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AVIARY an enthralling fantasy novel
A young woman undertakes a terrifying journey—and a terrifying transformation—in this genre-blending speculative suspense novel set in South Korea and the US which mixes fantasy, gothic vibes and queer longing, with a shot of feminist body horror.
Fairytales are for children.
Until the day we awaken in a place full of monsters,
being softly enveloped by the dark.
Nineteen-year-old undocumented immigrant Hee-Jin lies on the floor of her cramped Seoul apartment, listening for footsteps.
But the knock on the door isn’t the police finally coming to deport her to North Korea. Instead, sprawled on the doorstep is a disfigured, bird-like corpse—and it has her eyes. Her younger sister, artist Hee-Young, is meant to be on an art program in America, not dead of a strange overdose.
But in Hee-Young’s pocket is a plane ticket and US passport. Seeing her chance for freedom, Hee-Jin steals her sister’s identity and takes her place, determined to uncover what really happened to her.
But the deeper she dives into the program’s strange workings, the closer she gets to the monstrous secret at its heart.
A page-turner of a mystery filled with gorgeous, creepy Korean folklore and imagery, Aviary, written by critically acclaimed Korean American author Maria Dong, is also a story about power, violence, exploitation—and transformation. And, above all, it's about the choices women make from within a system where all the available options are bad ones.
Fairytales are for children.
Until the day we awaken in a place full of monsters,
being softly enveloped by the dark.
Nineteen-year-old undocumented immigrant Hee-Jin lies on the floor of her cramped Seoul apartment, listening for footsteps.
But the knock on the door isn’t the police finally coming to deport her to North Korea. Instead, sprawled on the doorstep is a disfigured, bird-like corpse—and it has her eyes. Her younger sister, artist Hee-Young, is meant to be on an art program in America, not dead of a strange overdose.
But in Hee-Young’s pocket is a plane ticket and US passport. Seeing her chance for freedom, Hee-Jin steals her sister’s identity and takes her place, determined to uncover what really happened to her.
But the deeper she dives into the program’s strange workings, the closer she gets to the monstrous secret at its heart.
A page-turner of a mystery filled with gorgeous, creepy Korean folklore and imagery, Aviary, written by critically acclaimed Korean American author Maria Dong, is also a story about power, violence, exploitation—and transformation. And, above all, it's about the choices women make from within a system where all the available options are bad ones.
435 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 31, 2026
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 11, 2026
A Great Thriller with unnecessary Gothic pieces and lackluster ending
If you had told me this story was focused on a young girl getting "rescued" by a place that wasn't what it seems I would have enjoyed it more. The thriller aspects with the girls and the Shepherd were well planned and even at times getting perspective of the wife of the Shepherd were good. But shoehorning the dead sister in the narrative at random points felt too deus ex machina to warrant respect and the way the ending comes together somehow as well as the connections shared just didn't feel they were earned, more like it was an attempt to bring it all together. And the means of the how the character escapes made little sense. I'd lean more toward 3.5 than 3.
If you had told me this story was focused on a young girl getting "rescued" by a place that wasn't what it seems I would have enjoyed it more. The thriller aspects with the girls and the Shepherd were well planned and even at times getting perspective of the wife of the Shepherd were good. But shoehorning the dead sister in the narrative at random points felt too deus ex machina to warrant respect and the way the ending comes together somehow as well as the connections shared just didn't feel they were earned, more like it was an attempt to bring it all together. And the means of the how the character escapes made little sense. I'd lean more toward 3.5 than 3.
Displaying 1 of 1 review