Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I was trying something different and outside my comfort zone when I requested this, and it was a good choice. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire story.

I’m not sure if centering the spy thriller aspect was the best choice because this was so much more. It was an insight into the Korean diaspora and the way nationality and exploration of identity intersect.  I find the character study almost as or even more interesting than the overarching spy plot. I liked the separation of POVs between “The Northerner”, “The Southerner”, and “The American.”

I’m not sure if it was intentional but the writing did feel disorganized a bit, but at the same time, I feel like it makes it rereadable, there’s sure to be a different hint or clue to find through each read. However, for such a short book, the ending felt bogged down with the circular nature of the subplot resolutions, which ruined the pacing to me. The timeline jumping also felt hard to pinpoint at times, it took me a paragraph or two to realize when I was. Otherwise, this was an interesting debut and I’m looking forward to Jinwoo Park’s next book.