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samdalefox 's review for:

Your Utopia: Stories by Bora Chung
2.0
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
Overall, this collection of short stories averaged out to 2/5 stars. There were two stories that I think were significantly better than the others (The end of a voyage, and Seed), however overall I didn't enjoy the collection. I don't think Chung's writing style is particuarly interesting or novel, and I found her subject matter frustrating - her ideas seemed interesting but half baked, which made for underdeveloped plots. I honestly don't understand why she recevies so much praise, her 'twist' endings are underwhelming at best. I wouldn't re-read any of these stories again, though I will try her Cursed Bunny collection. I don't think my disappointment is due to a translation barrier since I've read plenty of other translated Korean, Chinese, and Japanese sci-fi and speculative fiction which I have been blown away by.

  1. The center for immortality research - 1⭐
  2. The end of the voyage - 4 ⭐
  3. A very ordinary marriage - 2⭐
  4. Maria, Gratia plena - 1.5⭐
    If you're writing a story about an abuse survivor the focus really should be more/entirely on them. I found this split minimising of her suffering.
  5. Your utopia - 1.5⭐
  6. A song for sleep - 1.5 ⭐This one had potential, I do like the idea of the internet of Things Nest take but the ethically grey areas were not explored enough
  7. Seed - 3⭐Good concept, but required much more development
  8. To meet her - 2⭐