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The Devoted
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In this emotionally transportive literary debut about family and fate, a young Korean woman whose father is a leader in an infamous crime organization becomes entrenched in the dangerous world she once sought to escape.
Raised in Hong Kong by their Korean grandmother in a quiet village, Eunha and her brother Solomon live a sheltered life. Their father is a Dragon Head, a leader within the infamous criminal organization of the Triads. While their beloved grandmother does her best to shield the children from the constant hum of violence and fear that surrounds their father and his world, Eunha only has Solomon and their one permitted companion, a boy named Kai, for company.
But as Eunha grows up and marries into a supposedly respectable Hong Kong family, the veneer of her careful life begins to crack. When her young son is kidnapped, she is cast into the city’s criminal underground and back into the orbit of Kai, now a Dragon Head himself.
Will Eunha finally give in to the life she has strived so hard to rise above or was her future always fated?
The Devoted is at once a sweeping family drama, a moving account of forbidden love, and a story about a woman’s determination to choose her own destiny.
Raised in Hong Kong by their Korean grandmother in a quiet village, Eunha and her brother Solomon live a sheltered life. Their father is a Dragon Head, a leader within the infamous criminal organization of the Triads. While their beloved grandmother does her best to shield the children from the constant hum of violence and fear that surrounds their father and his world, Eunha only has Solomon and their one permitted companion, a boy named Kai, for company.
But as Eunha grows up and marries into a supposedly respectable Hong Kong family, the veneer of her careful life begins to crack. When her young son is kidnapped, she is cast into the city’s criminal underground and back into the orbit of Kai, now a Dragon Head himself.
Will Eunha finally give in to the life she has strived so hard to rise above or was her future always fated?
The Devoted is at once a sweeping family drama, a moving account of forbidden love, and a story about a woman’s determination to choose her own destiny.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2026
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July 10, 2026if i had to choose whether to give in to a life of crime or enjoy a normal existence with my family, i'd probably go with the latter
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Oh boy… this one is a bit of a mixed bag for me.
The story itself isn’t bad at all. It’s actually quite a sad and emotional one, centered around family, loss and the long shadow of a life tied to a criminal organization.
We follow Eunha, whose father is a Dragon Head in the Triads, and we see her life unfold through both past and present timelines. I did like that structure, it gave a fuller picture of her upbringing and how everything connects.
But… I kept waiting for something more to happen.
The first chapters were fine, and I thought we were building toward something intense, but the story stays very linear and just follows Eunha’s perspective as she tells her story. It felt more like being told what happened rather than experiencing it.
I think part of it is also expectations. I went in thinking this would have more suspense or thriller elements, but it leans much more toward literary fiction and character driven storytelling.
There were moments that caught my attention, especially toward the last 10% when things finally started to come together, and I’ll admit that part had me more engaged.
Also… Kai… yeah... dude, I had a bit of hope. HAD -.-. That’s all I’m saying...
Overall, not a bad book at all, just not what I was expecting, and it didn’t fully work for me.
⭐ 3.5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.
The story itself isn’t bad at all. It’s actually quite a sad and emotional one, centered around family, loss and the long shadow of a life tied to a criminal organization.
We follow Eunha, whose father is a Dragon Head in the Triads, and we see her life unfold through both past and present timelines. I did like that structure, it gave a fuller picture of her upbringing and how everything connects.
But… I kept waiting for something more to happen.
The first chapters were fine, and I thought we were building toward something intense, but the story stays very linear and just follows Eunha’s perspective as she tells her story. It felt more like being told what happened rather than experiencing it.
I think part of it is also expectations. I went in thinking this would have more suspense or thriller elements, but it leans much more toward literary fiction and character driven storytelling.
There were moments that caught my attention, especially toward the last 10% when things finally started to come together, and I’ll admit that part had me more engaged.
Also… Kai… yeah... dude, I had a bit of hope. HAD -.-. That’s all I’m saying...
Overall, not a bad book at all, just not what I was expecting, and it didn’t fully work for me.
⭐ 3.5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.
May 26, 2026
The Devoted by Catherine Cho is definitely a cross between 3.5 and 4 stars. I'm leaning more towards 3.5.
What is interesting is that this book is about a daughter raised by a family who are a part of the Triads. I was expecting more intrigue, maybe a little violence, perhaps a little deeper dive into the modern day mafia of sorts. There are various mentions of families who make millions of things the West take for granted in their Amazon prime deliveries - curtain hooks, super glue, you get the idea. These are not just sweat shops, these are underground organizations who will hurt each other to ensure they're the ones making the most profit.
Instead, The Devoted is a very lush, slow book about Eunha, who is Korean and raised in Hong Kong. I'm not sure why Cho actually chose this approach. It didn't affect the storyline to have her not be Chinese. Regardless, I found the story slow, detached, and many times slightly bored with what could have been happening.
It's a story about being a mother, loving the wrong people, falling into a trap you can't get out. The Devoted is incredibly melancholic, dreary, and I wished there was more ooomph in the overall descriptions of Hong Kong.
Catherine Cho is a well written writer, and I do want to see what she writes next. Just wish this book kept me slightly more enthused.
What is interesting is that this book is about a daughter raised by a family who are a part of the Triads. I was expecting more intrigue, maybe a little violence, perhaps a little deeper dive into the modern day mafia of sorts. There are various mentions of families who make millions of things the West take for granted in their Amazon prime deliveries - curtain hooks, super glue, you get the idea. These are not just sweat shops, these are underground organizations who will hurt each other to ensure they're the ones making the most profit.
Instead, The Devoted is a very lush, slow book about Eunha, who is Korean and raised in Hong Kong. I'm not sure why Cho actually chose this approach. It didn't affect the storyline to have her not be Chinese. Regardless, I found the story slow, detached, and many times slightly bored with what could have been happening.
It's a story about being a mother, loving the wrong people, falling into a trap you can't get out. The Devoted is incredibly melancholic, dreary, and I wished there was more ooomph in the overall descriptions of Hong Kong.
Catherine Cho is a well written writer, and I do want to see what she writes next. Just wish this book kept me slightly more enthused.
Did Not Finish
July 6, 2026DNF @ 69%
I came for the Mystery/Thriller aspects (the publisher's page also lists this as Crime), but this was more Women's Fiction than anything. So just a heads up if you were looking for something in the Mystery/Thriller/Crime genres.
The writing style is lyrical yet easy to read and that kept me going. I also liked that the characters were Korean immigrants living in Hong Kong. It was a unique POV that I haven't read before.
But other than that, this was a really slow novel. I stopped at more than halfway through the novel and I was still waiting for Eunha to actually get involved with the actual criminal underground. Most of this novel is Women's Fiction, focusing mainly on Eunha's life from her childhood to her arranged marriage to her yearning for "the one who got away" to her current life as a mother who has lost custody of her son.
Everything crime-related was relegated to the periphery of Eunha's life, which didn't make for an interesting read. A lot of the circumstances in her life was due to her father and brother's involvement with the criminal underground, but those weren't really shown on page. Anything exciting happened off-screen, so we're dealt with Eunha literally just living her life in Hong Kong.
Maybe Eunha actually gets involved with the criminals in the last 30% of the novel, but unfortunately, I didn't care enough to find out. Other than her son's kidnapping, nothing exciting really happened.
Thank you to Washington Square Press and NetGalley for this arc.
I came for the Mystery/Thriller aspects (the publisher's page also lists this as Crime), but this was more Women's Fiction than anything. So just a heads up if you were looking for something in the Mystery/Thriller/Crime genres.
The writing style is lyrical yet easy to read and that kept me going. I also liked that the characters were Korean immigrants living in Hong Kong. It was a unique POV that I haven't read before.
But other than that, this was a really slow novel. I stopped at more than halfway through the novel and I was still waiting for Eunha to actually get involved with the actual criminal underground. Most of this novel is Women's Fiction, focusing mainly on Eunha's life from her childhood to her arranged marriage to her yearning for "the one who got away" to her current life as a mother who has lost custody of her son.
Everything crime-related was relegated to the periphery of Eunha's life, which didn't make for an interesting read. A lot of the circumstances in her life was due to her father and brother's involvement with the criminal underground, but those weren't really shown on page. Anything exciting happened off-screen, so we're dealt with Eunha literally just living her life in Hong Kong.
Maybe Eunha actually gets involved with the criminals in the last 30% of the novel, but unfortunately, I didn't care enough to find out. Other than her son's kidnapping, nothing exciting really happened.
Thank you to Washington Square Press and NetGalley for this arc.
2026
February 2, 2026ANHPI TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Washington Square Press
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Washington Square Press
July 13, 2026
The Devoted reminded me why I love fiction and those moments when a story mirrors parts your own life. Catherine Cho weaves between past and present of Eunha and follows her through sibling loyalty, trauma bonding, betrayal, and the strength. Cho and taps into something universal as the reader feels Eunha's loneliness, her simmering anger, and the drive for revenge that shapes her choices. The pacing starts fast, slows in the middle but finishes with intensity. I would recommend it for anyone who appreciates a character-driven story.
ARC provided by Washington Square Press/Atria via Edelweiss. Opinions and thoughts are my own."
ARC provided by Washington Square Press/Atria via Edelweiss. Opinions and thoughts are my own."
June 29, 2026
Thank you to Washington Square Press, Atria Books, and NetGalley for an eARC to read and review before publishing.
The Devoted by Catherine Cho is one that I wanted to love more than I did. It is definitely a strong debut and one I will recommend; however, I do wish some elements of the story had been more developed.
I do love that this story is primarily about Eunha and her growth as a character and person. As a woman who has always made herself smaller to fit into the life around her, Eunha is thrust onto a journey of self-discovery and embracing her power by events that are completely out of her control. Because of this, she shrinks further into herself before she is able to find the means and strength to do what must be done. The pay off is worth it in the end.
The element that was missing for me was the deep exploration of why it was so hard for Eunha and her family being Korean in Hong Kong. This aspect of her childhood and adult life was mentioned several times; however, I feel it was a missed opportunity to explain the significance of this further. I wanted more of Eunha's culture, especially the allusions to the elements of wind and embracing that wildness of nature. I also wanted more exploration of the lore of the Dragons: how they came to be, what made them so powerful, etc. I understand that this was a subplot; yet, it was a subplot that propelled most of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed The Devoted by Catherine Cho, and I do recommend it for those of you that are looking for a story of a woman stepping into her power and facing the challenges in life that are inherent to being a woman.
The Devoted by Catherine Cho is one that I wanted to love more than I did. It is definitely a strong debut and one I will recommend; however, I do wish some elements of the story had been more developed.
I do love that this story is primarily about Eunha and her growth as a character and person. As a woman who has always made herself smaller to fit into the life around her, Eunha is thrust onto a journey of self-discovery and embracing her power by events that are completely out of her control. Because of this, she shrinks further into herself before she is able to find the means and strength to do what must be done. The pay off is worth it in the end.
The element that was missing for me was the deep exploration of why it was so hard for Eunha and her family being Korean in Hong Kong. This aspect of her childhood and adult life was mentioned several times; however, I feel it was a missed opportunity to explain the significance of this further. I wanted more of Eunha's culture, especially the allusions to the elements of wind and embracing that wildness of nature. I also wanted more exploration of the lore of the Dragons: how they came to be, what made them so powerful, etc. I understand that this was a subplot; yet, it was a subplot that propelled most of the story.
Overall, I enjoyed The Devoted by Catherine Cho, and I do recommend it for those of you that are looking for a story of a woman stepping into her power and facing the challenges in life that are inherent to being a woman.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Atria Books via NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
3.5 stars - This book was sad. The story follows Eunha, a Korean woman raised by her grandmother alongside her brother Solomon. Their lives are shaped by complex consequences stemming from their father being a well-known leader in a criminal organization. The novel highlights the family obligation, sacrifices, and the emotional loneliness that comes with being part of a criminally connected family. The author effectively captures the complexity of human nature - showing that people are not purely good or bad. Their actions don't always align with their values and can be shaped by other powerful forces such as cultural expectations, family duties and long-held secrets. I felt for Solomon and would love to have seen more of his character. The pacing was slow and picked up at the end, and overall it was an interesting and thought-provoking read.
3.5 stars - This book was sad. The story follows Eunha, a Korean woman raised by her grandmother alongside her brother Solomon. Their lives are shaped by complex consequences stemming from their father being a well-known leader in a criminal organization. The novel highlights the family obligation, sacrifices, and the emotional loneliness that comes with being part of a criminally connected family. The author effectively captures the complexity of human nature - showing that people are not purely good or bad. Their actions don't always align with their values and can be shaped by other powerful forces such as cultural expectations, family duties and long-held secrets. I felt for Solomon and would love to have seen more of his character. The pacing was slow and picked up at the end, and overall it was an interesting and thought-provoking read.
Want to Read
June 7, 2026Can you be haunted by a book? If so, that's definitely me and Catherine Cho's memoir Inferno: A Memoir of Motherhood and Madness. So when I heard she was releasing a novel that has something to do with organized crime in Hong Kong, I couldn't add it to my TBR fast enough.
Click here to hear more about this book and my other anticipated releases of the upcoming quarter over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
Click here to hear more about this book and my other anticipated releases of the upcoming quarter over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
February 24, 2026
Okay so I read The Devoted a couple weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to sit down and actually write this because it deserves it.This story follows Eunha a young Korean woman raised in Hong Kong by her grandmother far away from her father’s violent world. Her father is a Dragon Head in the Triads and even though her grandmother does everything she can to shield Eunha and her brother Solomon from that life it’s always there in the background. Eunha grows up marries into what seems like a respectable Hong Kong family and tries to build something clean and separate from her past. But when her son is kidnapped she’s pulled straight back into the criminal underworld and back into the orbit of Kai her childhood friend who is now a Dragon Head himself. From there it becomes this intense story about family, loyalty, fate, forbidden love, and whether you can ever truly escape the blood you were born into.I read this around the same time I was reading Jade City and apparently I was just fully in my Chinese mafia era because I ate this up. I loved that it had that same criminal dynasty energy, the power struggles, the honor and violence, but it felt way more intimate and emotional. And the jade dragon theme was everythingggg I was Obsessed. Halfway through I genuinely thought this was going to land at a solid four stars for me. I was invested, I liked the writing, the tension was building but then the ending hit. The character development, especially for Eunha, completely sealed it. Watching her step into her own power and make choices instead of just reacting to the men and the world around her!?That’s what bumped it to five stars. It turned from a good crime family drama into something that actually felt powerfully personal.
Also I am still not over Kai. That’s all I’ll say.I’m honestly so happy I randomly got approved for this on NetGalley because it ended up being one of those surprise favorites. If you loved Jade City and want something with organized crime, complicated family loyalty, and emotional stakes I highly recommend.
Also I am still not over Kai. That’s all I’ll say.I’m honestly so happy I randomly got approved for this on NetGalley because it ended up being one of those surprise favorites. If you loved Jade City and want something with organized crime, complicated family loyalty, and emotional stakes I highly recommend.
July 12, 2026
This mafia story fell pretty flat, but was a very quick read nevertheless.
Main character Eunha is the daughter and sister of Hong Kong based Triad bosses; she married into “regular” society and the story kicks off when her son is kidnapped due to the underworld entanglements of her family. Don’t expect much mafia action though - Eunha grows up completely sheltered and goes through life with blinkers on, so she seems to know less about the Triads than literally any other person on the street who either has access to the internet or, like, simply lives in HK.
I won’t go into too much detail about the plot so I don’t spoiler the entire thing, but basically, the problem with this book is that the main character is completely passive (and I don’t mean in a “intentionally kept passive for cultural reasons” way), she’s a NPC in her own life. I would say she’s very stupid, but I actually think this purely down to a quirk of the writing. It reminded me a ton of another debut I read this year, The Poet Empress; very different obviously in terms of genre and plot etc, but in that both books are written in first person but you’re never actually inside the protagonist’s head, leading to a completely detached reading experience. It’s all tell, tell, tell. You aren’t shown anything, you don’t feel anything, you never get the sense the protagonist has a single thought in their brain. So they end up seeming dumb, but it’s actually just faulty narration. I know BookTok for some reason can only read novels written in first person, so maybe that’s why these authors are doing it, but these are third person objective narrations (I almost said third person limited but you’re aren’t actually privy to the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings), pressed into a first person format, which changes the entire way you experience the story.
It was very easy to read and it was entertaining enough even if due to this faulty narration style none of the actions of the main character made a lick of sense, but the plot itself would’ve had a lot more potential with some changes to the writing style (or tbh I could just say the writing wasn’t very good, but you know. Debut.).
Main character Eunha is the daughter and sister of Hong Kong based Triad bosses; she married into “regular” society and the story kicks off when her son is kidnapped due to the underworld entanglements of her family. Don’t expect much mafia action though - Eunha grows up completely sheltered and goes through life with blinkers on, so she seems to know less about the Triads than literally any other person on the street who either has access to the internet or, like, simply lives in HK.
I won’t go into too much detail about the plot so I don’t spoiler the entire thing, but basically, the problem with this book is that the main character is completely passive (and I don’t mean in a “intentionally kept passive for cultural reasons” way), she’s a NPC in her own life. I would say she’s very stupid, but I actually think this purely down to a quirk of the writing. It reminded me a ton of another debut I read this year, The Poet Empress; very different obviously in terms of genre and plot etc, but in that both books are written in first person but you’re never actually inside the protagonist’s head, leading to a completely detached reading experience. It’s all tell, tell, tell. You aren’t shown anything, you don’t feel anything, you never get the sense the protagonist has a single thought in their brain. So they end up seeming dumb, but it’s actually just faulty narration. I know BookTok for some reason can only read novels written in first person, so maybe that’s why these authors are doing it, but these are third person objective narrations (I almost said third person limited but you’re aren’t actually privy to the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings), pressed into a first person format, which changes the entire way you experience the story.
It was very easy to read and it was entertaining enough even if due to this faulty narration style none of the actions of the main character made a lick of sense, but the plot itself would’ve had a lot more potential with some changes to the writing style (or tbh I could just say the writing wasn’t very good, but you know. Debut.).
July 12, 2026
The pacing was slower at the start and picked up in the last 40%, but overall I found this to be an interesting and thought provoking read. I appreciated the multigenerational family story, and exploration of other cultures (in this case, Koreans living in China).
The story follows Eunha and Solomon, siblings whose lives are shaped by their father’s involvement in a criminal organization. The story leans into the theme of is your life is your own, or is it set out long before you’re even aware of it? It’s dual timeline as well. There is also a lot of blurring the lines of who is good and who is bad, who you want to connect and who you don’t. It had me questioning a lot how to feel when people make decisions for the people they care about. They might think it’s the best option, even if it causes harm.
The author had a lot of complex characters and emotions to balance, and it was done brilliantly. Catherine writes with such detail and emotion that I was drawn to keep reading, even if I didn’t always connect with the story.
I received this ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
The story follows Eunha and Solomon, siblings whose lives are shaped by their father’s involvement in a criminal organization. The story leans into the theme of is your life is your own, or is it set out long before you’re even aware of it? It’s dual timeline as well. There is also a lot of blurring the lines of who is good and who is bad, who you want to connect and who you don’t. It had me questioning a lot how to feel when people make decisions for the people they care about. They might think it’s the best option, even if it causes harm.
The author had a lot of complex characters and emotions to balance, and it was done brilliantly. Catherine writes with such detail and emotion that I was drawn to keep reading, even if I didn’t always connect with the story.
I received this ARC from Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
June 22, 2026
An exceptional debut. I felt physically heartbroken at multiple points.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: July 14, 2026
“The Devoted: A Novel” by Catherine Cho is the story of a Korean woman who becomes entrenched in the crime organization she so desperately wanted to avoid. Heartbreaking, powerful and electric, “The Devoted: A Novel” is a tribute to motherhood and family, a tale of power, feminism and an examination of faith and destiny.
Eunha grew up with her beloved brother, Solomon, raised by their grandmother in a quiet and traditional Korean village. Eunha’s mother passed away and she saw her father only rarely, although she knew enough as a child to know her father was the head of a very powerful crime syndicate known as The Triads. Solomon’s destiny was to take over as the “Dragon Head” but the only thing Eunha’s grandmother wanted for her was to avoid the same fate that she and her daughter had suffered, marrying into the dangerous crime family. When Eunha becomes an adult, she starts to look back on the choices she has made and begins to question if her choices were really hers at all.
“The Devoted: A Novel” has alternating chapters, ones that take place during present day for Eunha and ones that tell the story of her past, growing up with her grandmother and brother in her father’s very imposing shadow. Told this way, readers can examine how Eunha’s adult life is heavily influenced by her childhood and how her choices were swayed by the others in her life.
Eunha is a devoted mother, dedicated sister and dutiful daughter, providing for all the men around her at her own expense. Although the story takes place on the other side of the world, women everywhere will connect with Eunha, trying to keep up with society’s expectations without losing the woman she is.
“Devoted” is character driven and full of emotional intrigue and drama. It is a quiet tale of feminist revenge and rage, a group of unsuspecting women who gather together to seek justice against the men who society gave power and influence to, who have been deemed ‘untouchable’.
Cho’s story is emotional, evoking all of the feels, from sadness to joy, from anger to redemption and relief. As the novel comes to a close and Eunha comes into her own, the ending delivers complete satisfaction as Eunha finally gets what she deserves, as do the men who took everything from her.
“The Devoted: A Novel” is quiet, unassuming and reluctant, like its protagonist, but it will leave an impression. Cho has created a powerful story worth telling.
Expected publication date: July 14, 2026
“The Devoted: A Novel” by Catherine Cho is the story of a Korean woman who becomes entrenched in the crime organization she so desperately wanted to avoid. Heartbreaking, powerful and electric, “The Devoted: A Novel” is a tribute to motherhood and family, a tale of power, feminism and an examination of faith and destiny.
Eunha grew up with her beloved brother, Solomon, raised by their grandmother in a quiet and traditional Korean village. Eunha’s mother passed away and she saw her father only rarely, although she knew enough as a child to know her father was the head of a very powerful crime syndicate known as The Triads. Solomon’s destiny was to take over as the “Dragon Head” but the only thing Eunha’s grandmother wanted for her was to avoid the same fate that she and her daughter had suffered, marrying into the dangerous crime family. When Eunha becomes an adult, she starts to look back on the choices she has made and begins to question if her choices were really hers at all.
“The Devoted: A Novel” has alternating chapters, ones that take place during present day for Eunha and ones that tell the story of her past, growing up with her grandmother and brother in her father’s very imposing shadow. Told this way, readers can examine how Eunha’s adult life is heavily influenced by her childhood and how her choices were swayed by the others in her life.
Eunha is a devoted mother, dedicated sister and dutiful daughter, providing for all the men around her at her own expense. Although the story takes place on the other side of the world, women everywhere will connect with Eunha, trying to keep up with society’s expectations without losing the woman she is.
“Devoted” is character driven and full of emotional intrigue and drama. It is a quiet tale of feminist revenge and rage, a group of unsuspecting women who gather together to seek justice against the men who society gave power and influence to, who have been deemed ‘untouchable’.
Cho’s story is emotional, evoking all of the feels, from sadness to joy, from anger to redemption and relief. As the novel comes to a close and Eunha comes into her own, the ending delivers complete satisfaction as Eunha finally gets what she deserves, as do the men who took everything from her.
“The Devoted: A Novel” is quiet, unassuming and reluctant, like its protagonist, but it will leave an impression. Cho has created a powerful story worth telling.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book was so full of nostalgia for me because I used to live in Hong Kong. I really enjoyed the realism Cho brought to the city and its many odd groups of inhabitants. The little details about helpers and how Triads have largely become quasi-legitimate businessmen, the atmosphere of cha chaan tengs and sketchy cheap apartment buildings, the hollow superficiality of the tai tai life, it was all so incredibly accurate and made me feel like I was right back there. I can see how people who haven't lived in Hong Kong might fail to connect with this setting, though, because Cho doesn't describe or explain a lot of these details, but rather speaks to the readers as if they, too, inhabit this world and know not only what all these terms mean, but also the undercurrents of what they tacitly imply.
The story started out a little slow - Eunha for the first half of the book is very passive, just letting life and her strong-willed family buffet her around. She does make a number of very consequential proactive decisions that drive the plot forward, however. But because the book starts at the end, you already know she's going to grow from this, and that this passivity is just setting the stage for the crisis that will precipitate her evolution. By the time Kai shows back up, I couldn't put the book down. I knew what the big secrets were; they were well-foreshadowed. And of course I knew how it would end. But how Eunha reached that point was the driving intrigue, and I was excited to find out how it unfolded. For me, this final climax was the only weakness of the book. Eunha's shift from "just get pushed around by everyone" to "become an avenging angel" was a bit abrupt. The pieces just sort of fell into place automatically. I wish this part had been a little more tense, a little more of a struggle for her. But the ending was fitting and beautifully tragic and it made sense for her character.
The characters were very well done, they felt fully-crafted, unique, complex, and had their own voices. Eunha can feel very frustrating at times because she often has the backbone of a jellyfish, but you can feel the rage simmering underneath and it kept me invested because I knew it would boil over eventually. Kai's character reveal over time was perfectly done - Cho makes you fall in love with him before learning all his deep, dark secrets that really drive him.
I saw a number of reviews complaining that there wasn't enough gang violence or thriller action, but those reviewers clearly have no idea what the Triads and Hong Kong are actually like today. Hong Kong's murder rate is exceptionally low - in fact the number of murders in this book is way higher than reality already! This isn't a thriller, this is a story about generational trauma and family secrets and how someone can learn to become their own person under the weight of all that. And it achieves that aim very well.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving my honest feedback.
The story started out a little slow - Eunha for the first half of the book is very passive, just letting life and her strong-willed family buffet her around. She does make a number of very consequential proactive decisions that drive the plot forward, however. But because the book starts at the end, you already know she's going to grow from this, and that this passivity is just setting the stage for the crisis that will precipitate her evolution. By the time Kai shows back up, I couldn't put the book down. I knew what the big secrets were; they were well-foreshadowed. And of course I knew how it would end. But how Eunha reached that point was the driving intrigue, and I was excited to find out how it unfolded. For me, this final climax was the only weakness of the book. Eunha's shift from "just get pushed around by everyone" to "become an avenging angel" was a bit abrupt. The pieces just sort of fell into place automatically. I wish this part had been a little more tense, a little more of a struggle for her. But the ending was fitting and beautifully tragic and it made sense for her character.
The characters were very well done, they felt fully-crafted, unique, complex, and had their own voices. Eunha can feel very frustrating at times because she often has the backbone of a jellyfish, but you can feel the rage simmering underneath and it kept me invested because I knew it would boil over eventually. Kai's character reveal over time was perfectly done - Cho makes you fall in love with him before learning all his deep, dark secrets that really drive him.
I saw a number of reviews complaining that there wasn't enough gang violence or thriller action, but those reviewers clearly have no idea what the Triads and Hong Kong are actually like today. Hong Kong's murder rate is exceptionally low - in fact the number of murders in this book is way higher than reality already! This isn't a thriller, this is a story about generational trauma and family secrets and how someone can learn to become their own person under the weight of all that. And it achieves that aim very well.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving my honest feedback.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley
The Devoted is a book about family secrets or about the issues that families don’t vocalize. The Devoted also borrows from the romance genre - though the book is not a romance and does not advertise itself as one.
The problem is that while the book does not fail; it does not quite work.
The story is told from the viewpoint of Eunha, whose father and, later, her brother are leaders of a Triad group. Eunha alternates between relating her relative current situation and her childhood. And this is the problem. Not the alternating between relative present and past, but the telling. Eunha tells the reader, constantly tells the reader. She does not show the reader. Eunha is constantly telling the reader how much she loves her son, but the reader never really sees it. Eunha tells the reader everything. This makes her seem distant from her own story.
Yes, this might be the point – to show the emotional toll or effect on someone or even the difference in cultures. It is done in The Handmaid’s Tale or in Brick Lane or in Pachinko – all of which have women as the central characters who at times, even for much of the book, seem to be distant or cut off. The difference between those books and this is that even with the characters’ distant, you go the emotion. I never doubted that Offred, Nazneen, or Sunja cared about their families. Eunha, I’m not sure about. I’m not even sure she loves her son, even though she is constantly telling me that she does. She just never shows me. The whole telling makes everything equal. Think along of the lines “my dog died” and “I made my coffee” being said in the exact same way – tone, inflection everything. This telling also flattens all the characters and makes them very predictable as they are types and not developed.
Furthermore, for a daughter of Triad, Eunha seems rather stupid and lacking in even the barest type of reflection. There is an event that occurs when she and brother are younger, and as she tells it to the reader, Eunha doesn’t reflect or use it to reach conclusions about things. Additionally, when the reveal/twist occurs, my reaction was not “you go girl” it was “took you long enough girl.” (It made me think of the Book of Boba Fett and fake gunslinger alien telling Boba about killing the sand people. I got confused because surely Boba had to know that).
What is annoying is that this could have been a much better book. The plot is interesting, and the last 10-15% of the book is the best part of the book, even with Eunha’s late developing intelligence. There are parts of the book where I wanted more – for instance when Eunha starts loaning women money – but those are quickly mentioned and dropped. So Eunha can keep telling us things as opposed to showing us.
The Devoted is a book about family secrets or about the issues that families don’t vocalize. The Devoted also borrows from the romance genre - though the book is not a romance and does not advertise itself as one.
The problem is that while the book does not fail; it does not quite work.
The story is told from the viewpoint of Eunha, whose father and, later, her brother are leaders of a Triad group. Eunha alternates between relating her relative current situation and her childhood. And this is the problem. Not the alternating between relative present and past, but the telling. Eunha tells the reader, constantly tells the reader. She does not show the reader. Eunha is constantly telling the reader how much she loves her son, but the reader never really sees it. Eunha tells the reader everything. This makes her seem distant from her own story.
Yes, this might be the point – to show the emotional toll or effect on someone or even the difference in cultures. It is done in The Handmaid’s Tale or in Brick Lane or in Pachinko – all of which have women as the central characters who at times, even for much of the book, seem to be distant or cut off. The difference between those books and this is that even with the characters’ distant, you go the emotion. I never doubted that Offred, Nazneen, or Sunja cared about their families. Eunha, I’m not sure about. I’m not even sure she loves her son, even though she is constantly telling me that she does. She just never shows me. The whole telling makes everything equal. Think along of the lines “my dog died” and “I made my coffee” being said in the exact same way – tone, inflection everything. This telling also flattens all the characters and makes them very predictable as they are types and not developed.
Furthermore, for a daughter of Triad, Eunha seems rather stupid and lacking in even the barest type of reflection. There is an event that occurs when she and brother are younger, and as she tells it to the reader, Eunha doesn’t reflect or use it to reach conclusions about things. Additionally, when the reveal/twist occurs, my reaction was not “you go girl” it was “took you long enough girl.” (It made me think of the Book of Boba Fett and fake gunslinger alien telling Boba about killing the sand people. I got confused because surely Boba had to know that).
What is annoying is that this could have been a much better book. The plot is interesting, and the last 10-15% of the book is the best part of the book, even with Eunha’s late developing intelligence. There are parts of the book where I wanted more – for instance when Eunha starts loaning women money – but those are quickly mentioned and dropped. So Eunha can keep telling us things as opposed to showing us.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
From the first page I was invested in Eunha, and several other characters in the book. They felt real and complex, which provider most of the tension and movement in the plot. I had expected this to read a little more like a thriller, but it’s actually very emotional and character driven. Without giving anything away, I will say that I loved watching these characters change over time - some for better, some for worse. Dreams were dreamt, and built, and failed. Marriages form, and fail. Love blossoms, and dies.
The theme of family is really strong, and the soulful connections in this family really pulled at my heart. I went into this thinking the family I was reading about would be Chinese, and it was a nice surprise to find that the main characters are Korean. I’m married into a Korean family and have heard or read many stories where families were pulled apart, or forced together, through the machinations of the political and military world. The feeling that things are beyond your control, while working so hard to control and build what you can, rings strongly in my chosen family.
I’ve been told of a concept called ‘Han.’ I can’t define it easily, but I see it in my Eomeoni. Without ever mentioning it, this book carries all the feelings I associate with it. An internal strength, a refusal to give up but with a resignation that things are what they are, a mix of sorrow and of joy. I found it particularly interesting that my son’s Halmoni also has special stones, but unlike Eunha’s grandma she taught him to play with them. As a foreigner, I loved the way this story opened up an experience Korean culture in China. The ways it felt familiar and also different from my husband’s family experience were interesting too. The ending of this story is just as complex as this emotional mixture and was so fitting that I loved it. It was neither happy nor sad; it was what it was and the best will be made of it.
Chef’s kiss for the perfect balance of so many complex characters and emotions!
I was intrigued by the ever present criminal underworld and could feel the frustration of knowing it’s there while being incapable of taking any action against those forces. I found the reality of being utterly dependent on a father, brother, or husband to protect you from a nightmare you can’t even anticipate, knowing that they are also part of that seedy underworld, is utterly terrifying. There’s a wonderful quote about the western fairytale of the three little pigs, and living in the wolf’s house. It’s one of my favorite lines in the book.
I recommend this book for people who enjoy multi-generational family stories, emotionally complex characters, sorrowful narratives, and exploration of other cultures.
The theme of family is really strong, and the soulful connections in this family really pulled at my heart. I went into this thinking the family I was reading about would be Chinese, and it was a nice surprise to find that the main characters are Korean. I’m married into a Korean family and have heard or read many stories where families were pulled apart, or forced together, through the machinations of the political and military world. The feeling that things are beyond your control, while working so hard to control and build what you can, rings strongly in my chosen family.
I’ve been told of a concept called ‘Han.’ I can’t define it easily, but I see it in my Eomeoni. Without ever mentioning it, this book carries all the feelings I associate with it. An internal strength, a refusal to give up but with a resignation that things are what they are, a mix of sorrow and of joy. I found it particularly interesting that my son’s Halmoni also has special stones, but unlike Eunha’s grandma she taught him to play with them. As a foreigner, I loved the way this story opened up an experience Korean culture in China. The ways it felt familiar and also different from my husband’s family experience were interesting too. The ending of this story is just as complex as this emotional mixture and was so fitting that I loved it. It was neither happy nor sad; it was what it was and the best will be made of it.
Chef’s kiss for the perfect balance of so many complex characters and emotions!
I was intrigued by the ever present criminal underworld and could feel the frustration of knowing it’s there while being incapable of taking any action against those forces. I found the reality of being utterly dependent on a father, brother, or husband to protect you from a nightmare you can’t even anticipate, knowing that they are also part of that seedy underworld, is utterly terrifying. There’s a wonderful quote about the western fairytale of the three little pigs, and living in the wolf’s house. It’s one of my favorite lines in the book.
I recommend this book for people who enjoy multi-generational family stories, emotionally complex characters, sorrowful narratives, and exploration of other cultures.
Review of advance copy
The Devoted is a tender behemoth of a book, powerful, bold, and yet also quiet and beautiful. It’s one of the most impressive fiction debuts I’ve read in ages, and I cannot recommend it enough.
Think Pachinko meets The Godfather, with a dash of Romeo and Juliet. There’s betrayal, betrothal, a tragic romance for the ages, secrets within secrets, and an absolutely breathtaking journey through the lens of a character that follows the path of a phoenix, broken and remade into something new. It’s a book about sacrifice, loyalty, and ultimately, love — where the limits of love are drawn, and how those lines govern our lives.
We follow Eunha as her family connection to the mob poses a threat to her child, and she’s separated from him under the guise of protection. This forced separation provides the catalyst for a series of devastatingly momentous events in Eunha’s life, and we live through every single one of them with her. This book isn’t so much read as experienced. We feel what she feels. We yearn for what she yearns. We hope for what she hopes. As her sentimental love for a childhood sweetheart burns into reality, Eunha sets our hearts alight.
But make no mistake — this is not a romance. It’s not a love story. Rather, it’s an exploration of loyalty, allegiance, and devotion, and how those things are expressed within the shifting dynamics of a family. This is an upmarket literary novel that somehow manages to achieve tight pacing and thoughtful introspection, keeping you both on the edge of your seat while softening your imagination to accept the impact of a life spent juggling the roles of daughter, sister, wife, lover, and mother.
There’s so much to admire in Cho’s prose. She has a transportive element to her writing, and she graces it with a subtle kind of elegance that makes it lush without seeming flamboyant. It’s not a showy style, and yet, there’s so much clarity in her voice.
If you enjoyed Inferno (the memoir of motherhood that Cho wrote about her experiences with post-partum psychosis) you’ll find plenty of the same strengths appearing here, including the theme of motherhood and separation, the same wonderful style that made her memoir so affecting, and careful, layered observations in her prose that pack a hefty punch.
Overall, The Devoted is a debut with plenty to admire. Its atmosphere is addictive. Its characters are both familiar and intriguing. The plot is peppered with poignancy that doesn’t strip away any of its power or propulsion. This is seriously impressive stuff.
Catherine Cho is one to watch. One read of this, and you’ll find yourself devoted to whatever she decides to cook up next.
Think Pachinko meets The Godfather, with a dash of Romeo and Juliet. There’s betrayal, betrothal, a tragic romance for the ages, secrets within secrets, and an absolutely breathtaking journey through the lens of a character that follows the path of a phoenix, broken and remade into something new. It’s a book about sacrifice, loyalty, and ultimately, love — where the limits of love are drawn, and how those lines govern our lives.
We follow Eunha as her family connection to the mob poses a threat to her child, and she’s separated from him under the guise of protection. This forced separation provides the catalyst for a series of devastatingly momentous events in Eunha’s life, and we live through every single one of them with her. This book isn’t so much read as experienced. We feel what she feels. We yearn for what she yearns. We hope for what she hopes. As her sentimental love for a childhood sweetheart burns into reality, Eunha sets our hearts alight.
But make no mistake — this is not a romance. It’s not a love story. Rather, it’s an exploration of loyalty, allegiance, and devotion, and how those things are expressed within the shifting dynamics of a family. This is an upmarket literary novel that somehow manages to achieve tight pacing and thoughtful introspection, keeping you both on the edge of your seat while softening your imagination to accept the impact of a life spent juggling the roles of daughter, sister, wife, lover, and mother.
There’s so much to admire in Cho’s prose. She has a transportive element to her writing, and she graces it with a subtle kind of elegance that makes it lush without seeming flamboyant. It’s not a showy style, and yet, there’s so much clarity in her voice.
If you enjoyed Inferno (the memoir of motherhood that Cho wrote about her experiences with post-partum psychosis) you’ll find plenty of the same strengths appearing here, including the theme of motherhood and separation, the same wonderful style that made her memoir so affecting, and careful, layered observations in her prose that pack a hefty punch.
Overall, The Devoted is a debut with plenty to admire. Its atmosphere is addictive. Its characters are both familiar and intriguing. The plot is peppered with poignancy that doesn’t strip away any of its power or propulsion. This is seriously impressive stuff.
Catherine Cho is one to watch. One read of this, and you’ll find yourself devoted to whatever she decides to cook up next.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I appreciate a book that has me thinking about it while I'm not actively reading it, and The Devoted is one of those. Similar to Amy Tan or Lisa See, but more modern and gritty, this book has beautiful prose and a heartbreaking plot. Certainly not perfect by any means-the ending is slightly a race to the finish, Eunha is aggravating at times, and perhaps a little bit of the culture is just simply lost on me as a reader (not an admonishment of the author at all, purely a "me" issue)-The Devoted still managed to sink its hooks into me until the very end.
Modern family drama as a genre is not something I am drawn to but I do love books outside of my own personal culture or even American culture. From the first couple of chapters I knew that I would be fully invested. What I found really worked for me was the consistent shift from modern day to flashback. With each glimpse into the past, while not expressly stating that "X is this way because of Y", the reader gets to understand the circumstances better and better. Not only that, but things mentioned at the beginning of the book stay in the background, passively waiting until their moment to reappear and provide clarity. There's a dense layering of plot points that dip in and out as necessary. At times I thought I knew the story and it's trajectory but then something from the beginning chapters shows back up and more pieces click into place. It made the twists all the more impactful to me. I had to pick up my jaw from the floor by the last 20%.
What might not fully work for others is our painfully passive FMC Eunha. She's very one note in her own story. She crumples to the will of others up until the last 10%. I do wish we could see more of her growth because her actions and inner thoughts are aggravating at times. I really wanted to see her take her own life into her hands much sooner than she did, however, I do think it fits the narrative of a woman raised into this crime family. We see Eunha's passiveness reflected in the stories of the side cast of characters- her mother and grandmother, Kaito's mother, Coco, etc. When these women choose to take on their own agency, they're broken or put back into place. That's why this aspect stopped bothering me so much when I really considered the other women characters.
This was a beautiful, heartbreaking read that I would recommend over and over to people who appreciate women's fiction along the lines of Kristen Hannah, Amy Tan, and Lisa See. It is a "slow burn" but so worth the time.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Modern family drama as a genre is not something I am drawn to but I do love books outside of my own personal culture or even American culture. From the first couple of chapters I knew that I would be fully invested. What I found really worked for me was the consistent shift from modern day to flashback. With each glimpse into the past, while not expressly stating that "X is this way because of Y", the reader gets to understand the circumstances better and better. Not only that, but things mentioned at the beginning of the book stay in the background, passively waiting until their moment to reappear and provide clarity. There's a dense layering of plot points that dip in and out as necessary. At times I thought I knew the story and it's trajectory but then something from the beginning chapters shows back up and more pieces click into place. It made the twists all the more impactful to me. I had to pick up my jaw from the floor by the last 20%.
What might not fully work for others is our painfully passive FMC Eunha. She's very one note in her own story. She crumples to the will of others up until the last 10%. I do wish we could see more of her growth because her actions and inner thoughts are aggravating at times. I really wanted to see her take her own life into her hands much sooner than she did, however, I do think it fits the narrative of a woman raised into this crime family. We see Eunha's passiveness reflected in the stories of the side cast of characters- her mother and grandmother, Kaito's mother, Coco, etc. When these women choose to take on their own agency, they're broken or put back into place. That's why this aspect stopped bothering me so much when I really considered the other women characters.
This was a beautiful, heartbreaking read that I would recommend over and over to people who appreciate women's fiction along the lines of Kristen Hannah, Amy Tan, and Lisa See. It is a "slow burn" but so worth the time.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
June 28, 2026
I finished this book a couple weeks ago and have been sitting on the story, it's stuck in my brain so I'm reviewing it because a book that persistent is one for the books (pun intended).
The story follows a Eunha as she's raised with her brother, almost completely sheltered from her father's violent occupation. Her grandmother does her best to protect them from the bloody inheritance but it's a constant in the periphery of her life and of the story, a slow-creeping, suffocating pressure that builds and builds throughout her life.
When her son is kidnapped, things go south, FAST, and she's forced away from her respectable marriage and into the life she had been shielded from her whole life; back, even, into the arms of the first boy she loved who just so happens to be a Dragon Head himself.
I loved how much time the story covered while still remaining focused on Eunha's internal experiences of the changing reality around her. It felt like we were watching her watching her life, her inexperience with this world, the time spent away from both her brother and Kai, all creating layers of separation between the reader and the reality of the organised crime goings on. This distance from the 'action' allowed for intense emotional exploration that felt entirely intentional, Eunha's overwhelm, the frantic energy around finding answers, people dying around her, money, her previous life crumbling- it was all so brilliantly written.
There felt a constant emotional tautness, a tension between the desperate love she has for her son, the resurgent feelings for Kai, and the grief over all that she had lost and was still losing, a swirling down the drain of all the attempts to escape what she was born into, for, away from, in spite of.
The landscape of betrayal, power struggles, bloody violence, honour codes, family loyalty was ever-present, imposing the anxiety around that danger onto the most soft, intimate moments. Eunha and her son, her struggling with letting her brother into her life but wanting him and the shadow of his life away from them, her yearning for Kai. You feel as if you can't escape the blood, the danger, the violence, and yet Cho writes these scenes so eloquently that the reader is able to feel them so deeply within the bubble of the scene. I love that the experience of reading reflects Eunha's experience, the quiet moments as small reprieves from the ever building intensity of the world around her, the constant scheming of the people in her life for their own gains, their own ideas of honour and loyalty and retaliation.
I loved Eunha's character development, the way she builds her future from the scraps of her old life and slivers of this new life that she is now beholden to without ever really being invited into. The ending was so vindicating, so satisfying; it's a relief, a conclusion, while still holding sacred the pain and impact of what has come before it. Her relationships with her brother and with Kai were so doomed, but in a way that held two truths at once. That love can exist in shades, and that two people who may have loved each other were still existing within the confines of the cards life had dealt them. The things you can do despite loving someone, because you love someone so much. I am so impressed by all the kinds of love and grief Cho has explored through this one woman's narrative, the breadth of human experience contained within a few hundred pages of small moments and big decisions is so beautiful!
Thank you 4th Estate for this proof, I can't wait for any and all things from this author in the future!
The story follows a Eunha as she's raised with her brother, almost completely sheltered from her father's violent occupation. Her grandmother does her best to protect them from the bloody inheritance but it's a constant in the periphery of her life and of the story, a slow-creeping, suffocating pressure that builds and builds throughout her life.
When her son is kidnapped, things go south, FAST, and she's forced away from her respectable marriage and into the life she had been shielded from her whole life; back, even, into the arms of the first boy she loved who just so happens to be a Dragon Head himself.
I loved how much time the story covered while still remaining focused on Eunha's internal experiences of the changing reality around her. It felt like we were watching her watching her life, her inexperience with this world, the time spent away from both her brother and Kai, all creating layers of separation between the reader and the reality of the organised crime goings on. This distance from the 'action' allowed for intense emotional exploration that felt entirely intentional, Eunha's overwhelm, the frantic energy around finding answers, people dying around her, money, her previous life crumbling- it was all so brilliantly written.
There felt a constant emotional tautness, a tension between the desperate love she has for her son, the resurgent feelings for Kai, and the grief over all that she had lost and was still losing, a swirling down the drain of all the attempts to escape what she was born into, for, away from, in spite of.
The landscape of betrayal, power struggles, bloody violence, honour codes, family loyalty was ever-present, imposing the anxiety around that danger onto the most soft, intimate moments. Eunha and her son, her struggling with letting her brother into her life but wanting him and the shadow of his life away from them, her yearning for Kai. You feel as if you can't escape the blood, the danger, the violence, and yet Cho writes these scenes so eloquently that the reader is able to feel them so deeply within the bubble of the scene. I love that the experience of reading reflects Eunha's experience, the quiet moments as small reprieves from the ever building intensity of the world around her, the constant scheming of the people in her life for their own gains, their own ideas of honour and loyalty and retaliation.
I loved Eunha's character development, the way she builds her future from the scraps of her old life and slivers of this new life that she is now beholden to without ever really being invited into. The ending was so vindicating, so satisfying; it's a relief, a conclusion, while still holding sacred the pain and impact of what has come before it. Her relationships with her brother and with Kai were so doomed, but in a way that held two truths at once. That love can exist in shades, and that two people who may have loved each other were still existing within the confines of the cards life had dealt them. The things you can do despite loving someone, because you love someone so much. I am so impressed by all the kinds of love and grief Cho has explored through this one woman's narrative, the breadth of human experience contained within a few hundred pages of small moments and big decisions is so beautiful!
Thank you 4th Estate for this proof, I can't wait for any and all things from this author in the future!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book is a study in family legacy, familial duty, and motherhood. It isn’t a fast-paced novel — it’s a slow, emotional journey surrounding love and loss, and that’s exactly what it’s meant to be.
Set in Japan, we follow Eunah, whose carefully curated life is upended in an instant when her young son goes missing at a market. What follows is the slow unraveling of her present alongside the surfacing of her past, told through a dual timeline that weaves between who she is now and who she was as a child growing up alongside her brother Solomon and their grandmother.
When Eunah reaches out to Solomon for help, she’s pulling on a thread she can’t put back. He holds the title of Dragon Head — a powerful and dangerous position passed down from their father — and his involvement comes at a cost neither of them expected. Their relationship fractures. His world bleeds into hers. And Eunah, who worked so hard to build something apart from all of it, finds herself losing custody of her son and adrift without purpose.
The childhood timeline gives us Eunah and Solomon as kids, close and reliant on one another in the way that children are when the world around them is complicated. One summer, a boy named Kai joins their fold — quiet, reserved, there and then gone — and the three of them form a bond that carries further into adulthood than any of them anticipated.
This book is layered with emotion. We feel Eunah's grief at the loss of her brother, her fragility as a mother trying to get her child back, and her slow transformation as she stops surviving and starts choosing. It isn't until Kai comes back into her life that she discovers a strength she never knew she had.
Family legacy is not always something worth cherishing. Solomon never wanted the role he was forced into, and Eunah finds herself dragged back into it as an adult. This story shines a light on how power corrupts and how secrets fester — equal parts sad and full of a quiet, hard-won strength.
One of my favorite presences in this novel was Ajusshi. He isn't always front and center, but he carries so much weight in the moments he appears. And the ending — the author made a specific choice and I respected it completely. It felt honest to everything the story had been building.
This book isn't for everyone. If you need momentum and plot, this may not be the one. But if you like reflective, literary fiction that sits with you long after the last page, this book will land perfectly for you. 4.25⭐️
I received an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Set in Japan, we follow Eunah, whose carefully curated life is upended in an instant when her young son goes missing at a market. What follows is the slow unraveling of her present alongside the surfacing of her past, told through a dual timeline that weaves between who she is now and who she was as a child growing up alongside her brother Solomon and their grandmother.
When Eunah reaches out to Solomon for help, she’s pulling on a thread she can’t put back. He holds the title of Dragon Head — a powerful and dangerous position passed down from their father — and his involvement comes at a cost neither of them expected. Their relationship fractures. His world bleeds into hers. And Eunah, who worked so hard to build something apart from all of it, finds herself losing custody of her son and adrift without purpose.
The childhood timeline gives us Eunah and Solomon as kids, close and reliant on one another in the way that children are when the world around them is complicated. One summer, a boy named Kai joins their fold — quiet, reserved, there and then gone — and the three of them form a bond that carries further into adulthood than any of them anticipated.
This book is layered with emotion. We feel Eunah's grief at the loss of her brother, her fragility as a mother trying to get her child back, and her slow transformation as she stops surviving and starts choosing. It isn't until Kai comes back into her life that she discovers a strength she never knew she had.
Family legacy is not always something worth cherishing. Solomon never wanted the role he was forced into, and Eunah finds herself dragged back into it as an adult. This story shines a light on how power corrupts and how secrets fester — equal parts sad and full of a quiet, hard-won strength.
One of my favorite presences in this novel was Ajusshi. He isn't always front and center, but he carries so much weight in the moments he appears. And the ending — the author made a specific choice and I respected it completely. It felt honest to everything the story had been building.
This book isn't for everyone. If you need momentum and plot, this may not be the one. But if you like reflective, literary fiction that sits with you long after the last page, this book will land perfectly for you. 4.25⭐️
I received an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
✧˖°. ⤷ Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books, Catherine Cho for the ARC. Honest thoughts as always, from me to you ♡
☁️ author: Catherine Cho
☁️ genre: literary fiction / family drama
☁️ mood: contemplative / atmospheric / slow-burning / emotionally heavy
🌙 Mini Synopsis:
Raised in a quiet Hong Kong village by her grandmother while her father runs one of the Triads' most powerful criminal networks, Eunha has spent her whole life trying to build something careful and respectable far from that world. But when her young son is kidnapped, she is pulled back into the criminal underground — and back into the orbit of Kai, the boy she grew up with, now a Dragon Head himself. A sweeping story about family, fate and a woman determined to choose her own destiny.
🍃 thoughts
This was one of those books I found myself appreciating more than actually enjoying, and I think that distinction is important. Catherine Cho's writing is genuinely beautiful, thoughtful, vulnerable and full of moments that made me stop and sit with what I'd just read. The themes of identity, family, emotional loss and fate were all handled with real care, and you can feel how much of herself she poured into this story. As a debut it is impressively crafted.
That said, I struggled to fully connect with it. The pacing was slow throughout, and the flashbacks, while well written dragged in places and left me waiting for something bigger to happen. The story was also more predictable than I expected for a novel rooted in a world as inherently tense as the Triads, and I found myself wanting more from the cultural side of things. A Korean family living in Hong Kong with deep ties to one of the most infamous criminal organizations in the world is such rich territory, and I wished the story had leaned into that texture more fully.
The characters are emotionally drawn and the dual timeline structure does add depth, but I never found myself truly invested or eager to pick the book back up between reading sessions. Solid and worthwhile, just not one that completely wowed me.
🌸 favorite things
♡ Catherine Cho's prose — beautiful, contemplative and genuinely lovely to read
♡ The emotional themes of identity, fate and family feeling authentic and carefully explored
♡ The dual timeline adding layers to Eunha's story and the secrets that slowly surface
☁️ author: Catherine Cho
☁️ genre: literary fiction / family drama
☁️ mood: contemplative / atmospheric / slow-burning / emotionally heavy
🌙 Mini Synopsis:
Raised in a quiet Hong Kong village by her grandmother while her father runs one of the Triads' most powerful criminal networks, Eunha has spent her whole life trying to build something careful and respectable far from that world. But when her young son is kidnapped, she is pulled back into the criminal underground — and back into the orbit of Kai, the boy she grew up with, now a Dragon Head himself. A sweeping story about family, fate and a woman determined to choose her own destiny.
🍃 thoughts
This was one of those books I found myself appreciating more than actually enjoying, and I think that distinction is important. Catherine Cho's writing is genuinely beautiful, thoughtful, vulnerable and full of moments that made me stop and sit with what I'd just read. The themes of identity, family, emotional loss and fate were all handled with real care, and you can feel how much of herself she poured into this story. As a debut it is impressively crafted.
That said, I struggled to fully connect with it. The pacing was slow throughout, and the flashbacks, while well written dragged in places and left me waiting for something bigger to happen. The story was also more predictable than I expected for a novel rooted in a world as inherently tense as the Triads, and I found myself wanting more from the cultural side of things. A Korean family living in Hong Kong with deep ties to one of the most infamous criminal organizations in the world is such rich territory, and I wished the story had leaned into that texture more fully.
The characters are emotionally drawn and the dual timeline structure does add depth, but I never found myself truly invested or eager to pick the book back up between reading sessions. Solid and worthwhile, just not one that completely wowed me.
🌸 favorite things
♡ Catherine Cho's prose — beautiful, contemplative and genuinely lovely to read
♡ The emotional themes of identity, fate and family feeling authentic and carefully explored
♡ The dual timeline adding layers to Eunha's story and the secrets that slowly surface
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Mixed feelings on this one. The prose was easy to read. There were moments where I felt for the main character, and I felt especially bad for her brother. I love books about family, fate, loyalty, and obligation. However, this is a pretty slow book. For a book about crime and mafia, there was almost no action, which is probably intentional on the part of the author, to show how Eunha is mostly a bystander to her life.
Eunha is a really passive character, which I acknowledge is the point of the book. She’s almost just an audience member in her own life, playing the part of a dutiful wife and marrying only to fulfill her father’s promises. Her internal dialogue and POV is also very passive, almost as if she is narrating her life from a distance, in a monotone voice. This made the book slow, and it felt like it was just a narration of a story rather than us experiencing these events with her. Everyone in this book also seems distant, standoffish, and reserved, but maybe it’s because Eunha has distant relationships with them. I was also frustrated by how ignorant Eunha was, even though I understand that the whole point was how sheltered and passive she was, that she didn’t have knowledge or agency to make her own choices. But it was still incredibly frustrating. I wanted to learn more about the Triads and how they worked. I wanted more action. The ending also seemed pretty rushed.
I also wish we got deeper insights and exploration into the other characters, particularly Solomon and Kai. I understand that the focus of the book was on the women who are caught up in relationships marred by violence and trauma, how they are trapped by that, and how they respond in their circumstances, but I can’t help but wonder if a focus on Kai and Solomon and their relationship would have made things more engaging and interesting, as they are foils to each other and both have pretty hefty emotional burdens and baggage on them.
Eunha is a really passive character, which I acknowledge is the point of the book. She’s almost just an audience member in her own life, playing the part of a dutiful wife and marrying only to fulfill her father’s promises. Her internal dialogue and POV is also very passive, almost as if she is narrating her life from a distance, in a monotone voice. This made the book slow, and it felt like it was just a narration of a story rather than us experiencing these events with her. Everyone in this book also seems distant, standoffish, and reserved, but maybe it’s because Eunha has distant relationships with them. I was also frustrated by how ignorant Eunha was, even though I understand that the whole point was how sheltered and passive she was, that she didn’t have knowledge or agency to make her own choices. But it was still incredibly frustrating. I wanted to learn more about the Triads and how they worked. I wanted more action. The ending also seemed pretty rushed.
I also wish we got deeper insights and exploration into the other characters, particularly Solomon and Kai. I understand that the focus of the book was on the women who are caught up in relationships marred by violence and trauma, how they are trapped by that, and how they respond in their circumstances, but I can’t help but wonder if a focus on Kai and Solomon and their relationship would have made things more engaging and interesting, as they are foils to each other and both have pretty hefty emotional burdens and baggage on them.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Being children of the Dragon Head - a leader within the infamous criminal organization of the Triads - Eunha and her brother Solomon live a sheltered life. When her son disappears, she digs into something deeper than the appearance.
For a premise about a Korean family in Hong Kong, surprisingly the story doesn't focus on dissecting either Korean roots or HK setting. The story, on the other hand, allows a glimpse of the dynamics in modern day mafia, which is heavily centered around power and betrayal. Going through loss and addiction, there's plenty of messiness in this family drama in which characters desire to make their own fate. Yet, I was expecting more tension and emotional investment and what feels like an intentional attempt of exploration of the criminal world reads like a slow narrative that flows like episodes (the transitions between timelines could have been smoother). I read this with a steady anticipation, waiting for the moment.
This is not to say that there aren't some emotional moments and one might appreciate the texture that comes from the characterization. Perhaps I wished for a more weighty exposure (of the events and characters) and despite of the lack of deeper attachment, the last 50 pages drew me in and there was hope for a longer commitment. Also, this is a book that will reward readers looking for an engaging prose.
THE DEVOTED provides unique lens into family in the mafia world. Even if the attempts missed the mark for me, I enjoyed Cho's memoir INFERNO and would read more of this author.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Atria books . All opinions are my own ]
For a premise about a Korean family in Hong Kong, surprisingly the story doesn't focus on dissecting either Korean roots or HK setting. The story, on the other hand, allows a glimpse of the dynamics in modern day mafia, which is heavily centered around power and betrayal. Going through loss and addiction, there's plenty of messiness in this family drama in which characters desire to make their own fate. Yet, I was expecting more tension and emotional investment and what feels like an intentional attempt of exploration of the criminal world reads like a slow narrative that flows like episodes (the transitions between timelines could have been smoother). I read this with a steady anticipation, waiting for the moment.
This is not to say that there aren't some emotional moments and one might appreciate the texture that comes from the characterization. Perhaps I wished for a more weighty exposure (of the events and characters) and despite of the lack of deeper attachment, the last 50 pages drew me in and there was hope for a longer commitment. Also, this is a book that will reward readers looking for an engaging prose.
THE DEVOTED provides unique lens into family in the mafia world. Even if the attempts missed the mark for me, I enjoyed Cho's memoir INFERNO and would read more of this author.
[ I received an ARC from the publisher - Atria books . All opinions are my own ]
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A kidnapping, Hong Kong's Triad underworld, family secrets, and a heroine forced to confront her past.
Cho's writing is undeniably beautiful. The novel is atmospheric, emotionally perceptive, and vividly rooted in its Hong Kong setting. Using the framework of a kidnapping and the backdrop of the Triad underworld, Cho explores themes of family loyalty, motherhood, identity, and the lasting influence of the past. Eunha is a compelling and layered protagonist whose struggles with belonging and obligation form the emotional heart of the story. The childhood flashbacks are seamlessly woven into the narrative, gradually revealing the relationships and secrets that shape her present-day choices.
My main criticism is that the novel never became quite as gripping as I expected. While the kidnapping plot creates immediate tension, the story frequently turns toward reflection, memory, and family history just as the suspense begins to build. Readers approaching the book as a crime thriller may find themselves wishing for a stronger sense of momentum and urgency.
That said, I can see why this novel will resonate with many readers. It is thoughtful, ambitious, and handles themes of motherhood, devotion, and inherited trauma with nuance and sensitivity. It simply didn't deliver the level of emotional impact or suspense I was hoping for.
Overall, The Devoted is a well-crafted literary family drama that occasionally struggles to balance its thriller elements with its more introspective ambitions. It's worth picking up if you enjoy character-driven fiction, though readers seeking a fast-paced page-turner may come away disappointed.
Cho's writing is undeniably beautiful. The novel is atmospheric, emotionally perceptive, and vividly rooted in its Hong Kong setting. Using the framework of a kidnapping and the backdrop of the Triad underworld, Cho explores themes of family loyalty, motherhood, identity, and the lasting influence of the past. Eunha is a compelling and layered protagonist whose struggles with belonging and obligation form the emotional heart of the story. The childhood flashbacks are seamlessly woven into the narrative, gradually revealing the relationships and secrets that shape her present-day choices.
My main criticism is that the novel never became quite as gripping as I expected. While the kidnapping plot creates immediate tension, the story frequently turns toward reflection, memory, and family history just as the suspense begins to build. Readers approaching the book as a crime thriller may find themselves wishing for a stronger sense of momentum and urgency.
That said, I can see why this novel will resonate with many readers. It is thoughtful, ambitious, and handles themes of motherhood, devotion, and inherited trauma with nuance and sensitivity. It simply didn't deliver the level of emotional impact or suspense I was hoping for.
Overall, The Devoted is a well-crafted literary family drama that occasionally struggles to balance its thriller elements with its more introspective ambitions. It's worth picking up if you enjoy character-driven fiction, though readers seeking a fast-paced page-turner may come away disappointed.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Literary fiction melds with crime and gangsters set in Hong Kong amid the Triads to tell a story of heartbreak and resilience. This is a character driven novel with intensity and grit focusing on themes of motherhood and family.
Eunha is the daughter of a Korean Dragon Head (triad) leader. The story opens with her son, Minsuk, being kidnapped and continues with Eunha’s search for him. The gangster underworld of her family seeps through the pages as events take over in the search for Minsuk. Her brother, Solomon, assists her, while her venal husband, Philip, abandons her. As her search goes on she meets up with Kai, whom she knew as a young girl and is now heavily into the triads. An attraction blossoms and Eunha feels she may be able to find Minsuk now that her life seems brighter. But reality soon reenters and a terrible twist at the end forces Eunha to understand that only she controls her life.
Eunha is a remarkable character. She’s persistent and determined. Her story is told through interconnecting moments in her life as one memory comes upon the present to reveal the past. It reveals how Eunha went from being a socialite to the hostess of the Cinnamon. It felt so sad at times as Eunha would remind another character that she grew up motherless and her son was a well. The other female characters of Eunha’s world are as entrenched in this dark gangster world as Eunha.
This is a book for readers who like gangster-relationship stories that include romance and grit. Enjoyable read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Washington Square Press for allowing me access to this ARC.
Eunha is the daughter of a Korean Dragon Head (triad) leader. The story opens with her son, Minsuk, being kidnapped and continues with Eunha’s search for him. The gangster underworld of her family seeps through the pages as events take over in the search for Minsuk. Her brother, Solomon, assists her, while her venal husband, Philip, abandons her. As her search goes on she meets up with Kai, whom she knew as a young girl and is now heavily into the triads. An attraction blossoms and Eunha feels she may be able to find Minsuk now that her life seems brighter. But reality soon reenters and a terrible twist at the end forces Eunha to understand that only she controls her life.
Eunha is a remarkable character. She’s persistent and determined. Her story is told through interconnecting moments in her life as one memory comes upon the present to reveal the past. It reveals how Eunha went from being a socialite to the hostess of the Cinnamon. It felt so sad at times as Eunha would remind another character that she grew up motherless and her son was a well. The other female characters of Eunha’s world are as entrenched in this dark gangster world as Eunha.
This is a book for readers who like gangster-relationship stories that include romance and grit. Enjoyable read.
My thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Washington Square Press for allowing me access to this ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Atria Books, Washington Square Press, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review.
Eunha grew up with her brother, Solomon, under the care of her grandmother and an ajusshi who works for her father. Her grandmother worked hard to shelter them from the darkness that their father surrounds himself with as a leader of the Triads, a dangerous criminal organization. Once Ajusshi's nephew, Kai, comes to stay with the family, the three become close friends.
All grown up, Eunha marries a well off businessman and has a son. But after her son is kidnapped, she's thrust into the darkness that her grandmother fought to keep her away from.
Alternating from Eunha's childhood to the present, The Devoted is an emotional family drama about love, fate, secrets, and finding your inner strength.
I was expecting more of a thriller, but The Devoted is told through Eunha's eyes, keeping most of the inner workings of the criminal organizations hidden. Even during the kidnapping at the beginning, I felt like I was watching helplessly as the men in Eunha's life worked to find her son.
The pieces of Eunha's quiet childhood scattered throughout the story gave off a reflective feeling. The prose and imagery were beautifully done, leaving me with a melancholy aftertaste. I loved the exploration of identity: being Korean in a foreign land, running from the dark parts of your family, and being a woman performing different roles for the men in her life.
Eunha's journey is beautiful, tragic, and filled with strength and love.
Eunha grew up with her brother, Solomon, under the care of her grandmother and an ajusshi who works for her father. Her grandmother worked hard to shelter them from the darkness that their father surrounds himself with as a leader of the Triads, a dangerous criminal organization. Once Ajusshi's nephew, Kai, comes to stay with the family, the three become close friends.
All grown up, Eunha marries a well off businessman and has a son. But after her son is kidnapped, she's thrust into the darkness that her grandmother fought to keep her away from.
Alternating from Eunha's childhood to the present, The Devoted is an emotional family drama about love, fate, secrets, and finding your inner strength.
I was expecting more of a thriller, but The Devoted is told through Eunha's eyes, keeping most of the inner workings of the criminal organizations hidden. Even during the kidnapping at the beginning, I felt like I was watching helplessly as the men in Eunha's life worked to find her son.
The pieces of Eunha's quiet childhood scattered throughout the story gave off a reflective feeling. The prose and imagery were beautifully done, leaving me with a melancholy aftertaste. I loved the exploration of identity: being Korean in a foreign land, running from the dark parts of your family, and being a woman performing different roles for the men in her life.
Eunha's journey is beautiful, tragic, and filled with strength and love.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy!
The Devoted is a story of family and fate. Being raised in Hong Kong by their Korean grandmother, Eunha and her brother Solomon live a sheltered life, while their father is the leader of an infamous criminal organization. Now, as an adult, and married into a supposedly respectable Hong Kong family, Eunha's life begins to crack, sending her back into the criminal underground, a world that she once tried to escape.
This book really ended up being a mixed bag for me. It had all the workings to being a 5-star read. It was emotional, it had a compelling story, and it had strong writing. But I kept feeling like the story was just scratching the surface of its own potential. I found myself waiting for the narrative to really dig deeper into the characters and the conflict, to build on the tension and the emotional aspects of the story even more. I think because of that, I never really felt pulled in by the book. I didn’t feel any sense of immersion until the last 15%, but at that point it was a bit too late.
I would have loved to have peeked behind the curtain more with the criminal organization that Eunha’s father led, and to see all the inner workings. It would have just added to the atmosphere.
That said, Eunha’s story was undeniably emotional. While the book didn’t entirely deliver in the ways that I was hoping or expecting, I still appreciate what it was trying to do, and I can see why it may resonate more strongly with other readers.
3.5 stars!
The Devoted is a story of family and fate. Being raised in Hong Kong by their Korean grandmother, Eunha and her brother Solomon live a sheltered life, while their father is the leader of an infamous criminal organization. Now, as an adult, and married into a supposedly respectable Hong Kong family, Eunha's life begins to crack, sending her back into the criminal underground, a world that she once tried to escape.
This book really ended up being a mixed bag for me. It had all the workings to being a 5-star read. It was emotional, it had a compelling story, and it had strong writing. But I kept feeling like the story was just scratching the surface of its own potential. I found myself waiting for the narrative to really dig deeper into the characters and the conflict, to build on the tension and the emotional aspects of the story even more. I think because of that, I never really felt pulled in by the book. I didn’t feel any sense of immersion until the last 15%, but at that point it was a bit too late.
I would have loved to have peeked behind the curtain more with the criminal organization that Eunha’s father led, and to see all the inner workings. It would have just added to the atmosphere.
That said, Eunha’s story was undeniably emotional. While the book didn’t entirely deliver in the ways that I was hoping or expecting, I still appreciate what it was trying to do, and I can see why it may resonate more strongly with other readers.
3.5 stars!
June 4, 2026
Thank you for the free book Atria Books @atriabooks Washington Square Press @washingtonsquarepress , Netgalley @netgalley and Catherine Cho @catherinekcho for this free book! PUBLISHES JULY 14, 2026
“The Devoted” by Catherine Cho ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Family drama. Location: Hong Kong. Time: Past and present.
SYNOPSIS:
Raised in the Hong Kong New Territories by their Korean grandmother, Eunha and brother Solomon live a sheltered life. Their father is a Dragon Head, a leader in the infamous Triads criminal organization. Their grandmother shields them from their father’s violent world-Eunha has only Solomon and Kai, their one permitted companion, for company. When Eunha’s father arranges her marriage into a supposedly respectable family, her sheltered life cracks. Her young son is kidnapped, her cruel husband divorces her, she falls into the city's criminal underground and back to Kai, now a Dragon Head himself. As Eunha leaves innocence behind, her options constrict. She learns about the terrible Triad life she unknowingly was raised in (and now knowingly lives in). Was her future always fated?
FAVORITE BITS:
Immersive details about life in Hong Kong across gender, class and cultural roles.
Cho’s character development.
Her plot twists.
NOT SO FAVORITE BIT:
Chapters move back and forth across time, but there are no chapter headings to alert readers.
It’s layered intrigue and suspense, it’s a gritty look at upbringings and respectability”, it’s quietly powerful, and it’s 5⭐️s from me 📚👩🏼🦳
“The Devoted” by Catherine Cho ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Genre: Family drama. Location: Hong Kong. Time: Past and present.
SYNOPSIS:
Raised in the Hong Kong New Territories by their Korean grandmother, Eunha and brother Solomon live a sheltered life. Their father is a Dragon Head, a leader in the infamous Triads criminal organization. Their grandmother shields them from their father’s violent world-Eunha has only Solomon and Kai, their one permitted companion, for company. When Eunha’s father arranges her marriage into a supposedly respectable family, her sheltered life cracks. Her young son is kidnapped, her cruel husband divorces her, she falls into the city's criminal underground and back to Kai, now a Dragon Head himself. As Eunha leaves innocence behind, her options constrict. She learns about the terrible Triad life she unknowingly was raised in (and now knowingly lives in). Was her future always fated?
FAVORITE BITS:
Immersive details about life in Hong Kong across gender, class and cultural roles.
Cho’s character development.
Her plot twists.
NOT SO FAVORITE BIT:
Chapters move back and forth across time, but there are no chapter headings to alert readers.
It’s layered intrigue and suspense, it’s a gritty look at upbringings and respectability”, it’s quietly powerful, and it’s 5⭐️s from me 📚👩🏼🦳
June 22, 2026
Despite my expectations of a fast paced thriller this is a much more nuanced story; literary fiction with a side helping of crime and thriller. The story follows Eunha a Korean girl whose father is a Dragon Head (triad) leader. Eunha is brought up in a quiet village in the New Territories, Hong Kong, by her grandmother, with only her brother Solomon and a boy called Kai for company. Slow paced, moving between the present and Eunha’s formative years, I found this a compelling read; I really loved it.
Briefly, the story starts when Eunha is at the harbour with her son and he disappears. It soon becomes clear that he has been kidnapped. Her search for him leads her back to the world she has tried to avoid for many years; she meet up with Kai who is now a triad leader and an attraction begins to develop between these childhood friends.
Eunha is a brilliant character and the flashbacks explain a lot of her choices in the present. She is strong and determined and copes with everything thrown at her, her sheltered upbringing, unhappy marriage, kidnapped son and the realisation of the brutality and criminality of her family life. I spend a fair bit of time in Hong Kong, largely in the 1980/90’s and I could see and smell the places described so clearly. If you are looking for a high octane thriller then this isn’t it. If you are looking for a beautiful character driven novel about relationships, forbidden and familial love and emotional drama then stop right here! Wonderful read.
Briefly, the story starts when Eunha is at the harbour with her son and he disappears. It soon becomes clear that he has been kidnapped. Her search for him leads her back to the world she has tried to avoid for many years; she meet up with Kai who is now a triad leader and an attraction begins to develop between these childhood friends.
Eunha is a brilliant character and the flashbacks explain a lot of her choices in the present. She is strong and determined and copes with everything thrown at her, her sheltered upbringing, unhappy marriage, kidnapped son and the realisation of the brutality and criminality of her family life. I spend a fair bit of time in Hong Kong, largely in the 1980/90’s and I could see and smell the places described so clearly. If you are looking for a high octane thriller then this isn’t it. If you are looking for a beautiful character driven novel about relationships, forbidden and familial love and emotional drama then stop right here! Wonderful read.
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