from Yena's and Luvas' POVs, this book was beautifully emotion evoking... The mystery of Lucas' memory loss kept me rivetted... And the author has dealt with very hard subjects with a lot of sensitivity...

This is my third book by Sarah Suk, and I have loved every one of them. She does such a great job balancing deep, emotional storylines and concepts with lighthearted moments and lovable characters perfect for a young adult audience. In this one as well as her last one (The Space Between Here and Now), I have LOVED how she incorporates the slighted sci fi element that make me consider what I would do in a similar scenario. I also always love her inclusion of Korean-Canadian culture that give me a glimpse into a unique perspective that I haven't read a lot of before. The one critique I have for this book is that it is on the shorter side, and it moves so quickly through the plot that I felt it skimmed over some of the emotional moments that I would have liked to spend more time in. This is definitely personal preference, but I would love to read an adult novel by this author in the future that is longer and goes deeper into the emotional moments and moral dilemmas that I have gotten glimpses of in her YA.

Thank you to Colored Pages Book Tours and Quill Tree Books for the ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I rated this book 5 stars. When I first heard the premise of this book, I didn’t know what I was really in for. This story truly ripped my heart into tiny pieces (in the best way) and put them back together by the end. It was surprisingly heavy, but still very appropriate for a YA audience.

The dual POVs from both Yena and Lucas, interspersed with sound-based memory fragments, created such an emotional and vivid narrative structure. It’s a stunning exploration of what it means to be the one forgotten, while also grappling with the ethical implications of memory-erasing technology. Just because we can, doesn’t always mean we should.

This book beautifully touches on themes like complicated family dynamics, the emotional aftermath of memory loss (especially for those who remember), and the pain and power of reconnection. All of this is set against the rich and immersive cultural backdrop of Busan, which only added to the depth and beauty of the story.

Sarah Suk’s writing is immersive and emotionally charged, while still feeling accessible and grounded in a very relatable coming-of-age voice. It truly feels like being inside the minds of two teens trying to make sense of heartbreak, identity, and hope. Poignant, captivating, and immensely moving.

Thanks you @coloredpagesbt @epicreads @sarahsuk for sending me the arc.

"And somehow, against all odds, we've found ourselves home again"

Review:

📼 The story follows Yena and Lucas Pak, childhood best friends who lost contact four years ago. One day, Yena runs into him outside Sori Clinic; her mother’s memory restoration and erasure clinic and realizes he no longer remembers her. Lucas is in Busan to visit his grandfather, recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and is looking into Sori Clinic’s new memory restoration study. Since the program is full, Yena, who knows his grandfather, offers to help.

📼This was such a heartwarming read, definitely one of my top books in March. I was over the moon when I got the email saying I’d received the ARC!

📼Yena and Lucas’s friendship was so tender and beautifully written. The story is told through multiple povs; one from yena, the next from lucas, and a third from "sounds" which represents their connection and the memory that was taken from lucas. At first, I wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy the multi-pov style, I thought it might get confusing. But Sarah Suk wove it all together with so much care, emotion, and love. It just worked perfectly. 🥹✨️ The writing was super easy to follow and had me hooked from the very first page. I devoured the whole book in under 5 hours( that has got to say something) 🤭

📼The story explores both memory erasing and restoring, and I loved how the author didn’t paint it as simply good or bad. Instead, she showed the grey areas, letting the reader decide what it truly means to forget or to remember.

📼Overall, this book was an emotional, thought provoking and well written with so much efforts. If you're looking for a story which blends friendshio, memory, a little romance, this one's a must read. ✨️

Life throws through many painful moments enough to even sometimes to make us crash down, straight down to our core, but what if we are given an opportunity to forget those memories triggering grief? Would we take that path if it means losing the good parts of those moments too ? You might be wondering where I am going with this, when I am all about living with open fluidity despite grief,

Well, this book explores the possibility of finding a way out of grief a bit more permanently, to maybe breathe easier by "Memory erasure" but also explores what ifs on the other end of the spectrum too, like erasure's impacts on surrounding people's perspectives and narratives.

For context, something has been missing in Yena's life for four years. She comes home to work under her mother's Sori of Us Clinic, which performs these "Memory erasure" procedures. By chance, she gets to meet Lucas, her childhood bestie who suddenly disappeared from her life, and to her surprise, he doesn't remember a thing about her. The story moves forward exploring themes of grief, loneliness, family, old school relationship nostalgia and more.

I loved this book period. It brought in so many old school elements which I really love. My heart broke through the rollercoaster Yena went through, but then also loved the bonding between Lucas and his grandpa. I don't know whether I have said this before, but Korean-based books always feel like home. Yes, they are a bit more raw but they feel real too.

The only con was for me perse, that arc between Lucas and Yena in the aftermath, felt a little less in depth from Lucas's end, which I could get looking at the story, but then it felt a bit off for me. But, I really enjoyed reading this one.

Rating - 4.75 stars.

Book Recommendation - Hell Yeah.