Luminous

by Silvia Park, Sura Siu (Narrator), Eric Yang (Narrator)

This sweeping debut novel set in a unified Korea tells the story of three estranged siblings—two human, one robot—as they collide against the backdrop of a murder investigation to settle old scores and make sense of their shattered childhood.

“I once had a family. At least, the earliest version of me had a family.”

In a reunified Korea of the near future, the sun beats down on a junkyard filled with abandoned robots, broken down for parts. Eleven-year-old Ruijie sifts through the scraps, searching for a piece that might support her failing body. There among the piles of trash, something catches her a robot boy—so lifelike and strange, unlike anything she’s ever seen before.

Siblings Jun and Morgan haven’t spoken for years. When they were children, their brother Yoyo disappeared suddenly, leaving behind only distant memories of his laughter and near-human warmth. Yoyo—an early prototype of a humanoid robot designed by their father—was always bound for something darker and more complex. Now Morgan makes robots for a living and is on the verge of losing control of her most important creation. Jun is a detective with the Robot Crimes Unit whose investigation is digging up truths that want to stay buried. And whether they like it or not, Ruijie’s discovery will thrust their family back together in ways they could have never imagined.

At once a thrilling work of speculative fiction and a “bold exploration of what it means to have a mind, a body, a self, and even a soul” (Charles Yu, author of National Book Award winner Interior Chinatown), Luminous is a prescient yet timeless and unforgettably brilliant debut.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Fantasy, Dystopia, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy

391 pages, Audible Audio

First published March 11, 2025

About the author

Silvia Park’s stories have been published in Black Warrior Review, Tor, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, and elsewhere. She attended the Clarion Science and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop and Tin House Summer Workshop. They teach fiction at the University of Kansas and split their selves between Lawrence and Seoul.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book has everything: speculative aspects, childhood trauma, murder, estrangement, forbidden romance, a robot sibling.

it also has multiple perspectives, which i'm a recorded hater of. there are simply very few books in which several POVs are necessary, and also varied, and also equally strong. this did not meet all 3 of those standards.

there was a lot going on, which was both its greatest strength and its biggest weakness.

overall, i thought this was crazy and interesting.

bottom line: maybe we will live in a world of silicone robots soon, but after this i pray not.

(3.5 / thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I give up. I stuck with it as long as I could. I like to read Korean authors. I grew up where I didn't have access to Korean authors, and being Korean, it would've been amazing to know that we could be successful in creative fields too, instead of just the traditionally respected ones (medicine, engineering, law, or clergy). But alas, while there are clear moments of excitement for me, there just aren't enough to sustain me through the rest of the 260 pages.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a future, ostensibly unified Korea, robots are integrated into society as servants, companions and even ersatz children. We explore this world through three characters: Jun, a detective in the ‘Robot Crimes’ division; his sister Morgan, a programmer for robot-making corporation Imagine Friends; and Ruijie, a disabled girl who befriends an unusual robot she meets in a junkyard. Linking them all is Yoyo, Jun and Morgan’s missing-presumed-dead robot sibling. There’s a lot going on in Luminous, and I’d be lying if I said I could follow 100% of its threads 100% of the time. This is a book with such a busy, colourful setting that the worldbuilding threatens to overwhelm everything (think Samit Basu’s Chosen Spirits), although there is, eventually, an actual plot emerging from the tangle (think Grace Chan’s Every Version of You). Park is good at introducing just enough emotional context to ground the characters. Speaking of which, Stephen is a great character through which to explore ideas about personhood, and the group of teen friends is well-drawn (Mars is the MVP). Really good stuff: evocative style, great worldbuilding, chewy themes.

I received an advance review copy of Luminous from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting themes related to robots and technology and what makes us human, and I appreciated the setting in Korea. I can see the appeal of this book too in relation to its commentary on sibling relationships and how we can each react differently even when put in similar environments. But, the writing was too flat and distant for me to get invested in the story. There were some moments where the prose hit but these were too inconsistent for me to immerse myself in Luminous.

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

stephen supremacy everyone shut up I loved that freak he’s my favorite one year old

[Henk · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is the defining characteristic of humanity? Where is authenticity located? In love, grief or connections and relationships? Memory? Luminous ask poignant questions and sketches a bleak perspective on a post-human world. At times rambling and with uneven pacing, this is still a fascinating novel.
You have to be an optimist in today’s savage world

Luminous is a fascinating debut novel that imagines a reunited Korea. Humanoid robots are ubiquitous. Part of this novel feels like Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin, in how the narrative partly focusses on selling humanoid children robots, and all the moral implications this has on various characters.
A lot is going and the perspective jumps around as well, making the world building at times overwhelming. I didn’t really enjoy the parts of the narrative that have kids scouring around on a robot cemetery slash junkyard.
Overall I found it quite hard to keep an overview of all the characters:
Morgan - working as a top designer at one of the top three robotics firms, secretly dating a robot called Stephen
Jun - detective in the Robot Crimes division and war survivor. Trans and are over 70% robotic due to bomb damage during the war
Yoyo - their almost human robot brother
Ruijie - On the junkyard

The world is very much at the forefront in the novel. We have feeling robots used for sex work which involves mutilation and them in general not having agency beyond their programming, being required to love for instance, shows the deeply uncomfortable ethics which seem far too likely to occur in our near future. Also the whole theme of humanoid robots being overwhelmingly female as they are used as agency-less servants by society, valued for pliability, servility and prettiness, is fascinating and terrifying. How robots are adopted and raised in relationships with humans but always are second-class citizens at best and slaves at worst, subject to whims of humans, also feels like a unifying thread. We have robots who eat and recharge and suck in the sun.
Someone in this post-Ozempic world is celebrating the one year anniversary with her own programmed robot at a VR restaurant where there are no calories but only vitamin pills.
VR addiction is also a thing.

This book seems to argue that deep down the defining feature of humanity is cruelty and unpredictability if we surmount the problem of intellect. What do all humans do with pliant intelligent robots everywhere? Apparently people want robots to bleed to keep them entertained. Maybe the overall message is too obvious in the children sections as a message, while I find Morgan and Jun their sections quite engaging (and loving the sibling frustration and interactions, very well drawn in my view) as they bring more adult concerns and agency in the world.
Later on forgetting seems potentially to be the answer, exemplified by memories of a rabbit.
Overall I really enjoyed the novel and I'm rounding my 3.5 stars up given the ambition and the richly drawn world.

Quotes:
The world made a promise to her: Death is a problem that can be solved.

Cristina was like an eco flush toilet, well intentioned and ineffective

I just realised I don’t need any of this, I don’t need to procreate, it’s not like I need the tax credits

I think it is better to feel. Even if it hurts.

There is a huge difference between silicone and flesh

You like robots that deviate from their purpose

If I start I don’t stop.

I knew you were Ivy League stupid, but this stupid?
MIT is not an Ivy League

In the wheelchair it was easier to be in her body but so much harder to be in the world

But the woman looked so old, like she was at least twenty

Jun had forgotten how annoying museums could be. History was propaganda and trauma was porn.

Is it murder if I can’t be forgiven

[Hannah (hngisreading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost a 5 star for me. The prose was a little inconsistent for me, but the story was overall great.

[Dona's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished Reading

Which was more deadly, real or not real? The real knew no restraint. p14

Pre-Read notes

This is another arc that drew me right in with the cover. That gorgeous mosaic tiger and all the color really spoke to me. Having read the first third of the book now, I understand all the brightness and variation on the cover.

Final Review

Review summary and recommendations

I'm a little surprised how much I liked this book, but I wrote the words "I love" so many times in this review. The story is about something that interests me. I think stories about robots and AI get at deep ethical questions that become more relevant every day. I like that this book neither sensationalizes the subject nor lets the reader off the hook, like the question of sentience and autonomy.

I'm planning to read this book a second time to grab all the details. I'll share a review for that read in this space as well!

“I don’t know if that’s the right word.” Her gaze roved across the tiles. “Crush. That’s weird, right? English is so weird. Like your heart has already broken.” (6:08:15)

Reading Notes

Five things I loved:

1. This passage makes an important statement about disabled people and their advocates and care providers. Affixed to her legs were battery-powered titanium braces; the latest model, customized circuitry to aid her ability to walk. For she was beloved. p10

2. She decided to be perfect and still. Like a robot. Except a robot wouldn’t need mechanic braces to walk. A robot would be thrown away for needing anything at all. p14 A brilliant statement about both disability and non-humann creatures and their assumed value in a hypercapitalist society.

3. The thirteenth floor, ominous now, but the older apartments were likelier to strike off the number four as unlucky. p21 I love that the narrator points out cultural anomolies. for me it created a setting that was both accessible and mysterious.

4. I love that the main character's cat is named Smaug!

5. Cristina was like an eco-flush toilet, well-intentioned and ineffective. p52 I love when books about serious topics still work in humor.

Two things I didn't love:

This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.

1. This book gets at the heart of AI ethics from both sides of the issue. I think this is a critical question to ask about developing AI. “Doesn’t David make you happy?” Morgan said, hating the plea in her voice. “Of course he makes me happy. He was designed to bring me joy. I only ask, Why make him mirror us when he’s capable of being more? How do we know of the long-term impact this will have on us, especially our children?” p201

2. The writing is at times peculiar. For example, a relatively short sentence can be a handful because of how Park arranges the pieces of it. The autumn skies are void and vast, high and cloudless, the bright moon undivided in truth as our heart. p226 This is part of an anthem. Maybe that's why it strikes as difficult to interpret.

Rating: ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️ /5 bright lights
Recommend? definitely
Finished: Mar 15 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
🧪 science-fiction stories
📆 near-future stories
🤖 stories about robots and AI
🧗‍♀️ strong, brave fmc

Thank you to the author Silvia Park, publishers Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of LUMINOUS. All views are mine.
---------------

[Brian Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels as if there have been way too many SF books about humanoid robots with artificial general intelligence set in the near future, because it just isn’t going to happen any time soon. The human form is very difficult to reproduce mechanically, while current AI is a long way from having human-like general intelligence (even if it's quite good at faking it). But, despite that proviso, I enjoyed Silvia Park's novel featuring... humanoid robots with artificial intelligence in the nearish future.

One of the reasons the book is striking is the setting. We are in a post-reunification Korea (after a vicious war), to a degree modelled on Germany in the way that the old communist part is looked down on by the rest. This is a world where human-like robots are commonplace, and what Park does well is explore the interface and boundary between human and artificial, with several of her characters effectively cyborgs to the extent we're not even certain to begin with if one character, Yoyo, is human or robot.

This world is explored in three threads. The first features a group of misfit children, playing and interacting in a robot graveyard, where they encounter the mysterious Yoyo. The second focuses on a police officer, severely wounded in the war, who specialises in robot crime. And the third involves a robot designer for one of the 'big three' robotics companies. These threads are eventually linked together by family ties, bringing together the struggles of a disabled child Ruijie, the hunt for a missing (child) robot and the design of a new child robot. This emphasis on robots as children, ranging from being something close to pets to much darker uses is something that Park deploys impressively to make us think about the nature of robot-human relations - and for that matter current human relations in general. (Having said that, the child-character threads aren't as engaging as the adult ones.)

I did have some issues with the book. It is very slow paced, and over-long. I appreciate it has a 'rich, layered story' as one comment has it, and does so without the pretentiousness that tends to accompany literary novels - but there were times I just wanted the author to get on with the narrative. There are also some odd glitches in the science content. Park assumes robots would have brains in their heads, which has been clearly not a sensible thing to do since Asimov's day. We are told of Ruijie that 'she was going to study astrology... and become the first bionic astronaut.' Astrology? And we are told the head of the linking family 'used to be for neurorobotics what Karl Schwarzschild was for quantum physics.' I assume that means he wasn't of much importance, given Schwarzschild's claim to fame is in general relativity, and had little to do with quantum theory.

As mentioned above, there have been quite a few of these robot books recently, often from the more literary end of fiction. Compared, for example, with Kazuro Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun, Luminous gives us a significantly better and more interesting exploration of the human implications of this complex technological concept.

[City Elf Reader (Ryan) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This debut was wild, ambitious, and worth every page. Taking place in a unified Korea, Luminous tells the story of three estranged siblings. Jun is a former soldier detective in Robot Crimes tracking down the robot daughter of his sister Morgan’s neighbor. Morgan works for an Apple-like robot company, getting ready for the big launch of their new robot child, while struggling to find intimacy with her robot boyfriend. Yoyo is their robot brother, forever 12, and missing.

There is so much going on in this book, it tows the line of a mystery, family drama, speculative fiction book, etc. This book has layers, and I never once felt overwhelmed by some of sci-fi futuristic concepts. Silvia Park crafted a brilliant and realistic world which explores queerness, gender, love, grief, trauma, war, the list goes on. I’ll read whatever they write next. I was interested in the book, but Park, description of the cover made me pick it up, check out their video on Simon and Schuster’s page. This one really stands out in the best way and I couldn’t put it down.

[nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?”

this is literally my Klara and the Sun. screw ishiguro this is loadsss better.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 4.5 stars. This really is a good debut: the complexity of several parallel plots in particular. This book centers on a fictional Unified Korea. Of course, prejudice and bias don't go away overnight. In this new Republic, it's obvious that the South has technologically advanced far beyond the North. In this modern Seoul, biotech has soared, greatly improving scientific capability in bionics for humans and in the creation of human-like androids in robotics.

The author tackles many themes regarding personhood, agency, and ethics, as they relate to these advancements. In addition, the author crafts detailed storylines about the families and relationships of those immersed in this world. Suffice it to say that character traits are often the driving force behind how the characters behave, for good or for ill. The potential for depravity, cruelty, and profit can take some to very dark places. Others have more circumspect attitudes, but there is plenty of selfishness to go around.

I felt invested in the characters, in their struggles, hangups, and screwups. Technological progress does not make it any easier to navigate life.

I was riveted by the story and was pleased to see such wide representation, including disability and chronic illness, so rarely addressed even in the modern novel.

In the Acknowledgements/Afterword, the author explains how their own experience of grief and loss informed the story and gave it structure.

I look forward to the stories they have yet to tell us.

[Alexa (Alexa Loves Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

LUMINOUS is a book that's a step outside of my reading comfort zone, given that it's literary scifi. I knew even before I picked it up that I was going to be taking a chance on something that isn't necessarily 100% my thing... and that turned out to be precisely the case. While I caught glimpses of elements that might work for other readers, and while there are undeniably some interesting themes woven throughout the narrative, LUMINOUS just wasn't a book for me.

LUMINOUS was overall an okay read. I don't think I ever really fully grasped the setting and other worldbuilding elements, nor did I connect with any of the characters. (I do think that the latter might potentially be a stylistic choice, given that we're reading a narrative that grapples with a tech-heavy, tech-occupied world, "human" robots included.) The writing felt a little clunky at times, and I kept getting thrown off with the time skips (between scenes in a chapter and between the actual chapters) too.

The main reason that I persisted in reading the book? The themes. It explores loss, and the accompanying grief and anger that may accompany this kind of trauma. It considers identity, what shapes someone over the course of their lives and what makes one human. It looks into connection, both in terms of personal relationships and societal ones. It examines humanity & technology, the relationship we have with tech and the concept of technology being made human. These are the things that stood out to me in particular, and I found myself considering my own feelings and opinions more frequently than I expected as I read.

LUMINOUS packed a lot into its pages, and unfortunately, the majority of its elements didn't end up being my thing. But I did notice enough interesting themes to keep me reading (and certainly having this one be a buddy read helped too!), and that's ultimately why I ended up finishing the book.

[Bethany J · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review*

I'm not really sure how I feel about this one, to be honest. On the one hand, I think there were parts where the writing just really hit that perfect note. I also liked the varied discussions on humanity and grief. Also, the cover is just really visually appealing, which is what initially drew me to the book in the first place.

On the other hand, I think I didn't fully "get" the writing at times. It had a tendency to hop around from point-to-point (which is kind of a hallmark, I've found, of literary fiction--and this reads a lot like literary fiction melded together with a sci-fi) and some bits of the writing were a bit difficult for me to parse their meaning; either because the author employed a style of choppiness or just certain descriptions didn't quite hit the mark for me.

But I don't think this is a bad book at all. I'd highly recommend this if you like literary fiction and discussions on humanity through the lens of both humans and robots. I just think that stylistically the writing didn't really mesh in my brain. Not through the fault of the author, I believe, but just something I've noticed that's become popularized in more literary fiction-type novels. I don't always understand it in the way that other people do, and that's fine. So, while I don't regret reading this, I don't know that I fully came away with any profound impact, even though I kind of recognize what the author was trying to do... I think?

Much like other literary fiction books I've tried, I don't think this one is fully for me. I'll still recommend it to other people, though, because I do think there's a lot here that people will really enjoy.

[sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely incredible. The use of ai and cybernetics as a metaphor for personhood was so thought provoking, and I loved the exploration of identity. What does it mean to be human? To experience death? To love and mourn? If I could rate this higher I would, the writing was beautiful and the world building was amazing. I particularly loved how disability and death were explored under the same framework. Instead of framing disability as something to be conquered with technology, we really see how characters still have to mourn their old lives and the dreams they once had. They have to cope and come to terms with pain and death, just as the androids do. 10/10 this is my new favorite and I will not shut up about it. 🍓🤖🐇

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luminous by Silvia Park begins slowly, at times struggling to cohesively construct the futuristic, robot-driven reunified Korea in which it is set. Juxtaposed against a highly automated and artificial world, Park tackles the incredible human topics of grief, loss, and memory. One dimension of Luminous’ unique appeal is the presence of robotic characters in contrast to humans. Park articulates the foundational philosophical question of what makes humans "human" by exploring what keeps her robot characters distinctly inhuman. Ultimately, I argue that Park put forward the ideas in part articulated by Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto. There is "pleasure in the confusion of boundaries and...responsibility in their construction."

In Luminous, (and in contemporary Western society), technology has rendered borders and neat dichotomies obsolete. North versus South, male versus female, robots versus human– all of these prior divisions collapse into a commingled mess. In Haraway’s language “—the relation between organism and machine has been a border war.” In Luminous, the machines are subservient to humans and the North Koreans are subservient to the Southerners. Set against the more familiar political struggle between the North and South, Park’s society fails to draw clean borders between the cyborgs and the humans. Her characters struggle to determine the social legitimacy of robot-human sexual relationships, raising children around robots, having robots in the home, etc. This border war becomes more extreme in characters like Jun –part human, part robot–and most intense in Yoyo and Stephen, who are entirely robotic but intensely human throughout the narrative arc.

Perhaps most interesting, is the way Park utilizes this border-blurring to explore gender. In some ways, the robots provide a glimpse into a post-gender world. At one point, Jun is described as a percentage male, a percentage female, and a percentage robot, which would be neither male nor female. Similarly, Haraway writes “The cyborg is a creature in a postgender world; it has no truck with bisexuality, pre-oedipal symbiosis, unalienated labor, or other seductions to organic wholeness through a final appropriation of all the powers of the parts into a higher unity.”  Robots are free from the human drive toward unity and reclaiming the lost innocence of the Garden of Eden. "The cyborg does not dream of community on the model of the organic family, this time without the oedipal project. The cyborg would not recognize the Garden of Eden; it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust.

Simultaneously, against these ideas, Park presents robots as a manifestation of humans' deeply entrenched performance of gender norms. The female robots are prettier than any real woman, and the male robots are more competent than any real man could ever be. Human male characters use female robots to confirm their manhood. Female robots often end up being created only to be killed and raped without any kind of legal consequences for the perpetrators. The cyborg is at once both postgender and a manifestation of the deep borders between male and female. This ultimately serves to make the robots more human, beholden as they are the social construction of gender through human systems of capitalism, materialism, and feminism.  

[Sam Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Park’s debut novel is a sibs story! We follow three storylines in Luminous: eldest brother Yoyo, middle brother Jun, and youngest sister Morgan. Mostly set in southern reunified Korea, the main plot centers on finding a missing robot. In this post-human world, robowear is the miracle of science. Human beings can be composed of matter and robot, a “grace of union.” Ruijie’s robotic braces give her hands and legs mobility, and her friendship with Yoyo advances mutuality across species. Bionic existence changes our understanding of human ontology and ens—essentia, esse, gender, ethics, telos.

While the Angelic Doctor uses angels as a foil to understand human beings, Park uses robots. This is all done with careful intrigue and never feels rote. Issues of the philosophy of memory surface as Park teases the definition of one’s (broadly speaking) memory. Stated as a question, how does the presence or absence of memory ontologically compose a human being? Morgan is 100% human and cannot recall her memories with perfect precision; in fact, her inauthentic memories capture or call to mind untrue events. Steven is 100% robot and possesses the hardware and software to remember facts flawlessly. The fun thing is the debated theories of personal and factual memory undergirding the epistemology of one’s identity. Furthermore, Yoyo’s phenomenological memory passed from one iteration of him to the next, or even from one dying robot to him, prompts inquiry about Yoyo’s selfhood.

Although I found the parts about the war in North Korea and the relationships between Yoseph and his wife and children sometimes harder to follow (I think these aspects needed more development), Luminous was satisfying. Park consistently hits the right register—their writing is refined, the sci-fi doesn’t overwhelm, and the subtle discourse on humanness pushes readers to thoughtfully consider a definition of “human being,” a productive task. I’ve already been telling friends about Park’s speculiterary debut before finishing it, and I can’t wait to reco it more now that I’m done.

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC.

[Helen | readwithneleh · Rating 4 out of 5]

LUMINOUS by Silvia Park is a sci-fi literary fiction (heavy on the literary) that is set in a reunified Korea where robots are integrated into humans’ daily lives, as nannies, boyfriends, and even children. The book has a lot of characters, but at the heart of it is Jun, a detective working in Robot Crimes; Ruijie, a disabled eleven-year-old girl who relies on robot technology to power her body; and between the two is Yoyo, a robot boy.

There are a lot interesting themes in the book that examine the complexities and boundaries of identities—what we physically look like, what gender we identify with, where we are from, and who we love—and how they all begin to blur. There is an interesting layers of religion (Christianity/Catholicism) woven throughout the text. And to be clear, this was not proselytizing in any way, but I interpreted those gestures as the author’s exploration of the juxtaposing themes of salvation from humanity and faith in humanity. Robot ethics has been discussed at large as a philosophical topic in a lot of sci-fi media, and Park’s book does the same. And while my sci-fi literacy is pretty low, I did appreciate the various robot identities in the book, and how they integrate with humans and how they/we evolve. Evolution means survival of the fittest, and in the book we see how humans use robots to survive—bionic bodies and even as surrogate family members. But, what about the robots? If surviving for them meant living in a world that treats you like second-class citizens, how would their evolution look like? What does their salvation look like?

There is a lot going on in the book with multiple characters but all with very distinct voices. The pacing was perfect for me (I do love my short chapters), and there was some gorgeous writing in here. I did wish there was more focus on certain relationships (i.e., Yoyo and Ruijie), but overall I really adored this one. What an impressive debut.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted review copy. All opinions are my own.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Luminous’ by Sonia Park is a story about grief, and identity, and family estrangement, moral ambiguity and the dark cruelty of the human species. It is a fascinating speculative science fiction read of many literary layers. I couldn’t put it down! However, so much is going on in the plot, plus there are changing points of view in every chapter. Keeping up is an issue.

I have copied the book blurb:

”A highly anticipated, sweeping debut set in a unified Korea that tells the story of three estranged siblings—two human, one robot—as they collide against the backdrop of a murder investigation to settle old scores and make sense of their shattered childhood, perfect for fans of Klara and the Sun and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

In a reunified Korea of the future, robots have been integrated into society as surrogates, servants, children, and even lovers. Though boundaries between bionic and organic frequently blur, these robots are decidedly second-class citizens. Jun and Morgan, two siblings estranged for many years, are haunted by the memory of their lost brother, Yoyo, who was warm, sensitive, and very nearly human.

Jun, a war veteran turned detective of the lowly Robot Crimes Unit in Seoul, becomes consumed by an investigation that reconnects him with his sister Morgan, now a prominent robot designer working for a top firm, who is, embarrassingly, dating one of her creations in secret.

On the other side of Seoul in a junkyard filled with abandoned robots, eleven-year-old Ruijie sifts through scraps looking for robotic parts that might support her failing body. When she discovers a robot boy named Yoyo among the piles of trash, an unlikely bond is formed since Yoyo is so lifelike, he’s unlike anything she’s seen before.

While Morgan prepares to launch the most advanced robot-boy of her career, Jun’s investigation sparks a journey through the underbelly of Seoul, unearthing deeper mysteries about the history of their country and their family. The three siblings must find their way back to each other to reckon with their pasts and the future ahead of them in this poignant and remarkable exploration of what it really means to be human.”

The action takes place in a Korea which has become unified after a terrible war. There are hints at some difficulties in the unification of the cultures of North Korea and South Korea. But it is a time also when people have become very comfortable in the use of robot technology augmenting human social life. The book takes readers on a journey of the emotional possibilities and emotional costs in the unification of human bodies with all sorts of creative and useful robot configurations, which in this future is more difficult for one particular family than the unification of Korea. When it is good, it is very good, such as when a person with a debilitating disease affecting physical movement is able to wear a robotic shell. But people have dark sides and selfish natures, which can be amplified when owning a supposedly non-sentient robot which has been programmed to appear sentient. It can turn stomach-churning ugly when some people feel freed to let loose their inner savagery on what appears to be a helpless human being. What happens in the book left me wondering about who were the real representatives of human nature. Seemingly, robots can be stuck with ‘living’ as a good and loving person by nature in a human society that does not really appreciate human goodness beyond lip service.

I felt grief and sadness when I finished ‘Luminous’. Human-like robot beings and robotic replacement parts for bodies might indeed give people more options at a better life. However, since people will be be good and bad, some people will not be morally ok if given robot technology. The author posits some buyers of robots will choose to get an imitation child. When the scientist father of the three main characters, clearly tone-deaf to his children’s attachment and affections for their ‘brother’, tells his children the brother they all loved died, it leads to very emotionally damaged adults. Human children growing up with a robot sibling will not be able to distinguish a robot child from themselves. Others will purchase an adult for a faithful servant/lover. Or a punching bag.

Yikes! I had a lot of thoughts about this future, gentler reader. If computer chips, metal bodies, batteries, and zeroes-and-ones logic gates add up to a being that learns and adapts and is taught to be loving, is that really a being much different than a human child growing up and learning how to be a human being in the same household? The tragedy of the family in the book is the result of a father/robot inventor who never sees the robot as anything but an experiment. Unfortunately, his kids become unwitting experimental subjects as well.

But there is a lot more going on in this book, too much in my opinion. I wish she had primarily highlighted the reactions of the family’s adults in dealing with the supposed ‘death’ of the robotic child brother, but the author also was intent on extrapolative world building as much as she was on showing how an emotionally stunted father creates dysfunction in his kids. It is a very very intelligent projection of a future with realistic moral dilemmas concerning the perfection of humanoid robots, but the author doesn’t linger long enough on any of the dilemmas.

[Eleni Packis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy to know I’ve read my favorite book of the year in the first week of the year

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Story
A 3.5 star read - Luminous imagines a near future in which synthetic beings live alongside humans, created to serve but capable of far more than their designers intended. The story follows the tensions that arise as these artificial lives develop agency, form relationships and endure exploitation.

Through a shifting cast of scientists, caretakers and engineered children, Park explores the ethical fault lines between creation and control. When violence erupts and the fate of a gifted young robot becomes the centre of the conflict, the novel exposes how hope and harm coexist in a world where humanity tries to shape life in its own image.

Curious about the premise but it has spotty execution
Park's prose is punchy, and the concept is compelling: a world in which synthetic life lives alongside human beings, and the suffering and hope that is generated from this relationship.

The story suffered from jagged pacing, and a cast of characters that didn't quite make an emotional connection. However, the concept, the world building and the violence towards the end (including the ultimate fate of the boy wonder robot) is profoundly chilling.

Korean and Korean-American themes
I have read a few books which touch on Korean families and relationships now (including Flashlight, We Do Not Part, Same Bed Different Dreams, Crying in H Mart, Pachinko, Almond, The Vegetarian).

In them, there are consistent threads that I see emerging:

- The tension between identity and invisibility: many of these works focus on characters whose inner worlds are unseen or misunderstood
- Intergenerational weight: the burden of history and how it shapes descendants
- Stories that do not shy away from violence or grief
- Characters who resist (or fail to resist) the systems around them

Pachinko was a clear standout for me (in terms of story craftsmanship, engaging characters, and a saga that I was completely swept up in), and The Vegetarian was wonderfully left of field and creative.

However for the rest (including Luminous), I am left feeling that for many of the main characters in these books, I struggle to access them emotionally. I wonder if this might just be due to this specific selection of books, or if it is characteristic of story from this time period.

Either way, these themes continue to draw me in, even when the characters themselves feel slightly out of reach.

[Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm, I must say this was an interesting read for sure. I really struggled with the writing style, and it did take me a lot of effort to get used to it. I don’t really know why per se, it wasn’t difficult to understand or anything like that, I just guess it was scattered a bit, and we were jumping from one point to another, hence the struggle to focus on what was really going on.


The story follows Jun, Morgan, Yoyo and Ruijie, and it has different timelines by diving deep into the meaning of what it is to be human. The setting is in Korea after the South and the North have unified, and it portrays the culture and traditions of this country, which I really appreciate since I am a huge fan of South Korea myself (been there and loved it!).

Jun is a detective who investigates crimes related to robots, there are layers of him that I found intriguing. Morgan, on the other hand, is his sister, and she is designing robots for a big robotic company. They are estranged, but Jun’s most recent case of kidnapping has made them cross paths. Yoyo, well, he is their long-lost brother. Ruijie is just a girl who happens to encounter Yoyo and is dealing with a degenerative disease that forces her to use “robowear” in order to be able to move. Her character was really key to the whole story, I think, and I really liked her resilience and the connection she formed with Yoyo.

This was a very deep dive into a society where robots are everywhere, and they can substitute pretty much every part of our everyday life, from servants to children to lovers to things a bit more sinister. It delves into the ever-pondering moral questions when it comes to sci-fi novels involving robots, but it only scratches the surface here. I really did like the depiction of the dysfunctional family, of the grief and how thought-provoking some parts of this book were.

Without giving too much away, overall, this was a solid sci-fi DEBUT, I did enjoy it, apart from the writing at times that I found hard to get into, as mentioned in the beginning. Some elements were overused, like in any book of this genre, I guess, but regardless, I do recommend this book!

3.5/5


On a side note, there is a rumour that this book will be turned into a TV series, and the author will be directing the production. If this hits the big screen, I would absolutely love to watch it!

[Whitney LaCoste · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at page 104. I was pretty drawn in by the promise of the storyline, some good character and world building and insight into Korean culture. And paralleling the trans experience with cyborgism was really interesting and new. But the language and syntax made this impossible for me to finish. At first I thought this might be the initial slog of high literary prose. There are books that are hard to read but the effort ultimately makes the experience more rewarding, but that isn't what is happening here. I think its just under edited and too ambitious.

Some of the language is just awkward or the grammar and wording is wrong. Which I initially thought might be a result of the author being a non-native English speaker, but they are clearly and completely multi-lingual in the videos I watched (which is much more than can be said for me). It happens just often enough to pull me out of the story consistently:

"He'd been on constant vigilance since"

"Jun had mastered an advanced medication technique to retreat from Negative Thoughts into his farm Nerieh, where he'd brush the knots from his unicorn's virtual tail. At least he called it meditation".

And then there are passages that are clearly attempting to be poetic but, at least to me, were just confusing and frustrating:

"Her face looked carved and bright. The tree trunk that glistened black after a storm." What?

"Jun loved Journey for the same reason a child dreaded a hot bath and a depraved adult craved it" What??

"the weeks bled into months faded into long beige hours of ennui punctuated by sporadic ecstatic bursts of fireworks whenever a high-value target lit up the map, flashing, and flashing again until you seize up. You're phoning your doctor at obscene hours because your body won't move from the agony. Why can't the world be real? Why is the world so charcoaled you have to sift the ashes for chips of metal or bone, and when you snort through one sooty nostril, your body ejects a tiny nugget of charcoal."

I reread these passages and even in the context of the story I still don't understand what they are trying to add or communicate.

[claire]

thank you simon & schuster and netgalley for the digital arc!!

robot books are SO back. i screamed when i finished this because i simply didn’t want it to be over. UGH.

this book is so creative and captivating and FUN! i love robots! but i also love how introspective this book was, routinely asking hard questions about humanity and morality and identity. my perfect mix of playful and serious.

at times, i thought this book was attempting a bit more than it could successfully handle. at the same time, i appreciated how much silvia park was willing to attempt such an ambitious project. i can't believe this is a debut.

one of my favorite books of the year (not a hard list to make tbh, but it deserves the praise)

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

super good. & sad!!

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 ARC gifted by the publisher

Set in a reunified Korea, where robots are second-class citizens, LUMINOUS is a stunning exploration of memory & legacy. Park masterfully weaves a missing robot mystery with complex family dynamics, Korean history, and philosophical questions about creation and cruelty.

The unsettling similarities between parenting and programming resonated deeply with me. They made me wonder if the limits of a parent's love or a programmer's coding ability solely contribute to our "creations'" shortcomings. Another fascinating thread is the juxtaposition of humans' error-prone memory and machines' error-proof remembrance. Which one is the bug, and which is the feature? Is one more beneficial for survival and evolution? LUMINOUS doesn't offer easy answers, but it tickled my brain in all the right ways.

[Aki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for theKorean Literature Book Club - November 2025

I was really excited for this. The premise sounded promising and as of yet, the k-lit group on here hasn't seen many sci-novels; however, it turned out that for me, this book was trying to do too much.

For starters it was mishmash of genres that could work, but didn't work for this novel: sci-fi, family drama, murder mystery. The family drama ended up standing out more than the other two which was the thing I was the least interested in.

It also attempted to bring too many social issues to light. Of the ones that I can remember, those included:

Co-ethnic racialization/discrimination
Immigration
Terminal illness
Gender dysphoria,
Body dysmorphia
Existentialism
Speciesism
Sentient rights
Expat dysphoria
Trafficking
Addiction (to VR)
PTSD
Misogyny

A lot of these weren't elaborated on or resolved. Some were. I think body dysmorphia explored through prosthetics for one! But others for example: misogyny is mentioned enough times that it needed more explanation. It's mentioned as being prevalent in the neurorobotics industry and that Morgan straight up is one, but aside from a tacky throwaway comment towards a group of attractive women being equivalent to Christmas cakes that would be thrown out on the 25th (or after age 25,) I don't recall it having any further relevance. Morgan is the lead developer behind Boy-X and her closest cohort seems to be a lesbian co-worker named Cristina who's proficient enough at her job that she's offered a coveted position in New York. So, if the goal was to make Morgan an unlikeable person, that was already achieved through interactions with her family and companion Stephen. Any misogyny with Morgan seemed irrelevant at that point, worthy of being edited out. At times it felt as though her misogyny was actually just a mask for her own self-loathing.

That's just one example, but I found a pattern of social justice issues being mentioned enough times that they warranted attention but never received it. I did not feel as though they aided the world building or character development at all.

In fact, I think the mention of these things ultimately distracted from the plot, which felt very much neglected by the end. The story as a whole felt resolved 2/3 of the way through when they finally find Eli and then the story just fizzles out without a satisfying resolution. We find out what happened to Yoyo when he eventually leaves the family, but it wasn't entirely clear what his purpose was (to assasinate someone on a bridge possibly but I'm not even sure who that person was, or why his choice when faced with the trolley problem ultimately had him ripped away from his siblings who had established a deep connection with him.) The siblings, despite several opportunities and run-ins, never successfully reunite with Yoyo.

According to the acknowledgements, Sylvia Park states that the book originated as a children's story before she suffered a devastating loss in the family. This is what ultimately transformed Luminous into the story you hold in your hands today.

I think this is why the different POV's feel a bit disconnected. Namely Ruijie's felt out of place. In my mind, this perspective shined because it felt as though this what the book was originally intended to be. The kids were charming, their interactions felt organic, I understand it's purpose and the significance of Ruijie's and Yoyo's meeting, and ultimately it was the only thread that had a satisfying ending for me.

I wanted to enjoy this, but found it trying to do much and ultimately lacking in almost every area as a result. I think this would have flourished had it stayed a children's novel.

[Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

For some reason my review was deleted, which I find bizarre and annoying. Here is a copy of my previous review from November 11th, 2024:

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I normally finish a book in 1-3 days, so the fact that this took me an entire month to read is kind of wild to me—especially considering it was one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. I even preordered the hardcover. I’ve been recommending it to anyone who will listen, showing off the cover to coworkers in an attempt to entice them into preordering alongside me, trying to coax others into signing up for Netgalley so that we can talk about the book…Hell, I even got my therapist to preorder it.

There’s something about Luminous that is utter crack for trans men. Every trans guy I’ve explained the premise to (including myself) has been instantly rabid for the plot. There are multiple protagonists in Luminous, one of which being a queer trans man named Jun. Jun? He’s great. I loved him. You’ll love him too, especially if you’re transmasc.

Luminous is a sci-fi novel set in a unified Korea about three estranged siblings: Morgan, the youngest, an android designer who is about to launch her newest line of child robots and is dating one of her own android creations in secret; Jun, the middle child, a trans man missing 90% of his bionic body after surviving an explosion, putting question into whether trans people can mourn the body they never had a chance to transition into, even though they might now have the cis-passing body of their dreams; and Yoyo, the eldest child, an android so life-like he’s very nearly human, who disappeared when Jun and Morgan were still children. It’s an amazing book with a heavy critique on consumerism. It made me cry.

The writing in this book is gorgeous. The pacing is tight, the characters are multifaceted and have very distinct voices, and the critique on capitalism and consumerism? Stunning. Perfection. I could go on and on about the author’s exploration into consumerism, but I’ll save that for my best friend once they finish the book.

Like I said before, I cried multiple times throughout reading, and I’m not ashamed to say it. I’m tearing up right now just thinking about it. I’ve read almost a hundred books this year, but Luminous may in fact be my favorite of them all.

[Stephanie (aka WW) · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) This book is billed as for fans of Klara and the Sun and I totally get that. It’s a story about humans and their humanoid bots…about AFs (Artificial Friends) in Klara and IFs (Imagine Friends) in Luminous. Luminous tells the story of Jun and Morgan and their long-lost brother (IF) Yoyo. The three had been like siblings, so close that it is seemingly impossible that they have been separated. In the present, Jun is a detective, currently working on a robot-kidnapping case, and Morgan is the lead designer for a robotics company set to come out with the newest IF issue, a robot-boy Morgan has modeled after Yoyo himself.

Luminous is set in a reunified Korea, in a Seoul populated with humans and bots and humans with robotic parts. The city is littered with robot junkyards, in one of which a young girl, Ruijie, sifts through abandoned parts to refit her failing body. She finds a surprisingly lifelike robot named Yoyo and the two make fast friends.

I enjoyed this book, if not quite as much as Klara and the Sun. Luminous is darker, taking place largely in the underbelly of a large city, where violence and cruelty reign. But the questions it asks are similar to the usual sci-fi questions – “Do you think the lines I say have less value because you can track the input data? What about the lines you say to each other? Aren’t they the same lines you downloaded from thousands of sources?” The writing is beautiful at times, as it weaves together a story of family, grief and what it means to be human – “If truth is a mirror that fell on the ground, we can scramble for a shard and hold that up as our experience.” This not hard-core sci-fi…it is literary fiction, but it is literature well-done and worth a read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with the e-ARC of this title.

[celina · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really loved reading this book, so much that approaching the end i felt sad it was ending, but also disappointed that it didn't feel momentous enough as an ending. the characters and their relationships and the prose and the style of worldbuilding all hit the right spots for me in a way that is pretty rare. it's a sprawling novel that is trying to do a lot, and so in the end some of that ambitious worldbuilding feels not followed-through enough if just because there are still so many layers to explore. but again, this is just me wanting more. this is going to be one of my favourite reads of the year for sure. the characters are going to stay with me--jun, of course, and stephen, and taewon who honestly broke my heart...

found myself blinking back tears at many points:

Jun sat beside her. At some point, Sgt. Son showed up. He checked the crack in her skull, the streak of blue fibrous wires and wet hardware. Then he placed his handkerchief over her empty eyes and prayed.

"And what can you do that's special, Yoyo?" the MC asked.
Ask him to multiply and quantify. Ask him for all the capitals. Ask him what killed the dinosaurs. Ask him to tell you a funny story and he will disgust you with an obscure factoid about a parasitic worm that infests snails and swells up their tentacles, then insist it's all beautiful, the world is so beautiful.
The boy flicked a smile to his feet, still shy. "I can whistle."

and: Why can't the world be real?