"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙨. 𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙖, 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚."

Ahn Love opens with Margaret visiting her father, Sam Ahn, for his ninetieth birthday. He’s widowed, lonely, and holding on to this heartbreaking belief that if his orchids bloom, his wife will somehow return to him.

That moment pulls Margaret back to the summer of ’69, to a seven-day cruise across the Pacific when she was still a lovesick teenager nicknamed Monkey. It’s where everything began to shift, family tensions, her uncle’s "betrayal", and her mother’s fateful encounter that would shape the years to come. The story moves fluidly, drifting between past and present, and it really does feel like you’re inside Margaret’s thoughts as she remembers and processes everything.

This one hit close to home for me. As someone who’s close to my parents, I saw a lot of myself in Margaret. That constant pull, wanting to be there for your parents, to spend time with them, but also being caught up in your own life and responsibilities. I also loved how much you can feel Margaret’s love for her father. Her admiration towards him is something steady and unspoken throughout the narrative in the way she reflects on him.

This book touches on so many things: grief, love, forgiveness, family, and finding your place in all of it. It’s hard to pin it down to just one idea. It just feels very genuine and human.

What a gorgeous gorgeous book! The cover alone drew me in because it is simply stunning but the storyline as someone who is grief loss and all the things I could relate so much to this storyline and it was a beautiful reflection on life and love

[ARC REVIEW 📖]

Ahn Love
Author : Frances Park

The novel begins w/ Margaret visiting her hometown, Blue Stone, for her father's (Sam Ahn) 90th birthday. Widowed & lonely, Mr. Ahn still waits for his late wife (got into an accident & died) truly believing & convinced that she will come back once the orchids start to bloom.

This triggers memories & past experiences w/in Margaret, especially the family's seven-day cruise across the Pacific back in the summer of 1969, where a once happy family was destroyed in an instant due to betrayal & death. Just goes to show no family is perfect.

I love how mature Margaret was for her age at the time her mother was so emotionally disturbed at the cruise. I also adored her & Adam Kang's romantic love story. Kinda reminded of Titanic for some reason. 😅

My favorite was Uncle Bong & he was such an inspiring character too! I love how he was brave & determined enough to go find his own path in life.

I have to say though that the part about the mother's death was vaguely described that I have a feeling there should be more details about this "Eggman".

To be honest, I am generally not a fan of such poetic style of writing. It was a struggle to read, but the plot especially w/ the character-driven persona in the novel, made me stick through it & touched my heart. I am glad I was able to read this novel. 🥹

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House SEA, & to the author for the opportunity to read! 🥹🫶

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Ahn Love took me some time to finish not because it was boring but because of personal conflicting schedules.
I love how the book goes, it's a bit more slow in the beginning but the family's dynamics pull through
It's not just about the family or the setting but the book carries nostalgia, makes you remember your own childhood and things that may or may not have changed.
As someone that is not so close with my dad anymore, I loved the daddy-daughter relationship so much because it reminded me of how I experienced that as a child.
Will I recommend this book to people? Absolutely!
Thank you Net Galley and to the author for granting me this opportunity to re-experience love in books.

Ethereal, slightly haunting, and reflective. This book resonated deep in my core being. The author writes about a Korean-American family whose vacation during the Summer of 1969 forever alters their trajectory. The point of view is Margaret Ahn, the youngest of three Ahn siblings at 14, and alternates between the present day in Winter 2019 and Summer 1969. I loved reading about family, the relationships between parents and siblings, and comparing them to my own upbringing. It reminded me that all families have baggage, but how we love and support each other through it is what makes us human. Thank you to #NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and the author for the opportunity to review an ARC. All views expressed are my own.

Such a lovely book.

The book is set in two timelines.
Margaret Ahn is visiting her day in the Winter of 2019, where she and her family are reminisicing the past, and finding out the truth of the past.

The story jumps back to the Summer of 1969, when Margaret was 14 (almost 15). Her family including her Uncle Bong, but excluding her elder sister go on a cruise ship for a week.
Here, Margaret is in love with another passenger and starts venturing around with her new love for the week. We also learn about the other characters in the book, but mostly centering around Uncle Bong, the younger brother of Sam Ahn, Margaret's father.

It goes back and forth between time as we listen to the Ahn family's past, and find out what happened in the future at the same time.

If you liked the K-drama Twenty Five Twenty One and Reply 1988, then this is something for you to read! I really enjoyed this book... had a few tears towards the end...

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House SEA | Penguin Books for this ARC!

Ahn Love was an interesting read with its dual timeline (1969 and 2019), and I really liked how it explored the lives of Korean Americans during the 1960s and the lasting impact that critical moments can have years later. The story frequently kept me guessing about what really happened, with referenced to incidents during the family's cruise vacation. I especially loved seeing how close the family remained to their father years later and how they continued to support him. It made me think about my own relationship with my parents and the importance of those family bonds. I almost wished more time had been spent exploring what happened after the vacation incidents, as well as the story of Eggman, who is referenced throughout the novel. Those threads left me wanting to know more.

One of my favorite parts was Uncle Bong’s story. I loved seeing him receive recognition and, in the process, find himself. His journey added another emotional layer to the novel and was a reminder of how much people can change when they finally see their own worth. Overall, this was a thought-provoking story about family, love, and the ways our past continues to shape us.

This book had a really unique writing style, in that it took you through liminal spaces in the characters mind as well as concrete events and recollections.
I think it encapsulates the sombre mood of growing old and profound grief, of having lost the love of your life. I was very touched by the devotion showed by Sam Ahn throughout his life and the duty he felt to his wife and family.
It effectively explored the 'what if' ruminations that are left behind when a person is not longer there to explore those avenues with you.
It felt melancholy but melodic as strange as that sounds in describing a book.

On the other hand, I didn't find the writing style as engrossing as with other novels. Sometimes the ponderings caused loss of attention and equally little drive to pick up the book again - but with the style of this book, it could be unfair to expect a hook to draw you with every chapter.

Overall, enjoyable and thoughtful. Sincere and moving, but not always the most engaging.
If you enjoyed the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series I think it has a similar feel in the sense of the cosy but melancholy atmosphere - granted the premise is vastly different.

A heartfelt family tale told by a Korean writer, who took some aspects of her real life as inspiration.

She takes us through a dual timeline in which the female main character called Margaret, the youngest of the family,
goes on a trip down memory lane while she visits her father at her childhood home.

While she’s there, she also takes us to a memorable, life changing cruise through the Pacific Ocean in 1969.
She was just a fourteen year old girl back then, her siblings just a tad older and her parents in the best years of their lives.
Her parents had escaped Korea during the war, and had established a comfortable life in Virginia. Her Uncle Bong was
a loyal family companion as well, supporting them through thick and thin. Until that very cruise.

In both timelines Margaret reflects and undergoes major transformations: first love, heart ache and grief.
It’s a warm yet nostalgic tale filled with family history and all the feels.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me this opportunity.