I give Invitation: Stories a solid three and a half stars. Each story is a new person either bidding for a connection with other people, or not knowing that they need it. I found each story to be entrancing and frustrating in a different way. To watch each character crave the feeling of connection, whether they realize it or not, was heartbreaking in it's own way. While it was frustrating to see each chapter close in a cliffhanger, I agree with Kim's methods. With each chapter left at a sudden dead end, we too get the feeling of an invitation for affection unmet. I loved this directional decision and the way it makes you sit with each character you just met. You get just enough time to get to know them and where they are in the world at that time before you are whisked off to the next. By doing this, we are accepting the invitation for affection without our characters realizing it. I love the depth that which Kim has written with. Though each chapter is relatively short, I feel most every chapter is effective in highlighting the need for closeness. and the importance of true, vulnerable, honest human connection.

Lovely writing that seamlessly drops you into each story. The stories are full of intriguing set ups and interesting and not usually likable characters. I especially enjoyed Acapulco, Family Portrait, and Love Letters.

Thank you to University of Nebraska Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

I struggled a bit with the formatting of the stories it was difficult to tell where one story stopped and another began. I felt like some of the stories were a bit over my head.

Invitation is a collection of twelve short stories that explore conversations, relationships, and the inner workings of flawed, distinct personalities. These characters feel like real people—unfiltered, messy, and deeply human.

Mi Jin Kim has a talent for capturing the small details we ruminate on: the way people think, hesitate, and make quiet decisions that shape their lives. This work peels back the surface of ordinary moments to reveal something quietly profound.

The voices in this collection linger though their situations may feel mundane. This collection had me thinking, how would I handle this situation? What might be in my innermost thoughts?

I enjoyed INVITATION even as I found it unsettling. The characters within these stories are passive and stuck. They are hampered by their past. At times they frustrated me, which I suppose means they felt like real people. How does the past shape us? The collection explores loneliness and grief in a convincing and realistic way. Ultimately this is somewhat depressing given that each character is disappointed with how their life has turned out. But I did enjoy it, and I particularly admire how the author handles endings, which are abrupt but also smart and well-placed. The author trusts the reader to understand, which is refreshing.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-galley; all opinions in my review are 100% my own.

I absolutely loved this book and the stories it holds. Life is hard to sift through in terms of relationships and it's always nice to know you're not alone in our inner thought life. The only reason I took away one star is because I read it on my Kindle and there were no chapter breaks so one story would end and the other begin without forewarning, leaving me a little confused with new names and stories so I'd stop and re-read several pages when a new story began. Otherwise, I highly recommend.

This book really creeped me out, but in a weird way. The stories are about people trying and failing to connect, often because they’re stuck in old patterns from childhood. There’s a lot of silence, absence, and tension that comes from what’s not being said, and that makes it even more powerful.

The writing was very unsettling because the characters do strange things, but you always feel where it’s coming from. It made me think about how much our past relationships shape the way we show up with others now, even when we think we’ve moved on.

Not an easy or comforting read, but definitely one that lingers.

3.75 🫶🏼 thanks University of Nebraska Press

A collection of short stories that all feel subtle and muted but still punch with the cruelty of reality. A solid collection of stories.

This is a collection of short stories (Acapulco, Family Portrait, Love Letters, George, What’s So Funny?, Reunion, Father, Clarissa, The Last Day, Invitation, Little Boy Blue, and Downpour) from debut author Mi Jin Kim. I rated it 4.25 out of 5 stars.

Overall, I would describe the book as an excellent read, subtle and muted (in a good way) in its exploration of grief, loneliness, regret, and yearning. The characters feel deeply real, complex, enigmatic, flawed, and contradictory. I kept half-expecting the stories to take a turn into the speculative or bizarre, but somehow Mi Jin Kim evoked the feeling of magical realism without ever dipping into that territory, which is an impressive feat. While I enjoyed some stories more than others, as one does, I found the collection as a whole to be riveting and tense and all of the things I want out of contemporary short fiction.

What initially struck me when reading this collection was the author's blending of American and South Korean narrative voice, dialogue, and writing style, which I found really well done and engaging. I feel like South Korean literature, even within the broader genre of east Asian literature, has a very unique tone to it, and this captured it beautifully. I feel like it was distinctly American in its descriptions and sense of setting (very grounded in sensation and place), but the character's internal dialogues had the impenetrable and mysterious quality that is present in lots of South Korean literature. Really just a beautiful blend.

Each story digs into the inherent messiness of human connection, with the central characters all feeling some sort of unhappiness or dissatisfaction with the way their lives have turned out. Each takes place in a vignette with an inciting event that forces them to reflect on what they want from their interpersonal relationships. I really adore story collections that follow this format; a common theme presented in many ways. I think it tends to show universal truths about humanity in a way that different works of fiction cannot.

I also felt that all the characters shared a life stage - that sort of limbo where you're not quite middle aged but also not a young adult. It's a period of our lives that I feel is often ignored in fiction, where we're not quite old enough to be grouped in with people in their mid-forties or early fifties, but not young enough to be in your mid-twenties to early thirties. This book feels like the experience of being thirty-eight, and I really enjoyed that tonal consistency.

Above all, I really loved the ambiguity with each piece. Abrupt endings, right before the emotional release of "finding out" really drives the point of vignettes home. I like that it was made clear that when "endings" were not given, it was not for the sake of withholding gratification from the reader, but because the story was not about the ending, it was an investigation into the personhood of the character themself.

I would recommend this book to readers who loved Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo, The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado, or Covenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata.

My personal Fiction Rating System:
Each parameter is rated 1-10, with the cumulative score divided by 8 (or 9 if it was an audiobook). Within each star range, 0.25 and 0.5 stars are given based on specific elements of the book, like diversity, plot elements, etc.
0 - 2.2 = ☆ It is a great mystery of the universe that this book got published in the first place.
2.3 - 4.5 = ☆☆ It gives me the ick. I wish I didn't waste my time on this.
4.6 - 6.9 = ☆☆☆ Meh. Maybe it's me, maybe it's the book. Didn't leave much of an impression.
7 - 8.9 = ☆☆☆☆ This is a very good book. Not my favorite, but very good.
9 - 10 = ☆☆☆☆☆ This is my personality now. Brilliant art.

Atmosphere & Worldbuilding
Do I feel immersed in the setting of this world? Do I feel like I can reach out and touch it? Is it creative or lackluster and stale?
8
Characters & Relationships
Did the characters develop over time? Did they feel real or 2D? Did their relationships make sense? Were they lovable or at least interesting?
8
Writing Style & Language
How is perspective handled? How is background information presented? Do the characters have a consistent voice, so it is clear who is speaking? What is the author’s grasp on the language? Does it flow or is it clunky? Did I have to focus a lot? Is it beautifully written?
8
Plot, Pacing, & Internal Logic
Was the plot predictable, unpredictable, or did it subvert predictability? Were there plot holes? Was the pacing consistent? Did the book follow its own internal logic?
9
Emotion
Did I laugh? Cry? Books are supposed to make us feel something.
7
Enjoyment & Memorability
Overall, did I come away from the book having genuinely enjoyed it? Did I look forward to reading it? Is it a book I want to recommend to others and will remember details from for years to come?
7
Premise & Politics
Everything is political, and an author’s politics shine through their work. Do the politics present in this book align with my own values? Does the book itself (outside of the plot) respectfully handle marginalized communities and sensitive topics? Is the author writing about their own identity or community? How unique is the concept of the story? Did the book end up doing what it set out to do?
6
Structure & Intrigue
How hooked was I? Was it a struggle to finish or could I not put it down? Were all the pages justified? Could it have been shorter to cut out excess or longer to explore subjects with more nuance and depth?
8