Tailbone

by Che Yeun

A fierce and gorgeous debut novel about a teenager who runs away from her abusive home to live in a boarding house for single women as a global financial crash threatens the people of Seoul.

Set in Seoul in 2008, Tailbone follows the story of an unnamed teenage girl who,
after years of struggling with her alcoholic father’s abuse and what she sees as her
mother’s cowardice, decides to run away. At a boardinghouse for single women, the
narrator is pulled into the orbit of one of the other girls living there: an older girl
named Juju, whose beauty and grit offer anchorage in the narrator’s strange new
life.

But when a global financial crisis reaches South Korea, fears of a wider economic
collapse bring the city to a standstill. Everything the girls have come to rely on for
survival--mainly, the patronage of wealthy men--is put at risk. As businesses close
and winter sets in, the narrator is forced to reckon with her deepening fear for Juju’s
future, and also her own uncertain path. Will she stay on the run or go back home to
her heartbroken mother? In a city held captive to greed and desperation, what can
a helpless woman like Juju teach her about survival? Will their hope for each other
ignite courage or destruction?

A poignant tale about the impact of colonial and familial violence, class, privilege,
and womanhood, Tailbone is a powerful and thrilling novel from a blazing new
talent.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Adult, Contemporary, Asia, Asian Literature

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 7, 2026

About the author

Che Yeun is a fiction writer who often explores loneliness, desperation, and survival in her work. Her short stories can be found in Granta, AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, the Kenyon Review Online, and elsewhere. She has received grants from Hedgebrook, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, and the David T. K. Wong Fellowship. TAILBONE is her debut novel.

Reviews

[Thomas]

3.5 stars

Tailbone follows a teenaged girl in Seoul, Korea, who runs away from an abusive home to live in a boarding house for single women. The novel takes place in 2008 amidst significant financial crisis. I thought Che Yeun did a great job of showing how country-level economic hardship can cruelly affect society’s most marginalized, especially girls and women. Yeun highlights as well how financial suffering of course isn’t just limited to girls and women, as shown in the degradation of our protagonist’s father. In Tailbone Yeun writes a poignant tale about a teenager’s coming-of-age when her options are limited by her class, gender, and other circumstances (e.g., family of origin) that are well outside of her control. Her friendship with a much older woman living in the boarding house also served as a moving, nuanced portrayal of female friendship in dire circumstances across generations.

While I think Yeun did a great job driving home themes related to class and gender in this novel, her prose sometimes felt a bit restrained or narrow for me to fully dig in. I wonder if this is partially because the book focuses quite a bit on our protagonist’s observations of her friend Juju, even though Yeun included meaningful moments from our protagonist’s life too. While the writing on the sentence-level wasn’t the most exciting or memorable, the book was still a relatively engaging read.

[Book Riot Community]

Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026:

This is poised to be a breakout debut novel from a writer whose short fiction has garnered praise and attention. Following an unnamed teenage girl who seeks safety from her abusive father in a boarding house for single women, Tailbone tells the story of two friends surviving a global financial crash, where survival relies on the patronage of wealthy men. By all accounts this sounds like the kind story of friendship, identity, and soul-searching that stays with you long after the last page. —S. Zainab Williams

[libraryofshamsie]

can a city choke your loneliness out? if you've wanted to be left alone all your life, away from your alcoholic washed up dad, away from your weak mother; can that be possible in a city that whirls you into its muck corners and chaos? or will it just amplify it and the anger that comes with your breath?
tailbone by che yeun delves into the rage, loneliness, despair, and frustrations of womanhood. when a girl runs away from her family, she is thrown into a city that knows no bounds. it is quite and loud; separated by a few hours and crowds, when in both atmospheres our character cannot escape the trail of what she left behind, the misery of her present life, and the looming fear of her uncertain future. in a quick, sharp, and brutal voice, yeun digs deep into a violent and harsh reality of women who don't have it all. in the midst of a financial crisis, we are pulled into the corners of seoul where our nameless character and the women around her struggle financially, emotionally, socially, and physically. this novel felt like a powerful pull; nothing but drawing me in the more i read. whether it was the metaphorical connections of the character's past to the women's current situations, or the emotions that lie between the lines of yeun's prose, tailbone is a bold telling of women's endurance in a world of violence and loneliness that wraps you up to strangle you.
truly an incredible, powerful, and mesmerizing debut that projects the hurt, anger, loneliness, and need for connection and comfort that women constantly feel in an original story i couldn't get enough of and made me face my own feelings.

tailbone by che yeun will be out april 7th, 2026
thank you to the publishers for gifting me this mesmerizing debut

"no matter how weak i felt, no matter how many people touched me like a sludge in a ditch, I would still make this life happen. I wasn't sure why the world would ever need someone like that to exist. But I needed me to exist."

[Carolyn]

sisters in yellow but make it sad and cunty

[Ashley]

Thank you @Bloomsburybooksus for the gifted copy
𝙥𝙪𝙗 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚: April 7th, 2026
𝙢𝙮 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: ★★★★★

"𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵, 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

Che Yuen coming in with a poignant debut about loneliness, girlhood, self-preservation, privilege and poverty, where the drain smells sour.

An unnamed 17yr old narrator living in Seoul runs away from her abusive dad and weak (in the narrator’s eyes) mother to a rundown woman’s boarding house with no plan and no money. During the 2008 global financial crisis it’s all about survival.

Such a stunning, character driven read with a tight narrative. I was locked in from beginning to end. Although the majority of the story is centered in one place, it was a wild perilous journey. For months we watch the narrator try to understand and observe the world around her while simply put, just existing. She is remarkably average and one of the reasons I enjoyed her character so much. One of the older girls she befriends, Juju (sex worker), is a protective and quite complex character giving their friendship a unique dynamic. Each stuck in their own tortuous cycles; will they fail, claw their way out or keep circling the drain?

Che Yuen is a great storyteller.

"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯."

[Kami Anderson]

I took the train into one of these ghost neighborhoods. Only fifteen subway stations away from my childhood, and yet an unrecognizable world. Where I could peel off the skin of my birth. Unplug from my matrix. I found a cheap tangle of alleyways to hide me.

Slowly, my gaze drifted over to my side...I finally locked eyes with myself. Until I did, I hadn't fully believed I would, that anyone would still be there to return the stare. But she was definitely there, even a little impatient. Where were you, she blinked.
All this time I'd been looking away, she had never stopped waiting for me.

[tsanmii]

DNF at 50%. The dialogue was engaging, but at some point, it got as repetitive as the descriptions of the setting. In an attempt to be naturalist, everything just felt so mundane.

[Weiwei Chan]

My favorite genre of book is depressed women going through it

[Harris]

This book was painfully boring. Our narrator is a teenage, high school drop out who leaves her parents to move into a rooming house where she spends her days loafing around, eating chicken skewers and cup noodles. The most exciting thing she does over the course of the book is unclog a shower drain. The only other characters of importance are one of her housemates, Juju, and her customer, Min. Those two have an extremely toxic relationship which creates the only spark in the entire book.

[Alex Gershon]

In the vein of Young-ha Kim, the book flawlessly explores the raw nature of the world wrapped in elegant, enchanting prose. This book gives the reader an intimate viewing of a lost, aimlessly wandering life in a manner that makes the reader feel as if they're secretly there; as if they should almost feel uncomfortable with the access provided to the lives of the people involved.

This is one hell of a debut novel.

[Danelle]

Tailbone is a must read for anyone who hopes to understand economic anxiety, and what everyday survival looks like for marginalized, desperate people. Not an easy read, but an important one.

• Coming-of-age story: this one is messy, often desperate, and painfully honest
• Set in 2008 Seoul: the financial crisis hangs over everything, making the instability and desperation in the characters’ lives more pronounced. It’s a stark look at what survival can cost people.
• Strong, intense writing: adds to the complicated relationships and the feelings of economic anxiety and desperation
• Unnamed narrator: a very effective technique for illustrating the anger and loneliness of the main character, who wants to reinvent herself before she really knows who she is
• Themes of class, survival, exploitation, and womanhood
• Overall vibe: leaves you with a lingering sense of sadness. This book feels like wandering through a desolate city at night trying to outrun both your past and your future

Thank you Bloomsbury Publishing for the gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[R.J. Sorrento]

This is an engaging, character-driven novel that balances a bleakness (an economic depression in South Korea circa 2008) with a layer of self-worth and the desire for a good life. The less you know going in, the better. I really enjoyed the audiobook thanks to the narrator who captures the tone of the book so well with her performance. Thank you to Libro FM for the ALC . I look forward to hearing what others think of TAILBONE in the Manse book club discussion.

[nora the explorer]

sort of addicting read which made the ending feel too fast. exactly my vibe (girl grows up messy)

[Elena L.]

[ 3.5/5 stars ]

Seoul, 2008 - our nameless seventeen-year-old narrator runs away from her abusive home and seeks refuge in women living in a boarding house.

Yeun examines how hard it is to be woman amidst financial crisis and abandonment in many ways, in which these women try to adapt in a changing city that threatens to swallow them, while they hold on to memories, even if hurtful ones. The story exposes loneliness, helplessness and struggles of womanhood through characters who yearn for human connection, whose experiences can resonate.

Messy and real, one can expect to feel angered and frustrated, rooting for these women fighting against the harsh reality of societal expectations, oppression and patriarchy. The sisterhood is both like found family and toxic - while the characterization is relatable, it could have used more depth for an emotional resonance. For those expecting some narrative momentum, this book will, however, benefit readers who enjoy a still and spare read.

TAILBONE quite succeeds in its characterization (of womanhood) and regardless of my lack of emotional commitment, it's a sharp ode to human connection.

"...It hurt more than wanting to leave, how badly I wanted to stay and mend."

[I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Bloomsbury publishing . All opinions are my own ]

[emily faye]

Tailbone by Che Yeun follows an unnamed narrator who flees her family home at seventeen, escaping into the sweltering summer of 2008 in Seoul. She finds refuge in a women’s only lodging house, scraping by on very little money and gradually becoming entangled in the lives and work of the other women around her.

There’s an emotional core here—the narrator’s longing for a stable, loving family is deeply felt, especially against the backdrop of her mother’s own sense of being lost and trapped. However, the novel leans heavily into stillness, and at times it feels like not much actually happens. While it’s an easy, atmospheric read, the lack of deeper character development made it difficult to fully connect. Overall, a good read, but one that feels like it’s missing some emotional depth.

Thank you Libro.fm for the ALC!!

[Books_et_bouquins]

4.5 ⭐️

I love a story that screams.

Powerful words that convey raw feelings: hunger, poverty, broken dreams, and a rage against life’s unfairness.

Girls aching to defy their destiny, to change the hand they were dealt.

Nnnn is a young Korean girl trapped in her home. Her mother is obedient and passive, while her father, worn down by harsh life circumstances, has become aggressive. She feels suffocated, but she wants to do something about it, so she leaves in search of a better future.

But this isn’t a cliché story. It’s not the usual “she escapes, struggles, then finds her happy ending” kind of narrative. Instead, the focus is on the emotional journey, the daily hardships, and, above all, the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Instead, the focus is on the emotional journey, the daily hardships, and, above all, the uncertainty of what lies ahead. Even after leaving home, loneliness, anger, and the weight of her past continue to follow her, shaping every step she takes.

Through her story, we hear the ache of many young women struggling to earn a living during a difficult period in Korea, and what they are forced to do while holding on to the faint hope of a better future. It’s a story about survival, but also about loneliness, resilience, and the desperate need for a life that feels like your own.

The writing is powerful, and the narration is equally compelling.

If you love poignant, character-driven stories that read like emotional literary fiction, I definitely recommend this one 🙌🏻

✨Thank you libro.fm for the complimentary audiobook

[Alexandria333]

Devoured and the end made it to worth it!

[Guinevere DelaMare]

(Audiobook) DNF 14%

[Ayicia Naomi]

Quick read and I liked the narrative style. I did not understand the character development of anyone but maybe that’s ok and more true to life? There were so many depressing moments in this book but it felt so honest it was hard to stop reading

[Marie H.D.]

An engaging enough slice of gritty drama.

[Sarah]

raw and heavy. I felt the loneliness seeping through the lines.

[Stephanie Blouin]

Ok mais sans plus, répétitif et manque de profondeur

[Sam Rapkiewicz]

Loved this a lot. Reminded me of Jamaica Kincaid a bit. The tone and prose were perfect to me. Liked the small cast of characters and general anonymity vibe, at the same time also felt very sensitive and personal. Will read more by this genius lady

[Kayla]

Tailbone follows the stories of two young women with deep character flaws through a gritty description of their struggles during a short period of their lives during a financial crisis in Seoul. If you’re looking for a feel-good novel, this is not it; pretty much everyone in this book makes decisions you want to scream at them for, meanwhile sympathizing with the fact that none of the possible choices they have are great. Yeun’s use of imagery is to me the most captivating part of her writing. Her attention to detail about the people and city being observed through our unnamed narrator’s eyes is so impressive and feels so vividly real that some parts really made my skin crawl. The narrator’s namelessness I think adds to the overall sense that she is deemed insignificant and overlooked by society, as are all the other women she encounters in the novel. The reviews on here that are complaining that nothing happens I think are missing the point; to have these two characters have amazing character development or plot arcs that vastly change their circumstances would be to undermine the whole point of the novel. To me, the story’s purpose was to highlight that these women are trapped in pretty shitty circumstances that are beyond their control, but the kind that do not rise to the level of global humanitarian attention – just shitty enough for no one to care. This book is a snapshot into the lives of such women who attempt to cling to their humanity and sense of control through the humble and mundane: small acts of kindness for one another, eating ripe mandarins, and saying no when they can.

I consumed this book quickly not because it had a fast-paced plot or cliffhangers that had me dying to know what happened next, but rather because the descriptive language had me so entranced in their world and our narrator’s inner thoughts that I didn’t want to put it down. 5 stars!

[Sharon]

Thank you @bloomsburybooksus for the free copy and @librofm for the free audiobook 💖.

This novel is emotional and really makes you think about the bittersweet side of life and what survival actually costs. The audiobook (just under 8 hours) is beautifully narrated by Jessica Lee, who perfectly captures the narrator’s naive, messy voice at the start and gradually brings out her growing awareness by the end. It all feels very natural, never overdone. I definitely enjoyed the immersive read.

The story follows a teenage girl (whose name we never learn), who runs away from an abusive home and ends up in a boarding house for single women in Seoul as a financial crisis looms. There, she forms a close bond with another woman, and through their relationship and shared struggles, she starts to see life in a completely new way.

At first, leaving home feels like freedom, like she’s finally in control. But she slowly realizes the outside world isn’t safer, it’s just dangerous in different ways. She begins to understand that survival isn’t just about escaping; it comes with tradeoffs, compromises, and consequences that aren’t always obvious at first.

It’s a really moving coming of age story about survival, womanhood, and losing your illusions. We all go through this at some point in our lives. It captures that moment in life when you realize there are no perfect choices, just the strength to keep going. The ending is very much open ended, but the novel makes its point very clear.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
✨Literary fiction
✨Coming of age
✨Seoul, Korea setting
✨Reflections on womanhood and survival

⚠️CW: Alcoholism, domestic violence.

[Claire Clayton]

I think everyone I know in real life is sick with me asking “wait - have you read tailbone!?” I feel like I’m on a one woman campaign to spread the word everywhere. This book is fabulous and so poignant and should be on everyone’s top 10 of 2026 list.

[Connie]

A searing debut.

[Joanna]

Gritty and raw, but the ending left me confused.

[Jenna]

My best review of Tailbone is this: it was fine.

Nothing about the story or characters really stood out to me, despite the fact that the subject matter was pretty dark and sad. I think Yeun does a masterful job of describing the economic difficulties of Seoul during the 2008 financial crisis, and her portrait of a struggling city is easily the best part of this novel.

However, their characters just felt a little too flat for me to care much about them. While I liked the choice to leave the main character nameless, she felt more like a Trojan horse into the world of the young girls she lived among rather than a fully fleshed out person. I found my mind wandering a bit as I read, and it seemed like the prose wanted to keep readers at arms length.

[Stephanie Barber]

Tail Bone is a haunting and lyrical debut. Che Yeun’s prose is spare yet powerful, giving the story an intimacy that feels both raw and carefully controlled. As a first novel, it’s an impressive and confident writing that leaves me hoping there is more to come.