In this powerful, page-turning debut, Jimin Han deftly shows that revolutions – whether big or small, in the world or of the heart – can have an impact that lasts through time and spans the oceans.
On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger – Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang – is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
Through scenes of political upheaval and protests in South Korea, spirited conversations in cramped dumpling houses, and the quiet moments that happen when two people fall in love, A Small Revolution is a moving narrative brimming with longing, love, fear, and – ultimately – hope.
Great mix of literary and suspense–with an ending filled with surprising-but-inevitable twists! I downloaded A Small Revolution to read on an upcoming trip, and I made the mistake of sampling the first few pages just to see what it was like. I say it was a mistake because I got hooked in so quickly that I ended up reading the whole thing instead of packing or running errands to get ready for the trip! Jimin Han’s novel is my favorite type of novel: literary suspense, with a strong suspense/mystery that pulls you in quickly and keeps you turning the pages (is Yoona’s boyfriend really being…
So worth the read! A Small Revolution is a heavier book then I usually choose, but it was well worth the read. The book is not very long which is good because once you start it, you will not want to put it down! Heartbreaking and gripping, A Small Revolution vacillates between an earlier revolution in South Korea and a present-day college dormitory room in Pennsylvania. Han writes so vividly that I could feel the horror the students felt at being trapped in their small room with a gunman. She also conveys…
Hands down, the best Kindle First pick I’ve made so far This books opens with a tense situation, four college women are being held hostage by Lloyd Kang. As the story unfolds, it goes back and forth between the hostage situation and the previous summer in South Korea where Yoona (one of the hostages) meets Lloyd and Jaesung.Â