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Small Revolution, A
In this powerful, page-turning debut, Jimin Han deftly shows that revolutions—whether big or small, in the world or of the heart—can have an impact that lasts through time and spans the oceans. On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life. As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance. Through scenes of political upheaval and protests in South Korea, spirited conversations in cramped dumpling houses, and the quiet moments that happen when two people fall in love, A Small Revolution is a moving narrative brimming with longing, love, fear, and—ultimately—hope.
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First published May 1, 2017
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About the author
Jimin Han
6 books132 followersJimin Han was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island; Dayton, Ohio; and Jamestown, New York. Her work has been supported by the New York State Council on the Arts. She is the author of The Apology and A Small Revolution. Additional writing of hers can be found online at American Public Media's Weekend America, Poets & Writers, and Catapult, among others. She teaches at The Writing Institute at Sarah Lawrence College, Pace University, and community writing centers. She lives outside New York City with her husband and children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 226 reviews
February 12, 2017
I read an advanced copy. To say it's haunting would be an understatement. I haven't been able to stop thinking about the characters.
The only negative about this book is that I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night reading and was useless the next day. Yes, this for me, is the Breaking Bad of books. You can't stop until you get to the end and then you're so sad that it's over.
Word of advice to readers: Don't start reading at night unless you can sleep in the next day.
I want more!
The only negative about this book is that I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night reading and was useless the next day. Yes, this for me, is the Breaking Bad of books. You can't stop until you get to the end and then you're so sad that it's over.
Word of advice to readers: Don't start reading at night unless you can sleep in the next day.
I want more!
April 2, 2017
This books opens with a tense situation, four college women are being held hostage by Lloyd Kang. As the story unfolds, it goes back and forth between the hostage situation and the previous summer in South Korea where Yoona (one of the hostages) meets Lloyd and Jaesung.
The story touches on a lot of powerful subjects: political activism, domestic violence, gun violence, abortion, mental illness, young love, and stalking.
Yoona's romance with Jaesung is sweet and a little unsettling. Jaesung and Lloyd are friends who very much want to get involved in the political protests in South Korea, Yoona is reluctant and scared. The book takes place in the mid-80's, so when Yoona gets word that Jaesung has been killed in an accident, she wants information. But how does that happen in the 80's? There's no internet, no YouTube, even international phone calls were complicated (not to mention expensive). So Yoona is left with microfiche in the library, and Lloyd's theories/first person accounts.
The book isn't very long, and as more and more gets revealed the tension really ratchets up! I'm glad I had a nice rainy afternoon that I could spend reading, I didn't want to put it down. The characters in this book will stay with me for awhile.
The story touches on a lot of powerful subjects: political activism, domestic violence, gun violence, abortion, mental illness, young love, and stalking.
Yoona's romance with Jaesung is sweet and a little unsettling. Jaesung and Lloyd are friends who very much want to get involved in the political protests in South Korea, Yoona is reluctant and scared. The book takes place in the mid-80's, so when Yoona gets word that Jaesung has been killed in an accident, she wants information. But how does that happen in the 80's? There's no internet, no YouTube, even international phone calls were complicated (not to mention expensive). So Yoona is left with microfiche in the library, and Lloyd's theories/first person accounts.
The book isn't very long, and as more and more gets revealed the tension really ratchets up! I'm glad I had a nice rainy afternoon that I could spend reading, I didn't want to put it down. The characters in this book will stay with me for awhile.
September 6, 2017
Not necessarily bad but still pretty far from good. I proudly DNF'd..
May 22, 2017
2.5 stars - rounded down.
As the blurb for this book indicates: "On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.
That clearly summarizes the entire plot for this novel. In a somewhat convoluted style, we get the pieces of the puzzle as Yoona speaks to Jaesung in her mind while the ordeal proceeds. In this narrative, she lays out all the events that lead up to the hostage situation and reveal the character of both Lloyd and Yoona, herself. The beginning of the novel is very slow, and I considered bailing several times, but the second half moves more quickly and carries more weight. In the end, It was neither a good nor a bad book.
While it was apparent to me from the beginning that Lloyd was a pretty volatile creature, I failed to understand why Yoona did not make the connection. Perhaps benefit of the doubt at first meeting, but really hard to explain how long she goes before she makes the commitment to his not being a very reliable source of information. Even during the hostage situation itself, she shows signs of naivety that are astounding.
Toward the end I did begin to feel the pressure of the situation on all the girls. So, after a fairly detached and unemotional read, there was some emotional connection. I think Jimin Han has talent as a writer and if you put this into the perspective of being a debut effort, it is quite well done.
This book was furnished to me by the author in return for a fair review.
As the blurb for this book indicates: "On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.
That clearly summarizes the entire plot for this novel. In a somewhat convoluted style, we get the pieces of the puzzle as Yoona speaks to Jaesung in her mind while the ordeal proceeds. In this narrative, she lays out all the events that lead up to the hostage situation and reveal the character of both Lloyd and Yoona, herself. The beginning of the novel is very slow, and I considered bailing several times, but the second half moves more quickly and carries more weight. In the end, It was neither a good nor a bad book.
While it was apparent to me from the beginning that Lloyd was a pretty volatile creature, I failed to understand why Yoona did not make the connection. Perhaps benefit of the doubt at first meeting, but really hard to explain how long she goes before she makes the commitment to his not being a very reliable source of information. Even during the hostage situation itself, she shows signs of naivety that are astounding.
Toward the end I did begin to feel the pressure of the situation on all the girls. So, after a fairly detached and unemotional read, there was some emotional connection. I think Jimin Han has talent as a writer and if you put this into the perspective of being a debut effort, it is quite well done.
This book was furnished to me by the author in return for a fair review.
April 6, 2018
This is an amazingly urgent novel for one that spends so much time in the past. I wouldn't have thought it could keep me on the edge of my seat like that, going between the immediate moment and elucidating like that, but it really does. I couldn't stop reading, even if I'd wanted to.
April 14, 2017
This was another Kindle First Book. I thought it would be interesting, but to be honest, I found it repetitive and slow-moving. Every time I picked it up, I got sleepy. So today, I am at about 68% and decided to give it up. No, I haven't finished.
December 16, 2018
😮 ...
😮 ...
😮 ...
Go read this book.
I really don’t know what to say that won’t give something away.
It’s short and intense - I read it in 3 hours.
And now I need a serious palate cleanser, or this will linger with me for a week.
Read this book!❤️ 📚
😮 ...
😮 ...
Go read this book.
I really don’t know what to say that won’t give something away.
It’s short and intense - I read it in 3 hours.
And now I need a serious palate cleanser, or this will linger with me for a week.
Read this book!❤️ 📚
January 24, 2018
Esta novela comienza como las revoluciones, aparentemente de golpe pero conforme avanza a uno le queda claro que todo -la historia, la revolución, el conflicto de los personajes- ha comenzado mucho antes.
Yoona y sus amigas son tomadas en su campus universitario como rehenes por Lloyd, quien exige ver a Reagan y a los líderes de Corea del Sur y Corea del Norte a cambio de la libertad de las chicas. Pero la seguridad de las chicas no depende de los líderes sino de la perturbada mente de Lloyd. El secuestro es, sin embargo, el marco de otra historia más. Porque, mucho antes del secuestro, Yoona había sido enviada por sus padres a un intercambio que la pondrá en contacto con sus raíces coreanas, y es ahí donde se ve envuelta en una historia de amor y un movimiento social en ciernes. Volver al hogar, a Estados Unidos, no significa escapar a lo ocurrido sino, más bien, enfrentarlo.
A Small Revolution es una novela de suspenso que narra una historia que hemos escuchado ya, pero tal vez no descubierto del todo.
Yoona y sus amigas son tomadas en su campus universitario como rehenes por Lloyd, quien exige ver a Reagan y a los líderes de Corea del Sur y Corea del Norte a cambio de la libertad de las chicas. Pero la seguridad de las chicas no depende de los líderes sino de la perturbada mente de Lloyd. El secuestro es, sin embargo, el marco de otra historia más. Porque, mucho antes del secuestro, Yoona había sido enviada por sus padres a un intercambio que la pondrá en contacto con sus raíces coreanas, y es ahí donde se ve envuelta en una historia de amor y un movimiento social en ciernes. Volver al hogar, a Estados Unidos, no significa escapar a lo ocurrido sino, más bien, enfrentarlo.
A Small Revolution es una novela de suspenso que narra una historia que hemos escuchado ya, pero tal vez no descubierto del todo.
April 17, 2017
"A Small Revolution" is about a college freshman, Yoona, who is being held hostage in her dorm room by her friend, Lloyd, whom she met in South Korea the previous summer. Lloyd is convinced that their friend, Jaesung, who died in a car crash in Seoul, is still alive but being held prisoner by North Korea. As the hostage situation unfolds, Yoona reflects back on the summer, her time with Lloyd and Jaesung, and the events leading up to the present.
Frankly, I did not enjoy this novel. The narrative style was difficult for me; Yoona narrates the story in first person, but it's presented as a conversation between herself and Jaesung. I think Han did this to make the story seem more intimate, but it had the opposite effect for me; I felt like Jaesung was nothing more than a plot device and I never felt a connection to his character or understood why he was interested in Yoona. The novel would have benefited from more time spent on Yoona, Lloyd, and Jaesung's time in South Korea; as it is, that part felt rushed whereas the second half of the novel seemed to drag. The dialogue is also clunky at times, mainly when Lloyd is talking.
There are some things that this novel does well - Han is particularly good at capturing tense moments - but in general, "A Small Revolution" was not an enjoyable read.
Frankly, I did not enjoy this novel. The narrative style was difficult for me; Yoona narrates the story in first person, but it's presented as a conversation between herself and Jaesung. I think Han did this to make the story seem more intimate, but it had the opposite effect for me; I felt like Jaesung was nothing more than a plot device and I never felt a connection to his character or understood why he was interested in Yoona. The novel would have benefited from more time spent on Yoona, Lloyd, and Jaesung's time in South Korea; as it is, that part felt rushed whereas the second half of the novel seemed to drag. The dialogue is also clunky at times, mainly when Lloyd is talking.
There are some things that this novel does well - Han is particularly good at capturing tense moments - but in general, "A Small Revolution" was not an enjoyable read.
December 24, 2018
Read this on a recommendation from a friend. It was fast paced and gripping, interesting premise but I have a feeling in six weeks from now I will not recall much of the story.
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November 10, 2017
This page turner of a novel is brilliantly written and absolutely terrifying: a college girl is held hostage in her dorm room. As the story unfolds, you learn about how the girl (of Korean descent) meets two Americans (also of Korean descent) in a student tour/study aboard program in South Korea right before college begins. There are a lot of painful moments and at times I just had to put down the book because it was so intense. But, then, of course, I had to pick it up again so I could find out what happens.
May 7, 2017
Ugh.....
Fast but unsatisfying read. Repetitive. So repetitive. The naïveté (gullibility? Stupidity?) of the main character became so annoying towards the end. The doubt she has is just so nonsensical.
Kitchen sink full of plot lines (political turmoil, spousal abuse, teenage angst and alienation, conspiracies, mental illness) that still couldn't generate a satisfying read.
Fast but unsatisfying read. Repetitive. So repetitive. The naïveté (gullibility? Stupidity?) of the main character became so annoying towards the end. The doubt she has is just so nonsensical.
Kitchen sink full of plot lines (political turmoil, spousal abuse, teenage angst and alienation, conspiracies, mental illness) that still couldn't generate a satisfying read.
August 20, 2018
On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
November 9, 2018
On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
November 9, 2018
On a beautiful Pennsylvania fall morning, a gunman holds college freshman Yoona Lee and three of her classmates hostage in the claustrophobic confines of their dorm room. The desperate man with his finger on the trigger—Yoona’s onetime friend, Lloyd Kang—is unraveling after a mysterious accident in Korea killed his closest friend, Jaesung, who was also the love of Yoona’s life.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
As the tense standoff unfolds, Yoona is forced to revisit her past, from growing up in an abusive household to the upheaval in her ancestral homeland to unwittingly falling in love. She must also confront the truth about what happened to Jaesung on that tragic day, even as her own fate hangs in the balance.
October 13, 2017
This was a Kindle First advance book, which I began reading in April. I was initially caught up in the thriller narrative and thought the characters were engaging, but the intermittent ravings of Lloyd, the student holding the three hostages in their dorm room, lost me. Lloyd was trigger happy and distraught after his closest friend was killed in Korea. That friend, Jaesung, was also hostage Yoona's lost love, and her imaginary conversations with Jaesung are poignant with peril. I set this aside months ago and kept forgetting to finish, so I would give it a 3.5 if that were possible. I will look for other work from this author, as this is a promising debut.
May 31, 2017
this book sounded so promising--expected some kind of thriller, yes it is the Reagan era and lots of political stuff, gun violence and crazy young love but so slow, I took a break and read a different better book in between. Some might like the back and forth between the current hostage situation and what happened when in Korea. Me, aw did not work for me this time. This was another Amazon First let down for me! Hope others like it!
June 13, 2017
only ok....didn't love, but didn't make me want to read every night either.
February 11, 2019
3.5 gripping novel
April 6, 2017
The book provide insight into Korean revolution and its effects on Koreans living inside and outside Korea. It is thought provoking, however, the psychotic characteristics of Lloyd becomes unbearable to read. If she cut short his psychotic ramblings, this would have been a very good book
April 25, 2017
I downloaded A Small Revolution to read on an upcoming trip, and I made the mistake of sampling the first few pages just to see what it was like. I say it was a mistake because I got hooked in so quickly that I ended up reading the whole thing instead of packing or running errands to get ready for the trip! Jimin Han's novel is my favorite type of novel: literary suspense, with a strong suspense/mystery that pulls you in quickly and keeps you turning the pages (is Yoona's boyfriend really being held hostage in North Korea, as Lloyd claims, or is he dead? Will Yoona and her friends make it out alive?) and combines that with beautiful writing and deep dives into complex, fascinating characters. I especially loved the final 1/4 of the novel. There were several twists that I did not see coming (but as soon as I read them, I smacked my head and went, "Of course!!!!"), which made me grip the book and rush to finish it.
I read some of the negative reviews and didn't really understand them. There are so many novels these days (especially thrillers) that go back and forth between the present and flashbacks, which is what this book does. It's true that the chapters are very short, so it can be a little disorienting at first to go back and forth so many times and so quickly, but it doesn't take long to get used to that style. And I thought Yoona's narration style of talking to her boyfriend created an intimate voice that I found compelling. It's true that those elements of the novel (along with other quirks, like Lloyd's dialogue when he holds the girls hostage being set in all-caps) are not run-of-the-mill things you see in most novels, but to me, that only makes the novel more interesting and fun to figure out!
I read some of the negative reviews and didn't really understand them. There are so many novels these days (especially thrillers) that go back and forth between the present and flashbacks, which is what this book does. It's true that the chapters are very short, so it can be a little disorienting at first to go back and forth so many times and so quickly, but it doesn't take long to get used to that style. And I thought Yoona's narration style of talking to her boyfriend created an intimate voice that I found compelling. It's true that those elements of the novel (along with other quirks, like Lloyd's dialogue when he holds the girls hostage being set in all-caps) are not run-of-the-mill things you see in most novels, but to me, that only makes the novel more interesting and fun to figure out!
May 9, 2017
A Small Revolution is a lyrical thriller set in a small college in Pennsylvania in the middle of a hostage crisis, four girls kidnapped in a dorm room. It is a story of obsession, painful family secrets and young love. The novel switches between the dramatic and brutal events of the kidnapping and the internal voice of the young woman Yoona, the main protagonist in the story. I finished reading the book at 3:30 this morning and I know I will read it again. It is haunting in the way of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go.
May 18, 2017
Powerful and Engaging
What starts as pieces, that the reader must pick up and fit together, quickly becomes an engrossing narrative of young romance amid political turmoil juxtaposed with a tragic psychotic break.
The book begins in the middle of the story, as four young girls are taken hostage in a college dorm. Then alternates the narrative switching from the story of the protagonist and her fateful trip to Korea, with the tense standoff between her captor and the police.
It is an engaging story about human emotions and fragile minds in times of crisis.
What starts as pieces, that the reader must pick up and fit together, quickly becomes an engrossing narrative of young romance amid political turmoil juxtaposed with a tragic psychotic break.
The book begins in the middle of the story, as four young girls are taken hostage in a college dorm. Then alternates the narrative switching from the story of the protagonist and her fateful trip to Korea, with the tense standoff between her captor and the police.
It is an engaging story about human emotions and fragile minds in times of crisis.
August 16, 2018
Always lovely when your friend is so talented.
April 26, 2017
Terribly inconsistent. At one point her father never hits her mom where it shows, at other points it's makeup over a black eye, a often broken arm. Otherwise it's slightly silly, with a stupid ending
Eh. Fled it was short or I would have put it down and not bothered finishing it. I will avoid this author in the future. I just wasted part of this day
Eh. Fled it was short or I would have put it down and not bothered finishing it. I will avoid this author in the future. I just wasted part of this day
June 5, 2017
A page-turner that beautifully evokes the loss of innocence and also of love as Yoona, the Korean-American narrator learns what she is capable of in a terrifying hostage situation in her dorm room. Jimin Han's novel is set in the 1980s, but is chillingly timely in the parallels of political repression triggering a personal descent into mental illness and violence. A must-read.
February 21, 2018
I thought this was a gem of a book. Focused and beautifully written, I felt as trapped in that dorm room as the characters. Although some of the larger political issues could have been explored further, the relevance of this story, given what is going on in schools and campuses around the country, is chilling.
July 30, 2017
I found the rapid POV shifts annoying, the storyline too implausible, and nothing (other than the mention of Reagan) gave me any sense of the period. I made it a third of the way through, and the prose was okay, but that wasn’t enough to keep me reading.
July 23, 2021
Jimin Han's debut novel is decent, if somewhat confined, thriller with mostly short -- some very short -- chapters that keep the pages turned and give it a sense of urgency and pace.
On an anonymous 1980s morning at a small Pennsylvanian college, Lloyd Kang, takes Yoona, our narrator, and three of her friends hostage in her dorm room. He has a story to tell about his best friend, Jaesung, who happens to be the love of Yoona's life following a trip to Korea. Lloyd's story forces Yoona to examine her life, her relationships, all the while not knowing where truth ends and begins.
It's told through a number of threads. We have the current situation in the college room, plus some past tense stuff of the visit to Korea and the aftermath, all of which drip-feeds us the detail that will gradually form the bigger picture. There's no real reason for the story to be told in this way other than to preserve plot points, though, so it does feel quite disjointed in places and a number of times I wondered why I was learned more about the Korea trip when the present day stuff was at a far more interesting point. Also, the other characters outside of Yoona, Lloyd, and Jaesung, feel very interchangeable and again present more to service plot than story.
That said, it's a perfectly enjoyable quick read which deals with Korean politics of the day in an interesting way, and paints a very credible portrait of a character who one suspects isn't aware if the words falling out of their mouth is truth or lies.
On an anonymous 1980s morning at a small Pennsylvanian college, Lloyd Kang, takes Yoona, our narrator, and three of her friends hostage in her dorm room. He has a story to tell about his best friend, Jaesung, who happens to be the love of Yoona's life following a trip to Korea. Lloyd's story forces Yoona to examine her life, her relationships, all the while not knowing where truth ends and begins.
It's told through a number of threads. We have the current situation in the college room, plus some past tense stuff of the visit to Korea and the aftermath, all of which drip-feeds us the detail that will gradually form the bigger picture. There's no real reason for the story to be told in this way other than to preserve plot points, though, so it does feel quite disjointed in places and a number of times I wondered why I was learned more about the Korea trip when the present day stuff was at a far more interesting point. Also, the other characters outside of Yoona, Lloyd, and Jaesung, feel very interchangeable and again present more to service plot than story.
That said, it's a perfectly enjoyable quick read which deals with Korean politics of the day in an interesting way, and paints a very credible portrait of a character who one suspects isn't aware if the words falling out of their mouth is truth or lies.
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