FLASLIGHT by Susan Choi is one of those books that’s well-written but didn’t fully land for me. Choi’s prose is sharp and often intimate, and I appreciated the emotional complexity she explores: especially around desire, perception, and memory.

That said, I found myself more admiring the craft than feeling pulled into the story. Some sections felt distant or overly cerebral, and I struggled to connect with the characters beyond the surface. It’s a short read that poses interesting questions, but ultimately left me more intrigued by the ideas than invested in the narrative. Thank you to NetGalley and FSG for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has been my almost constant companion for five days - the longest I’ve spent with a book on my (still relatively new) Kindle. (I looked up the paper book - 400+ pages - and audiobook - 17+ hours - just to put it into perspective.) I can’t think of a way to review this book that makes it sound like I liked it: the characters are well developed but not overly likable (excluding Walt - he’s a gem) and it just has an overall feeling of dreary grayness. Loveless marriages, a drowning, broken families, mysterious illnesses, identity crises…it’s just all so depressing! But I actually did enjoy the time I spent with these characters. It’s like my favorite family dramas with the added complexity of the historic tensions between Korea and Japan. Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC.

The family mystery of this story had me absolutely hooked. I loved the writing and the way the story progressed, but these characters are what truly stood out for me while reading.

The story opens with 10-year-old Louisa grappling with the loss of her father, Serk, a Korean man brought up in Japan after WWII. Louisa’s mother, Anne, raises Louisa as a single mother and juggles learning to relate to her firstborn son, Tobias, whom she had before her marriage. The story takes us from Korea to Japan to America and back to Korea, and we hear from the perspectives of Serk, Anne, and Louisa, though primarily from Louisa’s. Choi considers the repercussions of colonization, war, and geopolitical boundaries and how these affect a nuclear family’s life. Although the plot contains welcome movement and travel, I found it difficult to connect with the characters, and perhaps the novel’s length added to this oddity. The texture of the characters’ inner lives never heightened my senses to the level I desired. I rate Flashlight 3.5 stars.

My thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for an ARC. I shared this review on GoodReads on May 30, 2025 (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7529046791).

I had a very hard time with this book at the beginning and honestly thought of dnf'ing, but I'm so glad I didn't!!! After 40% it was so good I couldn't stop reading.
A very raw and enlightening portrayal of family ties that separate and bring closer and political relationships between neighboring countries that ruin lives.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC.

This book failed to grip me. I tried reading it so many times but I think it's time to admit that this one isn't meant for me. I am sure this works wonderful on other people, as there are many five stars reviews strewn everywhere and I am glad for them. I wish I was able to love it more.

This book was amazing, epic in scope. Susan Choi takes us on a very informative tour of Japan, Korea, and the US. The kaleidoscope of Serk, Anne, and Louisa are immersed with the geopolitics of Korea and Japan. Very good book and have already bought a copy to share with all of my book loving friends/family who enjoyed Pachinko as well. I love it when authors illustrate via fiction the history and feeling of many places. This book will sure to be on many Best of 2025 lists.

<u><b>Flashlight</b></u>
Susan Choi
Narrator: Eunice Wong
Release Date: June 3, 2025

Digital galley and audiobook courtesy of FSG and MacMillan Audio.

National Book Award winner Susan Choi’s latest novel, <i>Flashlight</i> is an expansive, introspective novel which deals with relationships and family, in the backdrop of post-WWII Korea and Japan. It delves into childhood trauma, and the secrets in the dark corners of our psyche that need illumination to understand. The narrative is non-linear, and takes off in different directions and multiple perspectives. The storytelling is deliberate, with some parts that were admittedly difficult for me to slog through. And in combination with Eunice Wong’s sing-song narration, I frequently found my mind wandering. Switching to the e-galley definitely helped.

Despite this, if you stick to it, the read is a rewarding experience in profound reflection. This is my first time with Susan Choi, and I look forward to reading more.

3.5 stars
3 stars for narration

I want to be upfront and say first that I DNF’ed this book at 24%. I really wanted to like this, but ultimately couldn’t connect with any of the characters or the writing style. I was under the impression that the book was more literary fiction, not historical fiction, which is fine, but it felt so dense I had a really hard time continuing. I liked Louisa’s (the daughter) perspective, but couldn’t get into Anne or Seok/Serk’s chapters. This book presents a lot of interesting ideas and themes including memory, family, generational trauma, the social construction of race, and more. I think someone who enjoys character driven historical fiction stories with a more formal writing style would like this book, but unfortunately that person isn’t me.

My thanks to the author and publisher for approving me to read the eARC via NetGalley!

Thrilled to have a new Susan Choi novel; she is such a singular writer. Flashlight begins with ten-year-old Louisa walking one night with her father Serk; later, Louisa is found alone and her father has disappeared. The complex novel then sifts through Louisa's broken memory of that night, and the memories of her parents, in a novel spanning decades and several characters as the story ripples out from that nighttime walk and tragedy. Choi examines identity, family, kinds of loss, grief, home, and especially memory while weaving Louisa, Serk, and her mother Anne's story in with larger historical and social threads, including interracial marriage and biracial identity as well as Korean-Japanese and North Korean history. Through all of this is Choi's excellent, thoughtful writing.

A schoolgirl, playing with a flashlight after a session with a psychiatrist, remembers the night her father disappeared from their lives: They were walking on a breakwater, and her father’s flashlight slipped out of his hand and fell to the sand. That is all she remembers–but in the missing memories are whole worlds that open to us as we read: a biracial girl living in the US and Japan, the unlikely marriage between her white Christian mother and Japanese Korean immigrant father, the lives of those kidnapped and held under North Korean dictatorship, and more.

This novel is riveting. The characters are fiercely alive and vibrantly individual. The worlds are fascinating and adeptly observed. The narrative voice is intimately tied to the characters in a way that draws you deeper and deeper into their world. The story accretes from beautiful details into compelling scenes, with more and more coming into view until you are gripped in the novel’s spell and can’t put it down. After reading this book, I will be reading deep into Susan Choi’s backlist!

Flashlight begins on the coast of Japan, where Serk, a Korean man born in Japan, is walking along the beach with his daughter, Louisa. As he holds a flashlight and strolls along the shoreline, Serk suddenly vanishes into the water. It remains unclear whether he has disappeared, drowned, or if something more sinister has occurred.

The story then shifts back to Serk’s childhood, spanning the United States, Japan, and North Korea. Historical moments are interspersed with the personal stories of the three main characters.

In his younger years, Serk was unaware of his Korean heritage and believed his name was Hiroshi, his Japanese name. His family is enticed by promises of a better life in North Korea; however, Serk decides to move to the United States instead. This choice, along with leaving Japan and being separated from his family, makes it difficult for him ever truly to know where “home” is. Serk marries an American woman named Anne, and together they have a daughter named Louisa.

The chapters alternate between the perspectives of Serk, his wife Anne, and their daughter Louisa. Despite being surrounded by family, Serk often feels detached and experiences a profound sense of loneliness. Louisa, too, shares similar feelings of disconnection from those around her.

While some parts of the book may feel a bit drawn out, I found myself absorbed in the story during the second half. Family secrets are revealed along the way, and the narrative takes unexpected turns.

Some elements of Flashlight draw inspiration from real events, particularly the tragic and horrifying abductions of innocent people from Japan to North Korea. Between 1977 and 1983, numerous individuals were kidnapped from coastal areas in Japan and other locations, then forcibly taken to North Korea. Many of these victims were captured to teach North Korean spies the Japanese language or to assume their identities.

This story explores themes of grief, loneliness, displacement, identity, memory, language, and the concept of family.

Thank you to @netgalley and @fsgbooks for providing an early review copy. Flashlight will be released on June 3rd!

It was a slow start for me but well worth the journey. I will get this book and story with me for years to come and recommend it often.

Thanks to Netgalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for the eARC!

This book was mesmerizing. Very subtle, but really impactful. I learned so much about a historical event I had never heard of before. I loved that we got chapters from different characters' perspectives.
The writing was so interesting as well. I loved the link of the flashlight throughout the story, and it was interesting to see which events Choi chose to include in this story (since it spans so many decades). I already want to go back, now that I know the ending, to see if I can figure out some more threads that weave throughout the story.
Highly recommend for fans of historical fiction, family dramas, or mysteries. I think you'll really enjoy this story!

This book is amazing. There is such a complex, interwoven cast of characters who should know each other really well as they are one another’s closest family, and yet they don’t. A man with a complicated past as an immigrant in the country he was born in, a woman who was the ignored runt of the litter, and a daughter coping with loss and instability are the main protagonists here, with a Zenned out wayward son as a sometimes narrator who fills in the cracks left by the brittle three. While this is the story of the journey to the making of a family of three and the lack of anything holding them together, it is also the tale of holding tightly to secrets to keep those closest to you at bay.

I heard Susan Choi talking about the origins of this book, and I wish some of that has been included. She is such a talented writer.

5⭐️ I could not put down this big beautiful expansive story! Filled with emotion, love, grief, and family drama, the gorgeous prose grabbed me from the first pages.

Told from alternating POV chapters of Louisa, her Korean Japanese father, Serk, and her American mother Anne. Multi timelines add to the dramatic telling of a tragic and engrossing tale that leads to the tearful ending.

The main characters of Louisa, Serk, and Anne are flawed and unlikable at times but I fell in love with each of them in the telling of their stories. Anne’s older son Tobias is also equally flawed but has a quirky like ability.

Lots of post WWII history in Korea and Japan adds the backdrop to an intriguing, mysterious, tale that is gripping as well as satisfying.
Issues of immigration, ethnicity, culture, belonging, parenting, and forgiveness are prominent in the unfolding drama.

There is a big twist well into the story that surprised me and kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, & Giroux publishing for the ARC In exchange for my honest review

A haunting family saga unravels in the years surrounding a young girl’s near-drowning and her father’s mysterious disappearance. Louisa is a whip-smart 10-year-old who completed the fourth grade twice — once in America and again in Japan — so she knows that the meeting allegedly about her grade level is really an appointment with a child psychologist. This doctor, her estranged aunt and all the other adults in her life have behaved the same way since her father vanished, “with a combination of hearty attention and squeamish discomfort.” “Flashlight” explores the lives of Louisa and her parents — Korean-born, Japan-raised Serk and American Anna — their difficult marriage, challenging upbringings and fracturing secrets. Why did Serk really move Anna and Louisa to Japan? Is he really dead, or just missing? This literary novel is both a deeply personal mystery and an illumination of the long-lasting impacts of Japanese imperialism on the collective Korean psyche. Author Susan Choi went to Yale University.

Thank you to FSG and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I have realized that sometimes, multi-generational sagas are not for me. Or perhaps I'm dealing with burn out on character driven stories versus stories with more action and plot. Either way, this was a solid 3 star read for me. It was good, beautifully written, but just not the right one for me as a reader. This will definitely have its audience, and Choi is an excellent storyteller.

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. I was a little nervous going into this book- it’s quite big and was billed as a multigenerational, epic, historical literary fiction novels. These are usually my cup of tea but, I wasn’t sure if it would be overwhelming. However, I’m glad to report that this was a truly excellent book.

Susan Choi is attempting to do a lot in this book and if you have the patience, you can see how she deftly weaves together these many complicated strands to form this story. I learned a great deal in this book about the history of Japan and Korea, through Serk’s backstory, and it was interesting to see what the long lasting effects of this conflict were in his life. At the same time that we are exploring the consequences of war, racism, poverty, etc. on Serk in his homeland and as an immigrant, the author also explores Anne’s story and the themes of mental health, disability, complicated family stories, etc. Finally, we see the story told through Louisa’s and Tobias’ POV, the “children” of the story and how these events and experiences shaped their upbringing.

This is really a slow burn story, with long character studies, through the lengthy, POV specific chapters. But, it is worth it to read patiently and I am glad I stuck with it. The author’s writing is also beautiful and made for a very enjoyable reading experience. Fans of literary fiction and family stories, with historical elements, will find a feast in this book. I can’t wait to see what others think!

I really enjoyed the author’s article in the New Yorker in 2020 called Flashlight. So I was very much looking forward to reading this. Unfortunately, I got lost in the different storylines and really only wanted to know more about the lost father. I read about 1/2 of it before deciding to move on because I was starting to skim the pages. There is a refined artistry to the storytelling which literary fiction readers, especially literary historical fiction readers, will treasure. It just wasn’t the right book for me right now.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley.