arc gifted by the publisher

Chung explores Korean American womanhood through sci-fi, folktales, horror, body transformation, and more in this phenomenal and unique short story collection. While the stories vary greatly in length, I find them original and unforgettable, each evoking different emotions that etched themselves into my memory. Here are some of my favorites.

• How to Eat Your Own Heart: a brilliant piece on heartache and a fantastic start that sets the tone of what to expect from this collection

• After the Party: the meaning of being an obedient daughter juxtaposing two marriages. I'm reminded of the Chinese character for tolerance, 忍, a knife on one's heart, and the slow death that comes with "enduring" a marriage

• Rabbit Heart: a girl travels to Seoul and basks in the adoration of her grandmother through rich stories; a beautiful tale of the nurturing love that transcends time

• Presence: a woman invents a technology to erase one's memory selectively. I love this sci-fi exploration of grief and what happens when we run away from loss instead of facing it

• Human Hearts: follows a family of Kumiho, mythological Korean creatures, and their exploration of what it means to be "human." And even fantastic beasts suffer from complex mother-daughter relationsihps lol

• Mantis: the "dating life" of a praying mantis. I secretly think it's about how shitty the dating scenes are, but I might be wrong hahaha

• The Sound of Water: I loved this tender tale about a son giving up his life to treat his father's injury

• Attachment Processes: a mother grieves her daughter's death & one of my favorites from this collection. This story explores the essence of love and the intersection with technology. Can we use tech to "scale" love? I walked away thinking real love is supposed to make us uncomfortable and want to be better

• The Love Song of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bats: a daughter returns home after her dad's passing. This one is for all of us with unresolved daddy issues (jkjk). I adored the exploration of the blurred lines between love and anger. How do we hold both truths that someone we love(d) also hurt us? Are the small moments of tenderness enough to sustain our love? How do we forgive?