What do you think?
Rate this book
The Young Will Remember
A sweeping novel about a correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War, and the women who help her find her way home, from the national bestselling author of Daughters of Shandong.
“When I found the courage to lift my head, I expected to stare down the barrel of a gun, but instead there was a woman in front of me, the back of her white skirt embroidered with columns of yellow chrysanthemums.”
1950. It’s the coldest winter in decades, and twenty-eight-year-old Chinese American journalist Ellie Chang is on a military flight to cover a battle in the mountains of North Korea when her plane is shot down.
As she emerges from the fallen aircraft onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, Ellie is sure it’s the end, certain she’ll never make it home to her parents…until a woman pushes her way through the crowd and claims Ellie as the lost daughter that she’s been searching for since the last war ended. Never mind that Ellie doesn’t speak a word of Korean.
Ellie is taken in by her rescuer—a woman who calls herself “Emma”—and the Paks, a pastor’s family. She knows she can’t stay and yet there’s no way she’ll survive on her own.
As the war intensifies, the sky alighting with bombs overhead, Ellie convinces Emma and the Paks to travel south towards an elusive promise of safety, and where Ellie insists they are more likely to find Emma’s real daughter, stuck on the other side of the frontlines.
Emma’s decision to claim Ellie, and Ellie’s choice to take her hand will connect their lives forever.
Moving and triumphant, The Young Will Remember sheds light on a “Forgotten War,” the resilience of love within our darkest histories, and the indefatigable determination of mothers to protect their children.
“When I found the courage to lift my head, I expected to stare down the barrel of a gun, but instead there was a woman in front of me, the back of her white skirt embroidered with columns of yellow chrysanthemums.”
1950. It’s the coldest winter in decades, and twenty-eight-year-old Chinese American journalist Ellie Chang is on a military flight to cover a battle in the mountains of North Korea when her plane is shot down.
As she emerges from the fallen aircraft onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, Ellie is sure it’s the end, certain she’ll never make it home to her parents…until a woman pushes her way through the crowd and claims Ellie as the lost daughter that she’s been searching for since the last war ended. Never mind that Ellie doesn’t speak a word of Korean.
Ellie is taken in by her rescuer—a woman who calls herself “Emma”—and the Paks, a pastor’s family. She knows she can’t stay and yet there’s no way she’ll survive on her own.
As the war intensifies, the sky alighting with bombs overhead, Ellie convinces Emma and the Paks to travel south towards an elusive promise of safety, and where Ellie insists they are more likely to find Emma’s real daughter, stuck on the other side of the frontlines.
Emma’s decision to claim Ellie, and Ellie’s choice to take her hand will connect their lives forever.
Moving and triumphant, The Young Will Remember sheds light on a “Forgotten War,” the resilience of love within our darkest histories, and the indefatigable determination of mothers to protect their children.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2026
99 people are currently reading
17220 people want to read
About the author
Eve J. Chung
2 books534 followersEve J. Chung is the nationally bestselling and award-winning author of DAUGHTERS OF SHANDONG and THE YOUNG WILL REMEMBER. She is also a Taiwanese American lawyer and women's human rights specialist. Her writing is inspired by social justice movements, and the continued struggle for equality and fundamental freedoms worldwide. She currently lives in New York with her husband, two children, and two dogs.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Fun Fact: My grandfather lost his toes in Korea. He fought in The Korean War, and the story goes that as he was a very tall man, his feet stuck out of the tent when he was sleeping, causing frostbite to set in.
Eve Chung is back with her sophomore novel, The Young Will Remember. She is also author of the stunning novel, Daughters of Shandong.
The Young Will Remember is a historical fiction novel set in The Korean War. Eleanor Chang “Ellie” is an American war correspondent who unexpectedly finds herself in enemy territory. How will she ever reach home again?
The story focuses on Ellie’s quest for survival and the people who help her along the way.
The Young Will Remember is captivating and compelling, always a joy to read, a book that will keep readers guessing until the last minute.
*Thanks, Netgalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Hardcover Text – Pre-ordered on Amazon for $31.80
Electronic Text - Free/nada/zilch/free gift from publisher as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy)
Connect With Me!
Instagram/Threads: @lisa_of_troy
Blog: lisaoftroy.com
Eve Chung is back with her sophomore novel, The Young Will Remember. She is also author of the stunning novel, Daughters of Shandong.
The Young Will Remember is a historical fiction novel set in The Korean War. Eleanor Chang “Ellie” is an American war correspondent who unexpectedly finds herself in enemy territory. How will she ever reach home again?
The story focuses on Ellie’s quest for survival and the people who help her along the way.
The Young Will Remember is captivating and compelling, always a joy to read, a book that will keep readers guessing until the last minute.
*Thanks, Netgalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
The Green Light at the End of the Dock (How much I spent):
Hardcover Text – Pre-ordered on Amazon for $31.80
Electronic Text - Free/nada/zilch/free gift from publisher as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy)
Connect With Me!
Instagram/Threads: @lisa_of_troy
Blog: lisaoftroy.com
Want to Read
August 30, 2025anything this author writes, i will read. this book is probably gonna break my heart and i’m ready for it
December 17, 2025
3.5 stars
Unfortunately, this story relied so heavily on showing rather than telling that it became difficult to read. Despite being set in the 1950s during the turbulent Korean, Chinese, and Japanese war, I never felt fully immersed in the time period. I also agreed with another reviewer who mentioned the forced dialogue, as it often pulled me out of the story and made it harder to stay engaged. By the end, I found myself skimming just to finish.
That said, none of this takes away from the importance of the subject matter. The history of comfort women, essentially sex slaves used by armies worldwide, is an incredibly important and necessary story to tell.
Unfortunately, this story relied so heavily on showing rather than telling that it became difficult to read. Despite being set in the 1950s during the turbulent Korean, Chinese, and Japanese war, I never felt fully immersed in the time period. I also agreed with another reviewer who mentioned the forced dialogue, as it often pulled me out of the story and made it harder to stay engaged. By the end, I found myself skimming just to finish.
That said, none of this takes away from the importance of the subject matter. The history of comfort women, essentially sex slaves used by armies worldwide, is an incredibly important and necessary story to tell.
November 26, 2025
If you are tired of reading the same WWII historical fiction about Europe and the Holocaust but still want to get lost in a story from the past, READ THIS. Eve Chung excels at bringing characters to life. The Young Will Remember was hard to put down and I devoured it. Fans of historical fiction will love this book that focuses on regular, everyday people during war, specifically women. It asks the question, who pays the true price of war?
This book looks at the Korean War and the main character is an American journalist whose plane goes down in North Korea in enemy territory. She barely escapes with her life when a local woman takes her to her village. All she can think about is how to get back to her work and the American soldiers/lines.
The woman that saves her is searching for her daughter who was conscripted by the Japanese when she was 14 during WWII. Many girls were taken for comfort stations and factory work and she is holding out hope that she survived the war. Chung addresses head on the atrocities of war and the problematic narrative surrounding "comfort stations." Despite these heavy topics, I found that there was a good balance of information without being overly descriptive/traumatic surrounding these topics. Another fantastic book I haven't stopped thinking about since I finished it. This would make a great bookclub book!
Thank you to netgalley for an ARC to enjoy.
This book looks at the Korean War and the main character is an American journalist whose plane goes down in North Korea in enemy territory. She barely escapes with her life when a local woman takes her to her village. All she can think about is how to get back to her work and the American soldiers/lines.
The woman that saves her is searching for her daughter who was conscripted by the Japanese when she was 14 during WWII. Many girls were taken for comfort stations and factory work and she is holding out hope that she survived the war. Chung addresses head on the atrocities of war and the problematic narrative surrounding "comfort stations." Despite these heavy topics, I found that there was a good balance of information without being overly descriptive/traumatic surrounding these topics. Another fantastic book I haven't stopped thinking about since I finished it. This would make a great bookclub book!
Thank you to netgalley for an ARC to enjoy.
May 8, 2026
This story has a few layers, but I mainly want to focus on one. Having just read “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee for a book club, my interest has been piqued, and I’ve been looking for books that relate the history of Korea, Japan and China.
“Pachinko” gutted me, really. There’s a brief mention in there that a couple of young women the main character knows went over to China with the promise of good jobs. Then we find out that often what that actually meant was the girls were forced into sexual slavery for the soldiers stationed there. Known as “comfort women”, they did not live long lives, as you may imagine, and conditions were horrific.
Enter “Emma”, who saves main character (Ellie) when the latter’s plane is shot down in North Korea. As the story unfolds, we realize pretty early on that Emma’s daughter was conscripted into the army AT AGE FOURTEEN, since Emma didn’t have a son. Emma is told that her daughter will work for a factory, but…did she actually go to a factory?
It makes me (quite rationally) angry that these girls and women were lied to and/or essentially kidnapped from the only homes they had ever known, only to be violently raped over and over again until they had outlived their usefulness. A lot of the girls had probably never even had sex beforehand!! The soldiers most likely considered them the same as animals.
It’s a brutal, brutal history, and their stories deserve to be told.
There’s more to the novel, of course, but I am so incensed about the comfort women that I just had to write my feelings down.
I learned a ton about Korea from reading this, and Ellie’s journey is certainly eye-opening. I highly, highly recommend this book. I saw another reviewer suggest that this would be a great book club read, and I wholeheartedly agree. It’s not an easy read, but it’s an important one.
My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
4.5 stars, rounded up.
“Pachinko” gutted me, really. There’s a brief mention in there that a couple of young women the main character knows went over to China with the promise of good jobs. Then we find out that often what that actually meant was the girls were forced into sexual slavery for the soldiers stationed there. Known as “comfort women”, they did not live long lives, as you may imagine, and conditions were horrific.
Enter “Emma”, who saves main character (Ellie) when the latter’s plane is shot down in North Korea. As the story unfolds, we realize pretty early on that Emma’s daughter was conscripted into the army AT AGE FOURTEEN, since Emma didn’t have a son. Emma is told that her daughter will work for a factory, but…did she actually go to a factory?
It makes me (quite rationally) angry that these girls and women were lied to and/or essentially kidnapped from the only homes they had ever known, only to be violently raped over and over again until they had outlived their usefulness. A lot of the girls had probably never even had sex beforehand!! The soldiers most likely considered them the same as animals.
It’s a brutal, brutal history, and their stories deserve to be told.
There’s more to the novel, of course, but I am so incensed about the comfort women that I just had to write my feelings down.
I learned a ton about Korea from reading this, and Ellie’s journey is certainly eye-opening. I highly, highly recommend this book. I saw another reviewer suggest that this would be a great book club read, and I wholeheartedly agree. It’s not an easy read, but it’s an important one.
My thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
4.5 stars, rounded up.
May 5, 2026
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an eARC.
This was a brilliantly written book. Most of my historical fiction reads have been based on WWII. This is my first book about the Korean war. I went in knowing almost nothing and now I have a general idea about it. I really appreciated the author's note about how it related to her family and explanations of some of her sources and motivations. All the characters were fleshed out very well with clear backstories and motivations for the way they behaved. The entire thing was so sad, I felt so bad for all of them, all the pain they had to go through. It was so heartbreaking to see Emma search for Yun-Hee for so long. The plotline about "comfort women" was also well done, especially the arc it took during the modern day epilogue. The pacing was a little slow in the middle but the final parts really made up for it. The pace did work well for the book though, it made me slow down and take in the setting more deeply. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a book set during the Korean war.
This was a brilliantly written book. Most of my historical fiction reads have been based on WWII. This is my first book about the Korean war. I went in knowing almost nothing and now I have a general idea about it. I really appreciated the author's note about how it related to her family and explanations of some of her sources and motivations. All the characters were fleshed out very well with clear backstories and motivations for the way they behaved. The entire thing was so sad, I felt so bad for all of them, all the pain they had to go through. It was so heartbreaking to see Emma search for Yun-Hee for so long. The plotline about "comfort women" was also well done, especially the arc it took during the modern day epilogue. The pacing was a little slow in the middle but the final parts really made up for it. The pace did work well for the book though, it made me slow down and take in the setting more deeply. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone looking for a book set during the Korean war.
Read
April 18, 2026When a Taiwanese American War Journalist is shot down over enemy territory, will she ever get back home? 🛬💥 Eve J Chung tackles a time, setting, and perspective in history with her fictional account that is rarely told. 1950 Korea during the war from a woman journalist learning of the ravages of war on the vulnerable caught in the crossfire.
My full review will post on my Instagram page, @sophiarose1816
My full review will post on my Instagram page, @sophiarose1816
May 5, 2026
The same gut-punch as The Nightingale — only a different war, a different set of women.
The Vibe: Sweeping, Heartbreaking, Immersive
I feared for the main character at the same time I was in awe of her tenacity. Her resilience, her drive to get the story, and her instinct for survival kept me in knots. The bond she struck with two other women felt real — their harrowing experiences weren't written for drama but as the honest realities of war.
What I Loved:
• Poignant and immediate. I was swept into the story from the first chapter.
• I felt the cold and the looming danger. The setting was historically rich but it was the way the war atmosphere was written that made this an experience.
• Three characters brought together by circumstance, their resilience and journey both humbling and heart-wrenching. Inspiring in the truest sense.
• I'm not a big fan of books that make me cry but I am a huge fan of this one. I still feel the heaviness in my chest whenever I think of what these women endured.
• The letters: Placed between chapters, they served as the heart of the story — a mother's enduring love and hope woven through the darkness.
⚠️ Content Warnings: War crimes and graphic violence, sexual violence (mention), death of loved ones, starvation and extreme hardship, misogyny and gender-based violence.
Read this if you like: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
One of the most affecting reads of the year — don't sleep on it.
***Audio Note***
Narrator(s): Erin Lin | Sue Jean Kim | James Fouhey
Listening Speed: 1.7x
Rating: Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Performance ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Audio Experience:
The full cast did a spectacular job pouring emotion into every chapter. The imminent danger felt real — I couldn't rest when Ellie and the women were fleeing the bombing. At 1.7x speed the pacing hit the sweet spot. My heart raced and broke in equal measure.
Best Parts of the Production:
• Erin Lin brought Ellie's stubborn, relentless nature to life through pace, pronunciation, and raw emotion. Her voicing of the characters Ellie encountered felt like entirely different people.
• Sue Jean Kim's reading of the letters was one of my favorite parts of the entire listening experience. I felt the mother's hope and love for her daughter in every word. I looked forward to those letters every time.
The Audio Vibe: Heart-Pounding, Emotional, Hopeful
TL;DR: For a truly immersive experience, pair the audio with the physical book.
Huge thanks to Berkley and Penguin Random House Audio for the early copy.
The Vibe: Sweeping, Heartbreaking, Immersive
I feared for the main character at the same time I was in awe of her tenacity. Her resilience, her drive to get the story, and her instinct for survival kept me in knots. The bond she struck with two other women felt real — their harrowing experiences weren't written for drama but as the honest realities of war.
What I Loved:
• Poignant and immediate. I was swept into the story from the first chapter.
• I felt the cold and the looming danger. The setting was historically rich but it was the way the war atmosphere was written that made this an experience.
• Three characters brought together by circumstance, their resilience and journey both humbling and heart-wrenching. Inspiring in the truest sense.
• I'm not a big fan of books that make me cry but I am a huge fan of this one. I still feel the heaviness in my chest whenever I think of what these women endured.
• The letters: Placed between chapters, they served as the heart of the story — a mother's enduring love and hope woven through the darkness.
⚠️ Content Warnings: War crimes and graphic violence, sexual violence (mention), death of loved ones, starvation and extreme hardship, misogyny and gender-based violence.
Read this if you like: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
One of the most affecting reads of the year — don't sleep on it.
***Audio Note***
Narrator(s): Erin Lin | Sue Jean Kim | James Fouhey
Listening Speed: 1.7x
Rating: Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Performance ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Audio Experience:
The full cast did a spectacular job pouring emotion into every chapter. The imminent danger felt real — I couldn't rest when Ellie and the women were fleeing the bombing. At 1.7x speed the pacing hit the sweet spot. My heart raced and broke in equal measure.
Best Parts of the Production:
• Erin Lin brought Ellie's stubborn, relentless nature to life through pace, pronunciation, and raw emotion. Her voicing of the characters Ellie encountered felt like entirely different people.
• Sue Jean Kim's reading of the letters was one of my favorite parts of the entire listening experience. I felt the mother's hope and love for her daughter in every word. I looked forward to those letters every time.
The Audio Vibe: Heart-Pounding, Emotional, Hopeful
TL;DR: For a truly immersive experience, pair the audio with the physical book.
Huge thanks to Berkley and Penguin Random House Audio for the early copy.
November 27, 2025
This in-depth chronicle of the Korean War follows Chinese American correspondent Ellie Chung, who becomes trapped behind enemy lines after her plane is shot down. She's rescued by Emma, a woman who initially mistakes Ellie for her own daughter. Beyond its vivid depiction of the war, the novel weaves in a powerful secondary narrative: Emma's heartbreaking search for her daughter, who was forced into service as a Japanese comfort woman.
My only criticism—one I've noted in reviews of other books as well—is the inclusion of foreign words without definitions or context. I find this distracting and wish authors would provide translations to help readers stay immersed in the story.
My only criticism—one I've noted in reviews of other books as well—is the inclusion of foreign words without definitions or context. I find this distracting and wish authors would provide translations to help readers stay immersed in the story.
Want to Read
September 1, 2025One of my most anticipated reads!!!
Currently Reading
May 6, 2026
May 5, 2026 Pre-Review
:
Happy publishing day!
I'm about 55% into this book, and I can already tell that this is going to be one of my favourite books of the year and the best historical fiction of 2026!
I'm so invested in the characters, I'm terrified of what's going to happen to them (50% in and I'm already feeling so much heartbreak and tenderness for these characters!)
Happy publishing day!
I'm about 55% into this book, and I can already tell that this is going to be one of my favourite books of the year and the best historical fiction of 2026!
I'm so invested in the characters, I'm terrified of what's going to happen to them (50% in and I'm already feeling so much heartbreak and tenderness for these characters!)
April 25, 2026
first off thank you to netgally for this arc!!!
i’m back arc era you guys! and we started off with such an amazing book! i feel like i blew through this read so fast because it was a really easy read (not in terms of subject matter! because of its readability!!!) cannot recommend this one more
i’m back arc era you guys! and we started off with such an amazing book! i feel like i blew through this read so fast because it was a really easy read (not in terms of subject matter! because of its readability!!!) cannot recommend this one more
Want to Read
August 24, 2025pre-release: i'm so excited for this book! daughters of shandong was one of the best debuts ever & i still think abt it almost every day. i've been waiting for this book since and it can't come fast enough.
May 6, 2026
Thank you so much to NetGalley for this ARC.
So many people have grown up hearing to treat a stranger as a member of your own family; but would we really if that opportunity came. Emma decided to treat a stranger as she would've treater her own daughter and it changed that stranger's life forever.
Ellie had massive ambition but ended up learning that; "when you look like the enemy in the land of the free, even your children can end up behind barbed wire;" but that "the greatest enemy of democracy was not Communism; it was silence and ignorance." There were massive character development and growth in all the characters, but this book made me cry so much that I couldn't put it down. This book was a historical fiction must read for anyone who is interested in social justice, Korean history, Chinese history, Japanese history...or anyone who has watched Crash Landing on You and thought; "I wonder what would've happened if something similar happened but during a major war?".
So many people have grown up hearing to treat a stranger as a member of your own family; but would we really if that opportunity came. Emma decided to treat a stranger as she would've treater her own daughter and it changed that stranger's life forever.
Ellie had massive ambition but ended up learning that; "when you look like the enemy in the land of the free, even your children can end up behind barbed wire;" but that "the greatest enemy of democracy was not Communism; it was silence and ignorance." There were massive character development and growth in all the characters, but this book made me cry so much that I couldn't put it down. This book was a historical fiction must read for anyone who is interested in social justice, Korean history, Chinese history, Japanese history...or anyone who has watched Crash Landing on You and thought; "I wonder what would've happened if something similar happened but during a major war?".
March 19, 2026
A Captivating and Thought-Provoking Read
A story of human resilience and courage, improbable alliances, and hope against the backdrop of the toll of the Korean War - the atrocities and the destruction.
This book captured and kept my attention from cover to cover. More than simply a historical and militaristic view of the Korean War, the story explored “the cultural and psychological components of the war,” to borrow an observation from Ellie, the story’s central character. Furthermore, while there are many historical fiction books which center around the World Wars, this is the first fiction book I have read focused on the Korean War, specifically in North Korea. Particularly impactful for me as the reader was understanding the war and its toll, not only from a US-centric view, but also from various North Korean lenses.
A 5 star read that will be among my top 5 historical fiction favs this year.
Note: Thanks to the publishers and #BookBrowse for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of the book.
A story of human resilience and courage, improbable alliances, and hope against the backdrop of the toll of the Korean War - the atrocities and the destruction.
This book captured and kept my attention from cover to cover. More than simply a historical and militaristic view of the Korean War, the story explored “the cultural and psychological components of the war,” to borrow an observation from Ellie, the story’s central character. Furthermore, while there are many historical fiction books which center around the World Wars, this is the first fiction book I have read focused on the Korean War, specifically in North Korea. Particularly impactful for me as the reader was understanding the war and its toll, not only from a US-centric view, but also from various North Korean lenses.
A 5 star read that will be among my top 5 historical fiction favs this year.
Note: Thanks to the publishers and #BookBrowse for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of the book.
May 10, 2026
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: A sweeping novel about a correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War, and the women who help her find her way home, from the national bestselling author of Daughters of Shandong.
“When I found the courage to lift my head, I expected to stare down the barrel of a gun, but instead there was a woman in front of me, the back of her white skirt embroidered with columns of yellow chrysanthemums.”
1950. It’s the coldest winter in decades, and twenty-eight-year-old Chinese American journalist Ellie Chang is on a military flight to cover a battle in the mountains of North Korea when her plane is shot down.
As she emerges from the fallen aircraft onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, Ellie is sure it’s the end, certain she’ll never make it home to her parents…until a woman pushes her way through the crowd and claims Ellie as the lost daughter that she’s been searching for since the last war ended. Never mind that Ellie doesn’t speak a word of Korean.
Ellie is taken in by her rescuer—a woman who calls herself “Emma”—and the Paks, a pastor’s family. She knows she can’t stay and yet there’s no way she’ll survive on her own.
As the war intensifies, the sky alighting with bombs overhead, Ellie convinces Emma and the Paks to travel south towards an elusive promise of safety, and where Ellie insists they are more likely to find Emma’s real daughter, stuck on the other side of the frontlines.
Emma’s decision to claim Ellie, and Ellie’s choice to take her hand will connect their lives forever.
Moving and triumphant, The Young Will Remember sheds light on a “Forgotten War,” the resilience of love within our darkest histories, and the indefatigable determination of mothers to protect their children.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Stories with this kind of stakes, "everything changes because one moment to the next a decision is made," always appeal to me. So do stories about Korea, probably because it was my father's wartime experience. This story, then, started out with literally every advantage granted to it.
Why then is my rating so mingy?
Because the author is very, very clear on the story she wants to tell, but rather less so on the craft of storytelling. The dialogue, the scene-setting, the stakes she clearly thought through carefully, all work together. They don't cohere emotionally to punch me in the gut as I weep for the fate awaiting Emma and the Paks if they are not able to use Eleanor's Americanness to leverage an escape.
Here is my opportunity to say that Eleanor's CHINESE-Americanness rubbed a serious saddle-sore on me. Emma claiming this CHINESE-American woman as her long-lost daughter...well, no one in Korea would fall for that for a single second. Han people, assuming that's who Ellie's ancestors were which is by no means guaranteed, are visually quite distinct from the Korean people; it's very "Western" to assume there's no difference, or such a small difference as to be indistinguishable to natives of the region.
So...the story's foundation was my problem, not the story itself. The awful intersection of colonialism and its bastard child warmongering was the source of the story's impetus. As Ellie and Emma navigate their intersecting desires to leave the place they are, escaping the suite of violent terrors that war orchestrates for those who are not allowed control of their world (read: old men), they illuminate the compromises and suffering the old men in charge inflict so indifferently on the world's mass of humanity. In service of what? Does any ideology, any philosophy, justify the titanic life-altering suffering of vast numbers of people? Ellie, a war correspondent, is well placed to use the scalpel of reporting to cut away the rottenness of propaganda to expose the real wounds caused to real people. Emma's loss of her daughter to the Japanese colonialists, probably as a "comfort woman" or, more accurately, a sex slave has wounded her entire family. The author, a lawyer by trade, has clearly read Frantz Fanon ("The formula 'this all happened long ago' is substituted by that of 'we are going to speak of what happened somewhere else, but it might well have happened here today and it might happen tomorrow') or encountered his ideas of the artist as moral actor because this story is very much the argument for despair, and its fellow traveler inactivity, as a moral wrong.
Ellie spends part of the story in survival mode, not doing anything to actively improve her chances for escape. In this time of joining the woman who "claimed" her as a daughter, she is gathering her circle of women who share a goal of ending the harms being done; it's assembling a posse, not only sinking into a morass of misery. Going back to my foundational problem, would Emma's actual daughter need the kind of help and instruction Ellie receives all uncommented on?
It all ends up making this a three-and-a-half star read. I found the prose adequate, if unexciting; quite mannered at times thus unlikely to move me to empathetic tears. The story being told moved me to outrage and its hotter, briefer tears. Ellie...and Emma...are supremely tough women. Reading about their struggles was angering, educational, and instructive. I did not come away converted to Eve Chung fandom though I'll read another story by her. I respect her eye for what makes a good story and hope she will enter into the next one all guns blazing.
The Publisher Says: A sweeping novel about a correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War, and the women who help her find her way home, from the national bestselling author of Daughters of Shandong.
“When I found the courage to lift my head, I expected to stare down the barrel of a gun, but instead there was a woman in front of me, the back of her white skirt embroidered with columns of yellow chrysanthemums.”
1950. It’s the coldest winter in decades, and twenty-eight-year-old Chinese American journalist Ellie Chang is on a military flight to cover a battle in the mountains of North Korea when her plane is shot down.
As she emerges from the fallen aircraft onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, Ellie is sure it’s the end, certain she’ll never make it home to her parents…until a woman pushes her way through the crowd and claims Ellie as the lost daughter that she’s been searching for since the last war ended. Never mind that Ellie doesn’t speak a word of Korean.
Ellie is taken in by her rescuer—a woman who calls herself “Emma”—and the Paks, a pastor’s family. She knows she can’t stay and yet there’s no way she’ll survive on her own.
As the war intensifies, the sky alighting with bombs overhead, Ellie convinces Emma and the Paks to travel south towards an elusive promise of safety, and where Ellie insists they are more likely to find Emma’s real daughter, stuck on the other side of the frontlines.
Emma’s decision to claim Ellie, and Ellie’s choice to take her hand will connect their lives forever.
Moving and triumphant, The Young Will Remember sheds light on a “Forgotten War,” the resilience of love within our darkest histories, and the indefatigable determination of mothers to protect their children.
I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.
My Review: Stories with this kind of stakes, "everything changes because one moment to the next a decision is made," always appeal to me. So do stories about Korea, probably because it was my father's wartime experience. This story, then, started out with literally every advantage granted to it.
Why then is my rating so mingy?
Because the author is very, very clear on the story she wants to tell, but rather less so on the craft of storytelling. The dialogue, the scene-setting, the stakes she clearly thought through carefully, all work together. They don't cohere emotionally to punch me in the gut as I weep for the fate awaiting Emma and the Paks if they are not able to use Eleanor's Americanness to leverage an escape.
Here is my opportunity to say that Eleanor's CHINESE-Americanness rubbed a serious saddle-sore on me. Emma claiming this CHINESE-American woman as her long-lost daughter...well, no one in Korea would fall for that for a single second. Han people, assuming that's who Ellie's ancestors were which is by no means guaranteed, are visually quite distinct from the Korean people; it's very "Western" to assume there's no difference, or such a small difference as to be indistinguishable to natives of the region.
So...the story's foundation was my problem, not the story itself. The awful intersection of colonialism and its bastard child warmongering was the source of the story's impetus. As Ellie and Emma navigate their intersecting desires to leave the place they are, escaping the suite of violent terrors that war orchestrates for those who are not allowed control of their world (read: old men), they illuminate the compromises and suffering the old men in charge inflict so indifferently on the world's mass of humanity. In service of what? Does any ideology, any philosophy, justify the titanic life-altering suffering of vast numbers of people? Ellie, a war correspondent, is well placed to use the scalpel of reporting to cut away the rottenness of propaganda to expose the real wounds caused to real people. Emma's loss of her daughter to the Japanese colonialists, probably as a "comfort woman" or, more accurately, a sex slave has wounded her entire family. The author, a lawyer by trade, has clearly read Frantz Fanon ("The formula 'this all happened long ago' is substituted by that of 'we are going to speak of what happened somewhere else, but it might well have happened here today and it might happen tomorrow') or encountered his ideas of the artist as moral actor because this story is very much the argument for despair, and its fellow traveler inactivity, as a moral wrong.
Ellie spends part of the story in survival mode, not doing anything to actively improve her chances for escape. In this time of joining the woman who "claimed" her as a daughter, she is gathering her circle of women who share a goal of ending the harms being done; it's assembling a posse, not only sinking into a morass of misery. Going back to my foundational problem, would Emma's actual daughter need the kind of help and instruction Ellie receives all uncommented on?
It all ends up making this a three-and-a-half star read. I found the prose adequate, if unexciting; quite mannered at times thus unlikely to move me to empathetic tears. The story being told moved me to outrage and its hotter, briefer tears. Ellie...and Emma...are supremely tough women. Reading about their struggles was angering, educational, and instructive. I did not come away converted to Eve Chung fandom though I'll read another story by her. I respect her eye for what makes a good story and hope she will enter into the next one all guns blazing.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"Because I believe in telling the truth. And I care about democracy. In order to make the right decisions, and to vote for the right representatives, people have to know what's happening. They deserve to have real information.”
“It takes courage to go to a new country. It's a different kind of courage than staying to fight, but it take strength. Immigration is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it takes courage just to persist amid the ugliness of this world.”
“We were trying to fight Mao, but he wasn't mortal anymore. He was an ideology, and he thrived, not simply on Marxism or any other type of Communism, but on the trauma of colonialism."
"A needle mends, while a pen exposes, and the mere existence of a woman who wields the latter is a threat."
“[W]ithout truth, freedom was no more than an illusion, and choice a curated platter. The greatest enemy of democracy was not Communism; it was silence and ignorance, whether willfully undertaken or enforced by law.”
"History was a chain, and too often it was wrapped around women's necks. In every country, there were monuments dedicated to men who waged wars. How many had anything to honor the women who suffered through them, or survived them?"
“No matter how hard some forces try to destroy the beauty in this world, it will persist somewhere. It will survive somewhere, cutting through the dark, untouchable and incomparable. Divine. The old will die, but the young will remember.”
wow where do i even begin?? still wiping my tears away bc the last 20% of the book had me crying so hard😭
this book was one i really wish i had while growing up, but am glad i'm reading now. we barely learned anything about the korean war in school and the very little we did, we had a very biased/skewed perception of how america was "helping" by intervening, when it really did more harm than good (as it continues to butt into other countries' conflicts- very timely to read this book now in light of what's happening around the world...). we also did not learn much about the japanese occupation of korea, taiwan, and the phillipines, and it was something that i learned from my mom, whose family lived during the japanese occupation of taiwan. i love how chung does not shy away from the atrocities of war, especially the ignored stories of comfort women and sexual violence/slavery. we definitely did not learn any of this in school and i learned about the horrific rape of nanjing from my parents.
i thought chung crafted multiple characters, all beautiful, raw, and at times, heartbreaking. each character had so much depth and it was so fascinating to see all their storylines intertwine. the novel is mainly told through taiwanese american correspondent, ellie, and her experience in north korea, after her plane is shot down. from the moment she is saved by emma, a north korean woman, who claims that ellie is her long lost daughter, we embark on a journey full of despair, war destruction, forced survival, and tragedy, but also hope, family/love behind enemy lines, resistance, and motherhood. the found family in this book is truly remarkable; the way that everyone shows up for each other despite different backgrounds and cultures was so beautiful and precious - ellie's relationship with both emma and imo truly warmed my heart.
i think my favorite part of this book is what i also enjoyed in DAUGHTERS OF SHANDONG, chung's first novel -- the humanity and camaraderie in war that's rarely talked about. i loved how ellie learns and grows as she firsthand experiences the atrocities of war and documents otherwise untold stories from chinese soldiers, north korean pastors, and comfort women.
lastly, i loved reading ellie's reflections and the letters to her parents throughout the book (also emma's letters to yun hee😭). i definitely feel like she grew as a person and broadened her worldviews. i especially felt so seen as a taiwanese american myself, living between two cultures, never feeling completely one or the other. ellie's experience as an asian american woman as a correspondent in the 1950s was also something i could relate to, since the legal profession today still is predominantly white men. (i also love that chung herself is an international human rights lawyer in real life - that definitely came through in ellie's thoughts and reflections and the author's note was so informative and equally as powerful).
i don't want to spoil anything, but the ending of this book was incredible. you'll just have to read it to know what happens.
thank you Eve, for this beautifully written, heartbreaking/heartwarming, powerful story and thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC and Berkley Pub for a gifted finished copy<3
(tbh ill prob be back to add more but that's my braindump review for now lol)
“It takes courage to go to a new country. It's a different kind of courage than staying to fight, but it take strength. Immigration is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it takes courage just to persist amid the ugliness of this world.”
“We were trying to fight Mao, but he wasn't mortal anymore. He was an ideology, and he thrived, not simply on Marxism or any other type of Communism, but on the trauma of colonialism."
"A needle mends, while a pen exposes, and the mere existence of a woman who wields the latter is a threat."
“[W]ithout truth, freedom was no more than an illusion, and choice a curated platter. The greatest enemy of democracy was not Communism; it was silence and ignorance, whether willfully undertaken or enforced by law.”
"History was a chain, and too often it was wrapped around women's necks. In every country, there were monuments dedicated to men who waged wars. How many had anything to honor the women who suffered through them, or survived them?"
“No matter how hard some forces try to destroy the beauty in this world, it will persist somewhere. It will survive somewhere, cutting through the dark, untouchable and incomparable. Divine. The old will die, but the young will remember.”
wow where do i even begin?? still wiping my tears away bc the last 20% of the book had me crying so hard😭
this book was one i really wish i had while growing up, but am glad i'm reading now. we barely learned anything about the korean war in school and the very little we did, we had a very biased/skewed perception of how america was "helping" by intervening, when it really did more harm than good (as it continues to butt into other countries' conflicts- very timely to read this book now in light of what's happening around the world...). we also did not learn much about the japanese occupation of korea, taiwan, and the phillipines, and it was something that i learned from my mom, whose family lived during the japanese occupation of taiwan. i love how chung does not shy away from the atrocities of war, especially the ignored stories of comfort women and sexual violence/slavery. we definitely did not learn any of this in school and i learned about the horrific rape of nanjing from my parents.
i thought chung crafted multiple characters, all beautiful, raw, and at times, heartbreaking. each character had so much depth and it was so fascinating to see all their storylines intertwine. the novel is mainly told through taiwanese american correspondent, ellie, and her experience in north korea, after her plane is shot down. from the moment she is saved by emma, a north korean woman, who claims that ellie is her long lost daughter, we embark on a journey full of despair, war destruction, forced survival, and tragedy, but also hope, family/love behind enemy lines, resistance, and motherhood. the found family in this book is truly remarkable; the way that everyone shows up for each other despite different backgrounds and cultures was so beautiful and precious - ellie's relationship with both emma and imo truly warmed my heart.
i think my favorite part of this book is what i also enjoyed in DAUGHTERS OF SHANDONG, chung's first novel -- the humanity and camaraderie in war that's rarely talked about. i loved how ellie learns and grows as she firsthand experiences the atrocities of war and documents otherwise untold stories from chinese soldiers, north korean pastors, and comfort women.
lastly, i loved reading ellie's reflections and the letters to her parents throughout the book (also emma's letters to yun hee😭). i definitely feel like she grew as a person and broadened her worldviews. i especially felt so seen as a taiwanese american myself, living between two cultures, never feeling completely one or the other. ellie's experience as an asian american woman as a correspondent in the 1950s was also something i could relate to, since the legal profession today still is predominantly white men. (i also love that chung herself is an international human rights lawyer in real life - that definitely came through in ellie's thoughts and reflections and the author's note was so informative and equally as powerful).
i don't want to spoil anything, but the ending of this book was incredible. you'll just have to read it to know what happens.
thank you Eve, for this beautifully written, heartbreaking/heartwarming, powerful story and thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC and Berkley Pub for a gifted finished copy<3
(tbh ill prob be back to add more but that's my braindump review for now lol)
May 6, 2026
Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an advance copy of this novel.
The title of this absorbing historical novel reflects what motivates the main character, a Chinese-American journalist, to bear witness to the suffering of all living things during and for generations after the Korean War (1950-51). Although Eleanor (Ellie) Chang is a fictional character, her experiences while covering the war for a major American newspaper amplify her commitment to truth-telling, both as an individual, and as a reporter of Asian heritage. Caught behind enemy lines in North Korea, Ellie is at first elated by her luck in escaping death and imprisonment. Just as her fighter plane’s crew (mostly injured soldiers) is captured after being shot down near Pyongyang, she is saved by an impecunious Korean woman who badgers the captors until they release her. The elderly North Korean woman, whom she mistakenly calls Emma after hearing her identify herself as Eomma (mother), initially thinks that Ellie is her long missing daughter. Yun-her. Along with many other young Korean women, Hun -See was forced into military sexual slavery. Her mother never gave up believing that she was alive and never stopped looking for her. Precariously hiding under her new identity with Eomma and the Pak family, a stalwart Korean Christian pastor, his wife and university student son, Ellie experiences the neverending trauma of civilian life in wartime.
The author, who is an International Affairs scholar, has done a remarkable amount of historical research from government documents. Her afterword points out that Korea is, for the Western world, ‘the forgotten war.’ Despite her own background and Asian heritage, she was startled to discover how deliberately the war was forgotten—especially considering that it had every possibility of igniting a third world war barely five years after the second. There is little taught about it to the young, belying the notion that they will remember, and reinforcing the importance of ensuring that they do.
This point is brought home by Ellie’s work after the war, when she has safely reached her family home in California. She quickly discovers that the end of hostilities effectively ends all public interest, both government and media. No newspaper wants her war stories. But she sets herself to working for the aid associations helping to resettle the dispossessed, and to account for the dead and missing. Nearly a half century after the war, in 1991, the few survivors among the so-called ‘comfort women’ finally came forward to demand an official apology from the Japanese government. No acceptable wording is devised between the Korean and Japanese government, and the acknowledgement was clinched in the entirely false claim that there is no viable evidence.
Fbelying struggles of the Koreans, divided up between the Soviet/Chinese Communists, with the Korean Liberation Army taking over the North.
Ellie is an admirable, fiercely courageous young woman who will not let the gender and race prejudices of her time prevent her from following in the footsteps of the pioneering embedded female reporters of the Second World War. But her story takes a different twist in that she lost any official standing or position with the UN (mostly American) troops on her capture, and had to appear to support and work for the enemy side to save herself, Eomma, and the Pak family.
The author writes forcefully in her clear and entirely plausible imagining of how daily life was negotiated for both civilians (on all sides) and ordinary soldiers in times of war. I could almost feel the constant fear, cold, hunger and exhaustion. Just as upsetting was how they, and Ellie too, wanted to believe what their governments told them about the proximity of total victory and a better future. How would people otherwise be persuaded to kill each other, neighbours and strangers, in great numbers?
This book tells a harrowing story, made all the more so because much of it is based on little known historical fact, and because much of it points to what has happened since and continues to happen. The trauma is embodied in future generations, and especially in women. History, she reminds us, is a chain, and ‘too often it was wrapped around women’s necks.’
The title of this absorbing historical novel reflects what motivates the main character, a Chinese-American journalist, to bear witness to the suffering of all living things during and for generations after the Korean War (1950-51). Although Eleanor (Ellie) Chang is a fictional character, her experiences while covering the war for a major American newspaper amplify her commitment to truth-telling, both as an individual, and as a reporter of Asian heritage. Caught behind enemy lines in North Korea, Ellie is at first elated by her luck in escaping death and imprisonment. Just as her fighter plane’s crew (mostly injured soldiers) is captured after being shot down near Pyongyang, she is saved by an impecunious Korean woman who badgers the captors until they release her. The elderly North Korean woman, whom she mistakenly calls Emma after hearing her identify herself as Eomma (mother), initially thinks that Ellie is her long missing daughter. Yun-her. Along with many other young Korean women, Hun -See was forced into military sexual slavery. Her mother never gave up believing that she was alive and never stopped looking for her. Precariously hiding under her new identity with Eomma and the Pak family, a stalwart Korean Christian pastor, his wife and university student son, Ellie experiences the neverending trauma of civilian life in wartime.
The author, who is an International Affairs scholar, has done a remarkable amount of historical research from government documents. Her afterword points out that Korea is, for the Western world, ‘the forgotten war.’ Despite her own background and Asian heritage, she was startled to discover how deliberately the war was forgotten—especially considering that it had every possibility of igniting a third world war barely five years after the second. There is little taught about it to the young, belying the notion that they will remember, and reinforcing the importance of ensuring that they do.
This point is brought home by Ellie’s work after the war, when she has safely reached her family home in California. She quickly discovers that the end of hostilities effectively ends all public interest, both government and media. No newspaper wants her war stories. But she sets herself to working for the aid associations helping to resettle the dispossessed, and to account for the dead and missing. Nearly a half century after the war, in 1991, the few survivors among the so-called ‘comfort women’ finally came forward to demand an official apology from the Japanese government. No acceptable wording is devised between the Korean and Japanese government, and the acknowledgement was clinched in the entirely false claim that there is no viable evidence.
Fbelying struggles of the Koreans, divided up between the Soviet/Chinese Communists, with the Korean Liberation Army taking over the North.
Ellie is an admirable, fiercely courageous young woman who will not let the gender and race prejudices of her time prevent her from following in the footsteps of the pioneering embedded female reporters of the Second World War. But her story takes a different twist in that she lost any official standing or position with the UN (mostly American) troops on her capture, and had to appear to support and work for the enemy side to save herself, Eomma, and the Pak family.
The author writes forcefully in her clear and entirely plausible imagining of how daily life was negotiated for both civilians (on all sides) and ordinary soldiers in times of war. I could almost feel the constant fear, cold, hunger and exhaustion. Just as upsetting was how they, and Ellie too, wanted to believe what their governments told them about the proximity of total victory and a better future. How would people otherwise be persuaded to kill each other, neighbours and strangers, in great numbers?
This book tells a harrowing story, made all the more so because much of it is based on little known historical fact, and because much of it points to what has happened since and continues to happen. The trauma is embodied in future generations, and especially in women. History, she reminds us, is a chain, and ‘too often it was wrapped around women’s necks.’
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.5⭐
Thank you so much to Berkley Pub & Netgalley for this eARC.
This was my first book by Eve J. Chung, and I loved it ❤️. Ellie, a Taiwanese American correspondent, finds herself trapped in enemy territory during the Korean War. The novel follows her journey to survival as she meets a woman named “Emma” and a family she encounters, the Paks.
I admit, I had little knowledge about the Korean War before starting this novel and found this so informative, devastating, and moving💔. It prompted me to reflect on the historical narratives presented when I was in school, and the extent of censorship in our lives. Chung delves into all the horrors, conflicts, sex slaves, and the threatening reality of war. The writing is engaging and thought-provoking. There were so many quotes that resonated with me. I also found myself relating to Ellie, who struggles fitting into one culture and identity.
What I love the most was all the strong women, Ellie, “Emma” and “Imo”. My heart ached for all of the pain, secrets, and sacrifices they endured. Despite it all, they didn’t lose hope for a better future. Although some characters were misunderstood, I admired the determination they each had to achieve their goals, as well as all the things they did to protect each other😔.
By the end of the book, I was incredibly emotional😭. I loved seeing Ellie’s character arc. I love that this novel presented the events of war in a nuanced manner. I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy historical fiction with themes of friendship and survival. Thank you, Eve, for crafting this poignant and powerful story❤️.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Some quotes I loved
Thank you so much to Berkley Pub & Netgalley for this eARC.
This was my first book by Eve J. Chung, and I loved it ❤️. Ellie, a Taiwanese American correspondent, finds herself trapped in enemy territory during the Korean War. The novel follows her journey to survival as she meets a woman named “Emma” and a family she encounters, the Paks.
I admit, I had little knowledge about the Korean War before starting this novel and found this so informative, devastating, and moving💔. It prompted me to reflect on the historical narratives presented when I was in school, and the extent of censorship in our lives. Chung delves into all the horrors, conflicts, sex slaves, and the threatening reality of war. The writing is engaging and thought-provoking. There were so many quotes that resonated with me. I also found myself relating to Ellie, who struggles fitting into one culture and identity.
What I love the most was all the strong women, Ellie, “Emma” and “Imo”. My heart ached for all of the pain, secrets, and sacrifices they endured. Despite it all, they didn’t lose hope for a better future. Although some characters were misunderstood, I admired the determination they each had to achieve their goals, as well as all the things they did to protect each other😔.
By the end of the book, I was incredibly emotional😭. I loved seeing Ellie’s character arc. I love that this novel presented the events of war in a nuanced manner. I highly recommend it to readers who enjoy historical fiction with themes of friendship and survival. Thank you, Eve, for crafting this poignant and powerful story❤️.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Some quotes I loved
"As a woman in this field, I always had to be brave, to work harder and smarter for every scrap and bone— never complain, and above all, never cry. I kept my fear in a box and labeled it opportunity, but it was still a slippery beast . Courage and madness were different shades of the same color…”
“Because I believe in telling the truth. And I care about democracy. In order to make the right decisions, and to vote for the right representatives, people have to know what’s happening. They deserve to have real information.”
“The human mind has its own form of censorship, to bend reality into something more palatable, bearable. There is a kinder word for such delusion: ‘hope’.”
“It takes courage to go to a new country. It’s a different kind of courage than staying to fight, but it takes strength. Immigration is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it takes courage just to persist amid the ugliness of this world.”
“[T]here was no need to be afraid of ghosts or the flesh of the dead, of missing eyes or detached limbs. They were harmless compared to the terror of living men, throughout history, with maps and pens, drawing lines across land they’d never been to and forcing them on people they did not know.”
“Love, as heavy as it was, existed in illogical and fragile places; and war, as brutal as it was, required more than food and shelter for survival.”
“Some people are better at holding on to their humanity than others. These are often the same people who can help you find yours when you think you've lost it— who remind you that a soul is like a shadow, occasionally hidden or forgotten, but never discarded.”
“History was a chain, and too often it was wrapped around women's necks. In every country, there were monuments dedicated to men who waged wars. How many had anything to honor the women who suffered through them, or survived them?"
“No matter how hard some forces try to destroy the beauty in this world, it will persist somewhere. It will survive somewhere, cutting through the dark, untouchable and incomparable. Divine. The old will die, but the young will remember.”
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you so much to Berkley Pub for the ARC!
There are books that educate you and books that move you, and then there are the rare ones that do both so completely that you finish them changed. The Young Will Remember is that kind of book.
It is 1950, the coldest winter in decades, and Taiwanese American war correspondent Ellie Chang's plane is shot down over North Korea. She emerges onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, certain she is about to die, until a woman pushes through the crowd and claims her as the lost daughter she has been searching for since the last war ended. Ellie doesn't speak a word of Korean. None of that matters. Emma takes her hand, and everything that follows flows from that single act of desperate, expansive love.
Eve J. Chung writes with a ferocity and precision that makes the frozen Korean landscape feel immediate, the danger visceral, the tenderness almost unbearable. The research underpinning this novel is enormous, from the military mechanics of the war to the minute textures of daily survival, but it never reads as research. It reads as lived experience on every page.
What sets this apart from other war novels is its refusal to deal in black and white. There are no clean lines here between enemy and ally, right and wrong, us and them. Ellie moves through the destruction wrought by her own country's military and is forced to hold that contradiction without resolving it. She collects stories from Chinese soldiers, North Korean pastors, and women who survived comfort stations, and Chung renders each of them with a humanity that the history textbooks never managed.
Reading about Ellie's experience as an Asian American woman in the 1950s, demanding respect in a profession that viewed her with suspicion and condescension, adds yet another layer. Her reflections on how easily her own life could have looked like the lives of the women around her, had her parents never emigrated from Taiwan to California, are some of the most quietly devastating passages in the book.
The relationship between Ellie and Emma, two women lost in their own ways, clinging to each other across every boundary of language and culture and history, is the beating heart of the entire novel. I was not prepared for how much I would love them both. And that ending was pure perfection!
There are books that educate you and books that move you, and then there are the rare ones that do both so completely that you finish them changed. The Young Will Remember is that kind of book.
It is 1950, the coldest winter in decades, and Taiwanese American war correspondent Ellie Chang's plane is shot down over North Korea. She emerges onto an icy field surrounded by the enemy, certain she is about to die, until a woman pushes through the crowd and claims her as the lost daughter she has been searching for since the last war ended. Ellie doesn't speak a word of Korean. None of that matters. Emma takes her hand, and everything that follows flows from that single act of desperate, expansive love.
Eve J. Chung writes with a ferocity and precision that makes the frozen Korean landscape feel immediate, the danger visceral, the tenderness almost unbearable. The research underpinning this novel is enormous, from the military mechanics of the war to the minute textures of daily survival, but it never reads as research. It reads as lived experience on every page.
What sets this apart from other war novels is its refusal to deal in black and white. There are no clean lines here between enemy and ally, right and wrong, us and them. Ellie moves through the destruction wrought by her own country's military and is forced to hold that contradiction without resolving it. She collects stories from Chinese soldiers, North Korean pastors, and women who survived comfort stations, and Chung renders each of them with a humanity that the history textbooks never managed.
"We were trying to fight Mao, but he wasn't mortal anymore. He was an ideology, and he thrived, not simply on Marxism or any other type of Communism, but on the trauma of colonialism."
Reading about Ellie's experience as an Asian American woman in the 1950s, demanding respect in a profession that viewed her with suspicion and condescension, adds yet another layer. Her reflections on how easily her own life could have looked like the lives of the women around her, had her parents never emigrated from Taiwan to California, are some of the most quietly devastating passages in the book.
"A needle mends, while a pen exposes, and the mere existence of a woman who wields the latter is a threat."
The relationship between Ellie and Emma, two women lost in their own ways, clinging to each other across every boundary of language and culture and history, is the beating heart of the entire novel. I was not prepared for how much I would love them both. And that ending was pure perfection!
"History was a chain, and too often it was wrapped around women's necks. In every country, there were monuments dedicated to men who waged wars. How many had anything to honor the women who suffered through them, or survived them?"
"Lighting a torch can be frightening, and often it is lonely, but when that fire catches, it is brilliant."
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
It’s hard to put into words just how astonishingly beautiful and powerful The Young Will Remember was to read. Eve J. Chung is a force of nature as she viscerally transports the reader into 1950s Korea across active war zones. It’s evident that this novel was an enormous undertaking, from its scope of research on the Korean War, to the attention to minute and everyday details, to vulnerable and deep reflections into humanity in the darkest of times.
In this story, we meet Taiwanese-American war correspondent Eleanor Chang. As an Asian woman, Eleanor has had to pave her own way into this profession and demand respect in a culture that eyes her with suspicion and condescension. We follow her journey into war-torn North Korea where she faces deadly threats, starvation, and the ever-present danger of hiding her true identity behind enemy lines. Along the way, she finds surprising tenderness and love among a found family, and collects stories from the people she meets— from young Chinese soldiers to North Korean pastors to women who survived sexual slavery in “comfort” stations.
Chung writes in a way where there is no black and white in a war; there is no summarizing its events with a simple history textbook paragraph. Instead, there are unending nuances in motivations, biases, and suffering on all sides. In this time of government upheavals, senseless violence, and heavy propaganda, we are led to see that the real immorality lies with the leaders who choose destruction without ever living through the devastating consequences.
“[W]ithout truth, freedom was no more than an illusion, and choice a curated platter. The greatest enemy of democracy was not Communism; it was silence and ignorance, whether willfully undertaken or enforced by law.”
The Young Will Remember is fast-paced, utterly engrossing, highly complex, and emotionally stirring. It’s about living between cultures, about forced survival, and finding active hope when there is no guarantee of how the story ends. It contains beautiful reflections on faith, resistance, and motherhood. The relationship between Ellie and Emma (Eomma) is the most precious part of this story— these characters cling to one other, and are lost in their own ways, but their relationship evolves into something strong and beautiful, defying boundaries of backgrounds and culture. Chung’s renderings of these women and their stories feel so real and tangible.
This book is a must must read for those who don’t know anything about the Korean War, and for those who think they know everything about the Korean War. Honestly, it’s a story for everyone and I would rate it all the stars if I could. Thank you, Eve J. Chung for your words and storytelling, and thank you NetGalley for this ARC.
“No matter how hard some forces try to destroy the beauty in this world, it will persist somewhere. It will survive somewhere, cutting through the dark, untouchable and incomparable. Divine. The old will die, but the young will remember.”
In this story, we meet Taiwanese-American war correspondent Eleanor Chang. As an Asian woman, Eleanor has had to pave her own way into this profession and demand respect in a culture that eyes her with suspicion and condescension. We follow her journey into war-torn North Korea where she faces deadly threats, starvation, and the ever-present danger of hiding her true identity behind enemy lines. Along the way, she finds surprising tenderness and love among a found family, and collects stories from the people she meets— from young Chinese soldiers to North Korean pastors to women who survived sexual slavery in “comfort” stations.
Chung writes in a way where there is no black and white in a war; there is no summarizing its events with a simple history textbook paragraph. Instead, there are unending nuances in motivations, biases, and suffering on all sides. In this time of government upheavals, senseless violence, and heavy propaganda, we are led to see that the real immorality lies with the leaders who choose destruction without ever living through the devastating consequences.
“[W]ithout truth, freedom was no more than an illusion, and choice a curated platter. The greatest enemy of democracy was not Communism; it was silence and ignorance, whether willfully undertaken or enforced by law.”
The Young Will Remember is fast-paced, utterly engrossing, highly complex, and emotionally stirring. It’s about living between cultures, about forced survival, and finding active hope when there is no guarantee of how the story ends. It contains beautiful reflections on faith, resistance, and motherhood. The relationship between Ellie and Emma (Eomma) is the most precious part of this story— these characters cling to one other, and are lost in their own ways, but their relationship evolves into something strong and beautiful, defying boundaries of backgrounds and culture. Chung’s renderings of these women and their stories feel so real and tangible.
This book is a must must read for those who don’t know anything about the Korean War, and for those who think they know everything about the Korean War. Honestly, it’s a story for everyone and I would rate it all the stars if I could. Thank you, Eve J. Chung for your words and storytelling, and thank you NetGalley for this ARC.
“No matter how hard some forces try to destroy the beauty in this world, it will persist somewhere. It will survive somewhere, cutting through the dark, untouchable and incomparable. Divine. The old will die, but the young will remember.”
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
5☆ | this book was everything omg. I finished this in one day, started it last night and spent basically all day today reading it. I couldn't stop reading because this book was just that good.
𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:
I absolutely loved the story, characters and writing style and will absolutely read anything else this author publishes going forward because every second of this was amazing.
I also loved seeing all the women characters in this one and how strong all of them were. Ellie, Emma and Imo were all so different but I loved seeing how each relationship they had with each other was different.
I especially loved seeing Ellie and Emma, how they stuck together despite different backgrounds and language barriers.
This book is a heavy one, which is to be expected because it's set during the Korean war but it was also so beautifully written. And I did love that despite that, the author doesn't stray away from those things, doesn't make everything all good, and it definitely shows the bad sides of war.
I loved that it isn't glamorizing war and it showed the awful and exhausting parts. And 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 what women went through. During every war, but this one particularly. How women were forced to become "comfort women" for the Japanese military.
𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:
'𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙢; 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙬."
"𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨. 𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜."
• Uhh, hello? These men should know better, it's never the woman's fault because the man can't control himself.
'𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙄 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙢 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢? 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙮, "𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢?"'
'𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙄𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 "𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤 𝙛𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙," 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚─𝙣𝙤 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙮."
'𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙨. 𝙄𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙨. 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢?'
"𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠: 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠: 𝙄 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠: 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨, 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩."
𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍:
While reading, I was really getting Divine Rivals and The Things We Leave Unfinished vibes from this book. Can't really explain why, just similar plots and because of the letters I guess. But if you loved those books I'd definitely recommend this one!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to have an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Ebook - 0🌶 - 5☆
𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:
I absolutely loved the story, characters and writing style and will absolutely read anything else this author publishes going forward because every second of this was amazing.
I also loved seeing all the women characters in this one and how strong all of them were. Ellie, Emma and Imo were all so different but I loved seeing how each relationship they had with each other was different.
I especially loved seeing Ellie and Emma, how they stuck together despite different backgrounds and language barriers.
This book is a heavy one, which is to be expected because it's set during the Korean war but it was also so beautifully written. And I did love that despite that, the author doesn't stray away from those things, doesn't make everything all good, and it definitely shows the bad sides of war.
I loved that it isn't glamorizing war and it showed the awful and exhausting parts. And 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 what women went through. During every war, but this one particularly. How women were forced to become "comfort women" for the Japanese military.
𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔:
'𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙢; 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙡𝙖𝙬."
"𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨. 𝙊𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜."
• Uhh, hello? These men should know better, it's never the woman's fault because the man can't control himself.
'𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙄 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙢 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢? 𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙮, "𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙢?"'
'𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙖𝙄𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 "𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤 𝙛𝙪𝙧𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙," 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙙𝙚─𝙣𝙤 𝙖𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙮."
'𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙨. 𝙄𝙣 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙨. 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢?'
"𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠: 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠: 𝙄 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙏𝙤 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠: 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙨, 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙩."
𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍:
While reading, I was really getting Divine Rivals and The Things We Leave Unfinished vibes from this book. Can't really explain why, just similar plots and because of the letters I guess. But if you loved those books I'd definitely recommend this one!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to have an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Ebook - 0🌶 - 5☆
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
My rating: ★★★★☆ (4.25–4.5 stars)
war 🤝 found family 🤝 “we are strangers but we will survive together”
this book???
was not what i expected.
i thought i was getting historical fiction…and i DID — but also this is grief. this is survival. this is women holding each other together in a world that keeps trying to break them.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
what i LOVED about this story was the WOMEN.
Ellie, Emma, Imo…
they’re all so different, and yet their lives get tied together in the most fragile desperate way.
like imagine your plane gets shot down you’re stranded in enemy territory and the only reason you survive… is because someone decides you’re her daughter. yeah, that premise alone already had me emotionally unstable. and the way their journey unfolds moving through war hunger fear and constant danger felt so real and human. this isn’t glamorized war. it’s cold exhausting and terrifying in a quiet constant way. Also the emotional core??
mothers.
this book is REALLY about mothers searching for their children daughters trying to find their way home and the kind of love that survives even in the worst conditions. Emma especially??? she broke me. her clinging to Ellie not because it’s true, but because she NEEDS it to be??? yeah. that hurt in a way i wasn’t ready for.
also… the themes?? this book does something i really appreciated it doesn’t make war black and white. it shows the kindness and cruelty on all sides the civilians just trying to survive and how history forgets the people who suffered the most. especially the focus on women during war being comfort women the displacement and the survival was handled with so much weight and care.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Now what didn’t fully hit me was that the pacing can feel repetitive (a lot of traveling, surviving, moving again) some sections dragged a bit in the middle and emotionally? it can feel a little distant at times instead of fully immersive like i felt the story… but i didn’t always feel completely inside it.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
overall this felt like walking through history that people don’t talk about enough, witnessing quiet acts of love in the middle of chaos and realizing survival itself is a form of resistance.
it’s not an easy read.
it’s not a light one.
but it’s important.
So if you like historical fiction focused on women’s stories and survival journeys with found family
or books that make you sit and think after you finish…this will stay with you.
My final thoughts;
i came for the historical fiction…
i left thinking about all the stories history never tells and the women who lived them anyway 💔
Huge Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this beautifully haunting story!
war 🤝 found family 🤝 “we are strangers but we will survive together”
this book???
was not what i expected.
i thought i was getting historical fiction…and i DID — but also this is grief. this is survival. this is women holding each other together in a world that keeps trying to break them.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
what i LOVED about this story was the WOMEN.
Ellie, Emma, Imo…
they’re all so different, and yet their lives get tied together in the most fragile desperate way.
like imagine your plane gets shot down you’re stranded in enemy territory and the only reason you survive… is because someone decides you’re her daughter. yeah, that premise alone already had me emotionally unstable. and the way their journey unfolds moving through war hunger fear and constant danger felt so real and human. this isn’t glamorized war. it’s cold exhausting and terrifying in a quiet constant way. Also the emotional core??
mothers.
this book is REALLY about mothers searching for their children daughters trying to find their way home and the kind of love that survives even in the worst conditions. Emma especially??? she broke me. her clinging to Ellie not because it’s true, but because she NEEDS it to be??? yeah. that hurt in a way i wasn’t ready for.
also… the themes?? this book does something i really appreciated it doesn’t make war black and white. it shows the kindness and cruelty on all sides the civilians just trying to survive and how history forgets the people who suffered the most. especially the focus on women during war being comfort women the displacement and the survival was handled with so much weight and care.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
Now what didn’t fully hit me was that the pacing can feel repetitive (a lot of traveling, surviving, moving again) some sections dragged a bit in the middle and emotionally? it can feel a little distant at times instead of fully immersive like i felt the story… but i didn’t always feel completely inside it.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
overall this felt like walking through history that people don’t talk about enough, witnessing quiet acts of love in the middle of chaos and realizing survival itself is a form of resistance.
it’s not an easy read.
it’s not a light one.
but it’s important.
So if you like historical fiction focused on women’s stories and survival journeys with found family
or books that make you sit and think after you finish…this will stay with you.
My final thoughts;
i came for the historical fiction…
i left thinking about all the stories history never tells and the women who lived them anyway 💔
Huge Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this beautifully haunting story!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I hated history lessons in school. All those years to memorize and all those empty numbers bored me to death. But I loved stories. So, as an adult, I use historical fiction to educate myself on different moments in history. It’s how I discover not just what happened, but also what has been edited, softened, or simply ignored to fit a certain narrative.
This book really triggered that curiosity in me and a good historical book has that effect. I found myself stopping to search, to read more and to be shocked by how much I didn’t know about the Korean War and Korea’s history overall.
Set in 1950, the story follows a young American female correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War. She relies on the women who help her find her way home, and the sense of female support and friendship along the way is really beautiful.
Main themes:
The author sheds light on the so-called “comfort houses,” where Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers. It’s a painful part of history that is still not widely talked about. Even the name itself is disturbing. Comfort for whom? Certainly not for the women who were forced to endure it.
Another theme that stands out is who really pays the cost of war. It’s not the people in suits deciding strategies or what cities to bomb. It’s families forced into impossible situations, sometimes even against their own.
And then there are the deaths that don’t come directly from weapons. Extreme poverty, brutal cold with no way to heat homes, and the lack of medical care. These feel just as devastating.
It raises a bigger question: is it ever worth it? So many lives lost over power and control. It’s the kind of question that feels especially relevant in the world we live in today.
Writing craft:
Finding out that the author has a background in law and women’s rights makes a lot of sense. The book often reads more like an essay than a fully immersive novel.
When it comes to character emotions and the devastation of war, the feelings are often told rather than shown. They are reported more than felt, which creates a certain distance from the story. Ultimately, this distance is what holds the book back for me and the reason I gave at 3 stars rather than higher.
Knowing the author is a lawyer going in might have set different expectations for the reading experience. That’s on me for not looking into it beforehand. For those of you reading this, trust me, having that context will likely make for a smoother reading experience.
In the end, if like me, you read historical fiction to discover more about certain moments in our history, this book is for you.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group & Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. The opinions in this review belong to me.
This book really triggered that curiosity in me and a good historical book has that effect. I found myself stopping to search, to read more and to be shocked by how much I didn’t know about the Korean War and Korea’s history overall.
Set in 1950, the story follows a young American female correspondent trapped behind enemy lines during the Korean War. She relies on the women who help her find her way home, and the sense of female support and friendship along the way is really beautiful.
Main themes:
The author sheds light on the so-called “comfort houses,” where Korean women were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers. It’s a painful part of history that is still not widely talked about. Even the name itself is disturbing. Comfort for whom? Certainly not for the women who were forced to endure it.
Another theme that stands out is who really pays the cost of war. It’s not the people in suits deciding strategies or what cities to bomb. It’s families forced into impossible situations, sometimes even against their own.
And then there are the deaths that don’t come directly from weapons. Extreme poverty, brutal cold with no way to heat homes, and the lack of medical care. These feel just as devastating.
It raises a bigger question: is it ever worth it? So many lives lost over power and control. It’s the kind of question that feels especially relevant in the world we live in today.
Writing craft:
Finding out that the author has a background in law and women’s rights makes a lot of sense. The book often reads more like an essay than a fully immersive novel.
When it comes to character emotions and the devastation of war, the feelings are often told rather than shown. They are reported more than felt, which creates a certain distance from the story. Ultimately, this distance is what holds the book back for me and the reason I gave at 3 stars rather than higher.
Knowing the author is a lawyer going in might have set different expectations for the reading experience. That’s on me for not looking into it beforehand. For those of you reading this, trust me, having that context will likely make for a smoother reading experience.
In the end, if like me, you read historical fiction to discover more about certain moments in our history, this book is for you.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group & Netgalley for providing me with an ARC. The opinions in this review belong to me.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
The Young Will Remember by Eve J. Chung, the latest novel from the author of Daughters of Shandong, is a haunting and ambitious work that blends historical fiction with moral inquiry. The story follows Ellie Chang, a Chinese American war correspondent covering the Korean War, whose professional determination leads her into peril when she secures passage on a flight into North Korea. The mission ends in catastrophe when the plane is shot down, killing the pilot and leaving Ellie certain she will not survive.
Her life is spared in an unexpected and deeply human moment: a grief-stricken woman mistakes Ellie for her long-lost daughter and claims her amid the chaos. Though the woman is tragically mistaken, she shelters Ellie and brings her to the home of a pastor and his rebellious wife, who nurse her through the injuries she sustained in the crash. This woman’s story soon emerges as one of the novel’s emotional anchors. She fears her real daughter was taken by the Japanese as a “comfort woman” and has devoted her life to searching for her while documenting the testimonies of Korean women who were raped and enslaved during the war.
The novel’s central arc traces Ellie’s arduous journey south, as she and her protector navigate bombed-out cities, hunger, and the constant threat of death. As Ellie struggles to find her way home, she also confronts a more complicated truth about war: decency, courage, and compassion exist on all sides of the conflict—a perspective that clashes with the simplified narratives promoted by the press.
Upon returning home, Ellie dedicates her life to the same mission as the woman who saved her, ensuring that the voices of comfort women are neither erased nor forgotten.
My response to the novel is ultimately mixed. While I was initially captivated by its premise and emotional gravity, the prolonged journey toward safety grew repetitive and, at times, lacked narrative tension, diminishing its impact and momentum. Nevertheless, Chung’s exploration of the suffering of comfort women, the resilience of women in wartime, and the enduring power of familial love addresses a vital and often overlooked history. Despite its flaws, The Young Will Remember remains an important and sobering read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review
Her life is spared in an unexpected and deeply human moment: a grief-stricken woman mistakes Ellie for her long-lost daughter and claims her amid the chaos. Though the woman is tragically mistaken, she shelters Ellie and brings her to the home of a pastor and his rebellious wife, who nurse her through the injuries she sustained in the crash. This woman’s story soon emerges as one of the novel’s emotional anchors. She fears her real daughter was taken by the Japanese as a “comfort woman” and has devoted her life to searching for her while documenting the testimonies of Korean women who were raped and enslaved during the war.
The novel’s central arc traces Ellie’s arduous journey south, as she and her protector navigate bombed-out cities, hunger, and the constant threat of death. As Ellie struggles to find her way home, she also confronts a more complicated truth about war: decency, courage, and compassion exist on all sides of the conflict—a perspective that clashes with the simplified narratives promoted by the press.
Upon returning home, Ellie dedicates her life to the same mission as the woman who saved her, ensuring that the voices of comfort women are neither erased nor forgotten.
My response to the novel is ultimately mixed. While I was initially captivated by its premise and emotional gravity, the prolonged journey toward safety grew repetitive and, at times, lacked narrative tension, diminishing its impact and momentum. Nevertheless, Chung’s exploration of the suffering of comfort women, the resilience of women in wartime, and the enduring power of familial love addresses a vital and often overlooked history. Despite its flaws, The Young Will Remember remains an important and sobering read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
If you love historical fiction with a focus on women's war efforts, The Young Will Remember is absolutely for you. Through Ellie's experiences, I learned an unbelievable amount about the Korean War and its effect on young women especially.
The Young Will Remember follows Ellie, an Asian American journalist in the 1950s covering the Korean War, when her plane is shot down. She's left stranded in enemy territory, until she's rescued by a woman, Emma, who has been searching for her daughter since the last war. And Ellie has to find her way back to the American stronghold, but bonds with those she encounters along the way shed a light on the true meaning and effect of the war.
I absolutely loved the variety of female characters and their resiliency. The contrast among Emma, Imo, and Ellie's personalities and reactions made for intriguing characters and relationships. And the emphasis on the strength of women during war was excellent. While I could make an educated guess as to the effect of war on Korean women, I had no idea the extent to which they were abused. The stories of comfort women were absolutely heartbreaking and so good on the author for bringing to attention to this topic.
I also enjoyed the focus on the effect of war on everyday citizens and how Ellie had to live directly through American war actions, where she experienced the destruction coming from her own country. It forced her to question what was right and wrong, and she experienced firsthand the stark difference in what the American government was telling its citizens. And I liked how the author emphasized Ellie's reflection on what it would be like for her if her parents never emigrated from Taiwan to California and how easily she could be in a war torn situation like the women around her.
In general too, I appreciated reading about Ellie's experiences as an Asian American and as an Asian American woman in the 1950s. And the ending was absolutely perfect. Such an enlightening read!
Thank you so much to Berkley Pub for sending me an ARC of The Young Will Remember. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
The Young Will Remember follows Ellie, an Asian American journalist in the 1950s covering the Korean War, when her plane is shot down. She's left stranded in enemy territory, until she's rescued by a woman, Emma, who has been searching for her daughter since the last war. And Ellie has to find her way back to the American stronghold, but bonds with those she encounters along the way shed a light on the true meaning and effect of the war.
I absolutely loved the variety of female characters and their resiliency. The contrast among Emma, Imo, and Ellie's personalities and reactions made for intriguing characters and relationships. And the emphasis on the strength of women during war was excellent. While I could make an educated guess as to the effect of war on Korean women, I had no idea the extent to which they were abused. The stories of comfort women were absolutely heartbreaking and so good on the author for bringing to attention to this topic.
I also enjoyed the focus on the effect of war on everyday citizens and how Ellie had to live directly through American war actions, where she experienced the destruction coming from her own country. It forced her to question what was right and wrong, and she experienced firsthand the stark difference in what the American government was telling its citizens. And I liked how the author emphasized Ellie's reflection on what it would be like for her if her parents never emigrated from Taiwan to California and how easily she could be in a war torn situation like the women around her.
In general too, I appreciated reading about Ellie's experiences as an Asian American and as an Asian American woman in the 1950s. And the ending was absolutely perfect. Such an enlightening read!
Thank you so much to Berkley Pub for sending me an ARC of The Young Will Remember. As always, my reviews are one hundred percent voluntary and all opinions are my own :)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"And I congratulated the dead who had already died rather than the living who were still alive. And better off than both of them is the one who has not yet been born, who has not seen the distressing deeds that are done under the sun."-- Ecclesiastes 4:2.3.
Thanks Netgalley for the early read.
After a terrible plane crash, Ellie becomes trapped in North Korea during a war. I read and enjoyed Daughters of Shandong so when this book crossed my path I was eager to read it. The opening did not grab me the way Daughters did but after a few more chapters the story picks up and the characters become more interesting. Ellie meets a Korean mother who she calls Emma, a pastor, his wife Imo, and their son. There is also talk of Emma’s daughter Yun-Hee. This girl went missing at fourteen after being drafted for factory work which Ellie suspects is something worse. At first I did not like the main character that much, but she grew on me.
The story has many sad surprises as you come to know each character more and more. I found myself hoping for those that were lost to be found. There are some rather gruesome moments in the book that one might wish to avoid if you do not like war violence or violence towards women. Only one of these death scenes is explicit and it happens early on in the book. There is also an aftermath description of something bad that happened to a young woman and how rocks were stuffed in her mouth. There are many descriptions of dead and dying people and their injuries. Please, keep this in mind if you decide to read this book. Other things are heavily implied but not written with such detail. Overall the story is very very sad and gut punching, but it gives a look into a side of a war that is not often shown.
As a side point it is interesting to know that this story begins in the 1950s and ends in 2019. Just stop and think of all the terrible atrocities that have been committed between there and then.
Thanks Netgalley for the early read.
After a terrible plane crash, Ellie becomes trapped in North Korea during a war. I read and enjoyed Daughters of Shandong so when this book crossed my path I was eager to read it. The opening did not grab me the way Daughters did but after a few more chapters the story picks up and the characters become more interesting. Ellie meets a Korean mother who she calls Emma, a pastor, his wife Imo, and their son. There is also talk of Emma’s daughter Yun-Hee. This girl went missing at fourteen after being drafted for factory work which Ellie suspects is something worse. At first I did not like the main character that much, but she grew on me.
The story has many sad surprises as you come to know each character more and more. I found myself hoping for those that were lost to be found. There are some rather gruesome moments in the book that one might wish to avoid if you do not like war violence or violence towards women. Only one of these death scenes is explicit and it happens early on in the book. There is also an aftermath description of something bad that happened to a young woman and how rocks were stuffed in her mouth. There are many descriptions of dead and dying people and their injuries. Please, keep this in mind if you decide to read this book. Other things are heavily implied but not written with such detail. Overall the story is very very sad and gut punching, but it gives a look into a side of a war that is not often shown.
As a side point it is interesting to know that this story begins in the 1950s and ends in 2019. Just stop and think of all the terrible atrocities that have been committed between there and then.
May 8, 2026
After really enjoying the author's debut I had high expectations for this one and she completely delivered. The story is set during the Korean War and follows a Chinese American journalist named Ellie who gets stranded behind enemy lines. It is a high stakes survival story that also manages to be a deeply emotional exploration of family and identity.
The way the author handles the concept of the identity trap is brilliant. Ellie has to pretend to be the long lost daughter of an elderly Korean woman to stay alive which creates so much tension. Since she is ethnically Chinese she is technically seen as an ally by the North but she is also an American citizen.
This creates a constant sense of danger where one wrong word could lead to her execution. I found the psychological aspect of her blending in while feeling like a complete outsider to be the most compelling part of the book.
The historical research is incredibly thorough and adds so much weight to the narrative. It tackles very heavy topics like the legacy of comfort women and the devastating impact of air raids on civilians without feeling like a history lecture.
The relationship between Ellie and Emma was the heart of the story for me. Even though their bond starts with a lie it evolves into a beautiful representation of found family and shared resilience. It is rare to find a war novel that focuses so heavily on the female perspective and the civilian cost of conflict.
This is easily a five star read and one of the best books I have picked up this year. The ending was bittersweet but it felt honest to the reality of the era and the characters. It left me thinking a lot about the themes of memory and how the younger generation carries the scars of the past. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction that is both fast paced and intellectually stimulating. It is a powerful story that I will probably be talking about for a long time.
The way the author handles the concept of the identity trap is brilliant. Ellie has to pretend to be the long lost daughter of an elderly Korean woman to stay alive which creates so much tension. Since she is ethnically Chinese she is technically seen as an ally by the North but she is also an American citizen.
This creates a constant sense of danger where one wrong word could lead to her execution. I found the psychological aspect of her blending in while feeling like a complete outsider to be the most compelling part of the book.
The historical research is incredibly thorough and adds so much weight to the narrative. It tackles very heavy topics like the legacy of comfort women and the devastating impact of air raids on civilians without feeling like a history lecture.
The relationship between Ellie and Emma was the heart of the story for me. Even though their bond starts with a lie it evolves into a beautiful representation of found family and shared resilience. It is rare to find a war novel that focuses so heavily on the female perspective and the civilian cost of conflict.
This is easily a five star read and one of the best books I have picked up this year. The ending was bittersweet but it felt honest to the reality of the era and the characters. It left me thinking a lot about the themes of memory and how the younger generation carries the scars of the past. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction that is both fast paced and intellectually stimulating. It is a powerful story that I will probably be talking about for a long time.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This historical novel about a fictional Chinese-American journalist, Ellie Chung, who becomes trapped behind enemy lines early in the Korean War after her plane is shot down near the Chosin Reservoir is also a story about the history of the Japanese occupation of Korea in the first half of the 20th century. Ellie is rescued from Chinese soldiers fighting for North Korea by Emma, a woman who initially thinks Ellie is her own daughter, who was, at age fourteen, taken by the Japanese toward the end of WWII as a sex slave in one of the Japanese “comfort stations.”
The resiliency of the characters in this novel, particularly the women, was remarkable—and totally credible. All of the main characters were beautifully rendered, with story lines that perfectly matched the personalities that Ms. Chung expertly gave them. I only recently learned about the Korean “comfort women” in another ARC, Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han, and I was glad that this novel did not dwell in the horrors associated therewith, even though the fact of that horrific practice was a central part of Emma’s story.
Ellie’s saga, as she tries to make her way at least to the 38th Parallel, while helping the new friends that saved her, is a compelling read, particularly as the United States carries out its almost nightly bombing raids on North Korean villages where she has been hiding as she makes her way south.
Having read and loved Ms. Chung’s debut novel, Daughters of Shandong, I was very much looking forward to this book. It did not disappoint. As the daughter of a veteran of the Korean War, I was happy to get a small glimpse of what it was like during that “police action;” my dad never spoke about his time in Korea. For people who are interest in learning about the Korean War, particularly its impact on the people who lived there generally and women specifically, I highly recommend this novel, which has the candor of a memoir and the lyrical prose of a classic.
Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Ms. Chung, for providing me with an ARC of this book, due to be released on May 5, 2026.
The resiliency of the characters in this novel, particularly the women, was remarkable—and totally credible. All of the main characters were beautifully rendered, with story lines that perfectly matched the personalities that Ms. Chung expertly gave them. I only recently learned about the Korean “comfort women” in another ARC, Honey in the Wound by Jiyoung Han, and I was glad that this novel did not dwell in the horrors associated therewith, even though the fact of that horrific practice was a central part of Emma’s story.
Ellie’s saga, as she tries to make her way at least to the 38th Parallel, while helping the new friends that saved her, is a compelling read, particularly as the United States carries out its almost nightly bombing raids on North Korean villages where she has been hiding as she makes her way south.
Having read and loved Ms. Chung’s debut novel, Daughters of Shandong, I was very much looking forward to this book. It did not disappoint. As the daughter of a veteran of the Korean War, I was happy to get a small glimpse of what it was like during that “police action;” my dad never spoke about his time in Korea. For people who are interest in learning about the Korean War, particularly its impact on the people who lived there generally and women specifically, I highly recommend this novel, which has the candor of a memoir and the lyrical prose of a classic.
Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Ms. Chung, for providing me with an ARC of this book, due to be released on May 5, 2026.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Thank you @berkleypub and @prhaudio for my complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
PLOT OVERVIEW: Set against the backdrop of the Korean War, this is the fictional story of Chinese-American journalist Ellie Chung, whose life takes a harrowing turn when her plane is shot down behind enemy lines. Stranded and vulnerable, she finds an unexpected ally in Emma, a Korean woman who claims Ellie is her long-lost daughter, Yun-Hee, taken by the Japanese during the war.
MY THOUGHTS: This book is one of the most moving reads I've encountered in a long time, leaving a profound impact that’s hard to capture in words. Though fictional, the story weaves together the real experiences of countless individuals who were affected by the Korean War.
The narrative unfolds through Ellie’s perspective as she navigates the treacherous landscape of survival amidst bombings, starvation, and unsanitary conditions, while relying on the generosity of strangers. Emma’s relentless quest to find her daughter drives the plot, and Ellie grows to love her and vows to help in the search. Each chapter is prefaced with poignant letters or excerpts from war communications, providing historical context. The author does an exceptional job detailing the trials of the daily fight for survival.
This book shines a light on the tragic fate of many young Korean girls who were taken as sex slaves by the Japanese. I couldn’t put this book down and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning history through powerful storytelling.
I really enjoyed both the audio and digital versions and regularly switched between them. I liked seeing many of the unfamiliar Korean words and settings in print, but the audio really brought the story to life.
PLOT OVERVIEW: Set against the backdrop of the Korean War, this is the fictional story of Chinese-American journalist Ellie Chung, whose life takes a harrowing turn when her plane is shot down behind enemy lines. Stranded and vulnerable, she finds an unexpected ally in Emma, a Korean woman who claims Ellie is her long-lost daughter, Yun-Hee, taken by the Japanese during the war.
MY THOUGHTS: This book is one of the most moving reads I've encountered in a long time, leaving a profound impact that’s hard to capture in words. Though fictional, the story weaves together the real experiences of countless individuals who were affected by the Korean War.
The narrative unfolds through Ellie’s perspective as she navigates the treacherous landscape of survival amidst bombings, starvation, and unsanitary conditions, while relying on the generosity of strangers. Emma’s relentless quest to find her daughter drives the plot, and Ellie grows to love her and vows to help in the search. Each chapter is prefaced with poignant letters or excerpts from war communications, providing historical context. The author does an exceptional job detailing the trials of the daily fight for survival.
This book shines a light on the tragic fate of many young Korean girls who were taken as sex slaves by the Japanese. I couldn’t put this book down and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys learning history through powerful storytelling.
I really enjoyed both the audio and digital versions and regularly switched between them. I liked seeing many of the unfamiliar Korean words and settings in print, but the audio really brought the story to life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews