An intriguing look at yeokmasal, the Korean wanderer's curse, though the eyes of a woman who has dealt with it in both her mother and herself. This memoir is strongest when it focuses on Choi and her mother. It would be easy to judge these women (for different reasons) but don't. There's a dive into the subject of exorcism and Korean churches that didn't fit with the rest but much of the cultural and historical information was relevant and interesting. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This memoir of a Korean mother and daughter is very interesting even as it wanders in the same way that it describes the womens' physical wanderings all over the world. You learn a lot about Asian cultural beliefs, and see how this immigrant family fractures under the different pressures of being in America. The stories aren't told chronologically, and are loosely tied together, so sometimes it's hard to follow what's going on. Still though, it's easy to become engrossed in the two main characters, both complicated women. Why does the mom suddenly (or not) decide to go to Alaska? Why did the father cheat on Mom? Why are the daughter and mom estranged at the beginning? Some of the questions have answers, but some are left open, and that does feel like real life. Overall, a very interesting memoir.

interesting and well-written memoir, although there were some chunks that felt sorta divorced from the overall memoir. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

This book belongs to a new class of memoir that I find both intriguing and somewhat frustrating, in that it is not strictly a memoir but also part cultural history and interviews with family members and cultural figures. The frustrating part is that the personal thread that draws me to memoirs can be lost in chunks of info-dumping about Korean Christian church movements or the Korean beauty industry.

This book is told in three parts of the complicated relationship between Jennifer, a Korean American writer, and her mother. Both of them suffer from an affliction known as yeokmasal, rich in Korean culture since the nomadic days, or the wanderer's curse. They have restless spirits and regularly uproot themselves to chase down a new town or adventure that will finally make them happy.

In the first part young Jennifer is living a punk-pop vagabond's life in Manhattan, heavily drinking her way through the adventures of city life while her mom uproots herself to Alaska on a whim. The second part of the book kind of lost me because the personal connection was very loose as Jennifer goes on a deep-dive reporting trip into whether Korean churches were cults. Her uncle was accused of murdering a woman in an exorcism and I found parts of this interesting but I felt as if this should have been its own book. It had very little to do with Jennifer's mother and more could have been explored about the Korean evangelical movement, which I did find interesting.

The third part ties it all together, when Jennifer hits rock bottom and moves in with her mother in Florida and they begin to understand each other as adults. It goes on a tangent, again veering too far away from Jennifer and her mother, about how artists pursue their passions while also needing to eat, which could have been another book. But it ties it all back together again as Jennifer goes to Korea to get her fortune read and learn more about yeokmasal.

I wish the ending had been a little more hopeful; I was left wondering if Jennifer would ever find peace or if she would constantly be yearning for the life she thought she should have to find happiness. In that sense I was unsure of the book's message as to whether it really was a curse.

But I related to their struggles because I too had a thirst for adventure in my 20s. I lived in Japan and made plans to move to Alaska and the Virgin Islands before life got in the way. In middle age though I have grown averse to risk and change but I am still unhappy being settled. However I have come to realize in middle age that happiness is not something that can be found outside, that the more you chase it the more elusive it becomes. I hope Jennifer comes to realize this too.

I forgave the book its chunks of impersonal info-dumping because the author really got me on her side and made me feel like she was someone who I wanted to root for. The writing was also strong and whip-smart.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book hit really close to home for me. My mother is Korean and I related to a lot of the struggles Choi describes from her childhood and family interactions. Although depressing at times, I really enjoyed reading this. Because of the similarities in my own life, it caused me to look at certain experiences in a new light. Honestly, the only critique I have is that there are a lot of acronyms (particularly in the beginning) that, because I am not familiar with real estate, I felt the need to look up. Not a huge issue, but it did take me out of the story, even when I stopped looking up what the acronyms were. Overall an excellent read and a book I will likely add to my physical bookshelf when released.