Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advance copy of this book.
The first half of this book, had me enthralled. A new historical fiction about Japanese occupation of Korea. Na Young was a very likeable character who questioned the traditions with which she was forced to leave.
The second half of the book, this did not go in the direction that I was hoping for it to go. This book looked like it was going to really highlight the difficulty with Japanese occupation, highlight the lives of women in this culture and create a strong female protagonist.
There were a number of subplots in this one, including: the rise of Christianity in Korea, women’s roles in society and Japanese occupation. However, this book is about the strength of some women to fight back and keep Korean culture alive during occupation.
Even though this fizzled in the middle for me a bit, it ended well, with a very realistic ending and a reasonable outcome.
Middle of the pack for me on this one.

I REALLY enjoyed the beginning of this book, but it felt like it really abruptly ended. It felt very rushed towards the end. It would have been great to get more of a story of what happened to her friend while she was away. I think it could have used about 100 more pages to keep the momentum going that was built in the beginning. I wish there was more as I really enjoyed the start!

Very insightful story around the time period when Korea was occupied by Japan. The themes of privilege, feminism and societal expectations were well discussed. The writing style is very similar to Pachinko and Kim Ji Young: Born 1982 so if you enjoyed those two, I highly recommend reading this. The writing tone was a bit dry and not as engaging so it was a slow read for me. Other than that, I learned a lot about the Korean history, culture and conflict in this book.

All Things Under the Moon by Ann Y.K. Choi is a historical fiction novel set in Korea during the Japanese occupation. While this is a well written novel with important themes, readers should be advised to look up trigger warnings as this novel deals with significant trauma.

Due to a tragedy at the beginning of the novel and the realities of life in her village, Na-Young has to flee. This decision sets off a course of events that changes her life significantly.

This novel takes the reader on quite the journey, similar to the one that the characters have to undertake. At times it takes on a surreal quality as both Na-Young and the reader is wondering whether something that happened was real, or just a dream. I enjoyed the writing and found it to be evocative and descriptive. In some places, less detail would have sufficed, while in other places, major events were described in just a sentence. I would have preferred the time skips to be less jarring.

This is the first book I have read by Ann Y.K. Choi and would read more in the future. It is scheduled to be published on September 2, 2025 and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and wants to learn a bit more about Korea in the early part of the 20th century.

Thank you very much to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a digital advanced reader copy of this novel for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

tw: child death, sexual assault, animal cruelty, graphic violence

I received this book as a physical & e-book ARC. 😊 This book follows the story of Na-Young, a young Korean woman in Japanese-occupied Korea in the 1920s. I overall would recommend this book to others, but with some caveats/disclaimers. I was not all that familiar with Korean history so I learned a bunch while reading this book and the chapter length and writing style made it enjoyable to digest.

I however found that the time skips, especially between parts of the book left me feeling like some plot points were left only superficially explored. I also think this book should have a trigger warning list at the beginning or end of it that lists the following themes: rape/sexual assault, torture, death of a child, grief, domestic violence, misogyny, aftermath of rape/sexual assault & unwanted/coerced pregnancy. As much as some may consider including a list of trigger warnings spoilers, as someone who has experienced various forms of trauma and studied criminology with a focus on reducing harms to victims of SA, I believe it is important to warn readers about the presence of those elements in the story to protect those who may get triggered by what is described on the page. I expected some of those elements to come up in the story just based on the context so this is by no means meant to be harsh critique on my part, but the rape scene as well as the consequences resulting from it for the protagonist did jump out to me as exerts that were especially difficult to read without warning. Related to this, given the emphasis on the assault that took place, I wish we would have gotten to read more about the time right after the birth of the child as it felt like the closure we got in relation to that plot point was quite superficial in the final parts of the book. Similarly, based on the blurb, I assumed our protagonist would have more of an active involvement in the revolt movement that was mentioned. I was a bit let down with the limited involvement she seemed to have with it and wish this part of the plot would have been developed further. This book definitely kept me interested and wanting to learn more about the story, so I think had it been a little longer to allow for all its complexity to be fully explored, I would have likely rated it higher. :)

All around, this is definitely a book I would recommend to others to ease them into reading historical fiction. It felt accessible to me and the writing provided enough details and explanations to avoid creating confusion if unfamiliar information was introduced without feeling like non-fiction. I especially love that the author visited all the places she mentions in the book. This explains how beautifully she describes the differences places we visit throughout the story and makes them come alive. This book definitely drives the point home that women need other women to survive. I found myself rooting for the different women this story follows. Thank you for sharing this story with me! 😊

(I have not filmed my review for this book for my tiktok yet, but it will be up asap! 😊 I will be sure to send an email to the Simon and Schuster marketing email! 😊)

I am not knowledgeable on politics so this book taught me a little about Japan taking over Korea and how this was perceived by Koreans. It follows a female protagonist Na-Young who is frustrated by her role as a woman. The overriding premise is that women need other women to survive and this is demonstrated in numerous ways. I greatly enjoyed this story as Na-Young seeks adventure but also self-discovery, realizing that her decisions always have ramifications on others. Well done!

This is a story about a young Korean woman trying to find her own path under Japanese occupation of the country. It felt like a rather quiet story, trickling along gently, but the short chapters make for an easy reading experience. However, I don't think the comparison to Pachinko is fair, as this felt a lot less developed and much smaller in scope both in terms of plot and characters (though this one is a debut novel, afaik, so certain concessions can be made). I found the writing at times frustrating; there were several times when it referred to the protagonist's previous actions, such as a habit, that seemed to come out of nowhere as those actions had never gotten any page time.

Overall, this is for you if you want an easy historical read and to learn a bit about life in Japanese-occupied Korea, but don't expect a riveting plot or deep insights into character's inner life.

Finally, the first (bold) paragraph encompassed the entire arc of the story, including what happens in the last 5-10%, which seems like a spoiler? Maybe this will get changed by publication date.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-arc!