Unnie

by Yun Yun

A national tragedy. A family and sister grieving the loss of their loved one. The ghosts of the past emerging.

Yun-young’s sister (Unnie, the Korean word for “older sister”), a secondary school teacher at a school in Ansan, is one of those who go missing during the sinking of the Sewol ferry in South Korea in 2014. Yun-young and her family wait for word—that Unnie has been rescued, first, and then, when that doesn’t happen, that her body has been found. As the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months and still they wait for news, Yun-young’s sorrow feels poisoned. She can’t move on in her life without understanding Unnie’s life. Launching herself on a journey to discover who her sister was, Yun-young excavates more family memories than she bargained for.

210 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 2024

Reviews

[Shasta · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a book hits me emotionally it's so hard to write a review for. This book is sad, and it made me cry. It's very well written and even though it's fiction it reads like a true story.

Waiting years to understand what happened when the ferry collapsed is utterly devastating. There were lies, political corruption, and the information that was released was false.

[curiouskat_books · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Received through a goodreads giveaway*

I cannot say that I enjoyed this novel, because to do so feels wrong to say. There was no point during this story that I felt happy. It was a beautifully written and emotional book that made me feel sad for the lives lost and for the families impacted. At one point I was even brought to tears.

The novel is inspired by a real tragedy that should never have occurred. Made even more saddening by misinformation, lack of government action, and negligence. The book says that while the Park family in the novel is a fictional one, they represent the true story of the victim’s families. I would recommend readers to take the time to inform themselves further about the unfortunate event.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my review here: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely heart wrenching to read this memoir from Park Yun-Young. She lost her twenty-nine year old older sister Park Ming-na, her "unnie", when the Sewol Ferry capsized on April 16, 2014 killing 304 people. Ming-na was a teacher at Dawson High School.  In total, 250 students and 11 teachers lost their lives that day while on a school field trip. After the tragic event, the families endure grief and frustration from misreported information, delays, outright lies, and political censorship.  They wait hours, days, months and then years for answers. This is Yun-Yun's desperate attempt to understand her older sister in order to come to grips with her devastating loss.  Through flashbacks of the past, current, and that fateful time, she recollects many happy and sad memories and uncovers a family secret in the process.

There are so few reviews on Goodreads which is shocking. This must not be a well advertised book!
 
Thanks to the author Yun Yun, I received a free Amazon Kindle copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[Maverick Independent Book Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a novel is based upon real tragedy, there’s usually an added depth to the painful experience in the author’s telling because of the way news media and survivors recount events. This is the case with Unnie, the story of a family’s grief as they traverse the horrors of the sinking of the Sewol ferry in South Korea, when 304 died, including 250 Danwon High School students and 11 teachers who were headed for a field trip. Author Yun-Yun handles the details of fear, anticipation, realization, and grief adeptly.

This novel tells the story of the fictitious Parks family, whose daughter was a teacher, through the experiences of the youngest sister Yun-young. At first the family waits at the high school, anticipating the joy of greeting survivors, especially their oldest daughter, Unnie. Unnie is a Korean term meaning big sister.

But time passes and Yun-Young and her family are tormented by the thoughts of their daughter and sister sinking to the bottom of the cold dark ocean. Yun-Young’s grief is all engulfing as “Her footsteps echo in the empty street, covered in early morning dew. In a world where everything has been shaken off, she feels like groping along blindly.” Over time, deceased students and teachers are retrieved. Unnie remains in the depths of the sea. Only after 1,091 days do families of unrecovered victims hold funerals.

Throughout the unfolding of this tragedy, the South Korean government attempts to mislead the media and families into believing that they’ve done all things possible to find survivors and then to retrieve the dead. But the families know better. Also through this novelized version of the story, we learn the truth that this tragedy became so much worse because students were ordered to stay in place when they may have survived if they’d left the ferry’s interior and gone atop and into the water.

With depth and incredible insight, this novel explores the nature of grief as Yun-Young, her brother Ji-ho, and her parents walk through weeks of unknowing. They are filled, at first, with hope that Unnie will return unharmed. When time passes and they realize that Unnie’s body is lost either within the sunken ferry or lost at the bottom of the sea, they plead for her return even as they recognize the illogic of this possibility. Yun-Young sees her deceased sister in the faces of others. The family visits her school where people have set up shrines for the lost. They, along with other families, rent boats and travel to the site where the ferry sank and leave flowers, gifts, even a birthday cake for Unnie on her thirtieth birthday. Slowly, Yun-Young realizes she must let go of her sister, long held in the depths. She writes the lyrics of “The Never-ending Story” in a journal she’s been keeping over almost three years and sets the journal on fire, setting her sister free but knowing the song “claims if one yearns for a loved one so deeply, they will miraculously meet in the end.”

This novel handles grief with extraordinary sensitivity even as it wraps the plot around the very real history of this tragedy that has become so unspeakable that some have forgotten it happened.

Reviewer: Ann Angel

[Jane Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yun Yun’s novel is an exquisite exploration of loss, identity, and the quiet, enduring pain that lingers long after tragedy. Beyond its poignant depiction of its characters and the setting, the novel intricately weaves personal and collective grief with remarkable authenticity. The unspeakable national tragedy at its center casts a heavy shadow, and the weight of that sorrow can be truly felt throughout the narrative. But what makes this book truly extraordinary is its ability to interlace the vastness of shared trauma with the deeply personal struggles of its characters.

One of the novel’s most emotionally gripping moments, in my opinion, comes when Yun Yun visits a psychiatrist and learns the truth about her sister’s inner turmoil. I feel like this is what begins it all. The rawness of this revelation, combined with the novel’s seamless transitions between past and present, paints such a real yet painful portrayal of Yun Yun and her sister's relationship. The depiction of her sister’s quiet suffering—her isolation in a gosiwon, her relentless battle to pass a government exam, and how this ties to the significance of her job as a teacher later—feels heartbreakingly authentic.

Yet, the novel does not stop at personal grief. It deftly examines loss in its many forms—whether through grief, trauma, or the slow erosion of dreams. The emotional weight of Yun Yun’s story is undeniable, and as the layers of her family’s history unfold, the narrative takes on an almost haunting quality.

Yun Yun’s writing is nothing short of masterful. With precision and grace, the novel tugs at the deepest recesses of the human heart, rendering grief not just as an abstract concept but as something visceral, lived, and profoundly felt. This is not simply a story to be read—it is one to be experienced. And in that experience, there is an undeniable catharsis, a quiet understanding that lingers long after the final page.

A breathtakingly raw and deeply moving novel, this is a book that will stay with readers long after they close its pages. I definitely recommend it if you are looking to not only know more about the incident, but also just delve deeper into Korea society and follow an individual's distressing, yet invaluable journey.

[J.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first encountered the book Unnie, I knew nothing about the Sewol disaster that rocked South Korea ten years ago. I learned a lot, and grew emotionally as a result of this lyrical and character-driven book. Unnie shatters the heart with its main character's attempts to reconcile herself to the fate that befalls her sister, a teacher who accompanies her students on the Sewol ferry the day it sank. Unnie's body is one of the few never recovered. Yun-Young, her little sister, goes on a spiritual and physical journey to understand the older sister she loved but never fully knew in an attempt to grieve and let go. Highly recommended to all readers everywhere. An excellent addition to any library or classroom.

[Katie Avalos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried and tried with this one and just could not get into it. After over a year of setting it down and coming back, I'm giving up. someone else may love it so I'm giving it a 2 instead of one. It wasn't awful. It just wasn't for me.

[kate :~) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Emma C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most impressive book ever!

[Jay Reyes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that a teacher wrote this book makes it even more meaningful. I believe every high school should have a copy on their shelves! It’s an easy five stars from me.

[Tad Bradly · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must read.

[So Mi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart goes out to everyone who is in heaven now. RSVP. The author did an incredible job with this book—it brought me to tears.

[Mia Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It totally hits you in the heart. Seriously, I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I finished.

[Chloe Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing feels so.....real! like you’re living it with the characters! Wonderful book!