When the World Explodes: Essays

by Amy Lee Scott

How do you survive when your world explodes? By the time she was seven, Amy Lee Scott had seen her world end twice: first as an infant, when adoption brought her from Korea to Ohio, and again when her adoptive mother died of cancer. Orphaned twice over, Scott confronts her personal chaos by investigating a litany of historic catastrophes and the disruptions that followed. Witnessing a Cabbage Patch Kid "born" at BabyLand General Hospital inspires a meditation on the history of Korean adoption and her own origins. Recalling her miscarriage as the streets of her Detroit neighborhood flooded, she asks what it means to mourn what would have been. And she remembers her mother's illness and death amid the 1992 Los Angeles riots. In this haunting debut, Scott gets to the heart of what it means to wrestle with the grief, rage, and anxiety seething in this tender world. Ferocious and true, When the World Explodes probes the space between personal and global calamities--from Krakatoa to the emotional perils of motherhood--to unearth the sharp ridge of hope that hides beneath the rubble.

Genres: Essays

198 pages, Paperback

Published March 6, 2025

Reviews

[Sandra M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This deep collection of essays will appeal to readers of fiction and nonfiction alike.

I was impressed with the author’s ability to be both vulnerable and courageous in her writing. Each essay is a window to her experience with grief and pain, and at the same time a mirror to the collective human experience with those difficult emotions.

[Joshie Nicole readwithjoshie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When The World Explodes by Amy Lee Scott (gifted from the publisher)

You all know by now I’m a sucker for a book of essays, but especially those that weave together modern existential dread with identity, motherhood, and grief.

I was impressed with the way Scott wove her lived experiences with bigger historical moments. The convergence of the Cabbage Patch Dolls craze with the popularity of American families adopting Korean babies, for example. One of the most heart wrenching, How Do You Name A Hurricane?, examines both the rise in hate crimes (specifically those perpetrated against Asian Americans) and the increased strength of hurricanes & typhoons of late. Two beautiful pencil line drawings of Michelle Alyssa Go and Christina Yuan Lee close the chapter.

I am so grateful to have been given the chance to read an early copy for review. I absolutely recommend if you enjoy: nonfiction, essays, or reading about the aforementioned themes. Even if you are not one to reach for books on those topics, the writing here is too good to miss.

Thank you Ohio State Press - you always seem to find books that are just right for this reader ❤️

[Corbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the World Explodes is an outstanding look at the inner turmoil that we can face from outward events in our lives. Everybody has moments in their life when it seems like everything has or will fall apart; those moments often follow us throughout our lives. Amy Lee Scott does an amazing job of showing a real-world experience through her essays. Her narration and point of view plant us firmly in her mind, as if we were with her when she experienced the things she writes about.
What makes Scott’s work so compelling is her ability to balance vulnerability with insight. She doesn’t shy away from the messy, confusing, or painful aspects of life, in fact, she leans into them, allowing her readers to feel the weight of her experiences alongside her. There is an intimacy in her writing, a sense that she trusts us to witness her thoughts and emotions honestly, without filters. This honesty is what makes her essays resonate, because while her experiences are unique, the feelings she explores; fear, grief, hope, and resilience, are universal.
Additionally, Scott’s prose is one of her main strengths. She has a way of describing ordinary events in a manner that transforms them into moments of profound reflection. Each essay feels like a carefully constructed journey, guiding the reader through not just what happened, but how it felt, what it meant, and how it shaped her. By the end of the book, readers are left not only with a greater understanding of her experiences but also with reflections on their own inner worlds.

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the World Explodes is an incredible collection of essays discussing grief, trauma, and growing up in unique circumstances. Throughout her essays, Amy Lee Scott goes back and forth between talking about events from her personal life and events that affected the world on a much larger scale. This consistent juxtaposition helps the reader understand the great impact these events had on Scott’s life. Each essay covers different stories with their own distinct messages, but at the same time these essays are connected through the same deep seated themes.
For example, anxiety is a very prevalent topic in most of the essays. There is an exploration of Scott’s anxiety and how it manifests from varying sources: her anxiety to be and as a mother, the anxiety of her children, her anxiety of being a Korean woman in America, her anxiety of the general threats that can face her and her family. As someone who struggles with anxiety, this really stood out to me. I really appreciate how Scott is able to convey how anxiety can stem from different places, but at the end of the day it is anxiety all the same.
Ultimately, Amy Lee Scott’s When the World Explodes does a fantastic job drawing from Scott’s life and real world events, and tying them to its core themes. Each essay feels unique, yet also connected to one another. Everyone has dealt with loss before, and Scott illustrates her experiences regarding it so beautifully. I cannot recommend this book more.