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O Beautiful
From the critically acclaimed author of Shelter, an unflinching portrayal of a woman trying to come to terms with the ghosts of her past and the tortured realities of a deeply divided America
Elinor Hanson, a forty-something former model, is struggling to reinvent herself as a freelance writer when she receives an unexpected assignment. Her mentor from grad school offers her a chance to write for a prestigious magazine about the Bakken oil boom in North Dakota. Elinor grew up near the Bakken, raised by an overbearing father and a distant Korean mother who met and married when he was stationed overseas. After decades away from home, Elinor returns to a landscape she hardly recognizes, overrun by tens of thousands of newcomers. Surrounded by roughnecks seeking their fortunes in oil and long-time residents worried about their changing community, Elinor experiences a profound sense of alienation and grief. She rages at the unrelenting male gaze, the locals who still see her as a foreigner, and the memories of her family’s estrangement after her mother decided to escape her unhappy marriage, leaving Elinor and her sister behind. The longer she pursues this potentially career-altering assignment, the more her past intertwines with the story she’s trying to tell, revealing disturbing new realities that will forever change her and the way she looks at the world.
With spare and graceful prose, O Beautiful presents an immersive portrait of a community rife with tensions and competing interests, and one woman’s attempts to reconcile her anger with her love of a beautiful, but troubled land.
Elinor Hanson, a forty-something former model, is struggling to reinvent herself as a freelance writer when she receives an unexpected assignment. Her mentor from grad school offers her a chance to write for a prestigious magazine about the Bakken oil boom in North Dakota. Elinor grew up near the Bakken, raised by an overbearing father and a distant Korean mother who met and married when he was stationed overseas. After decades away from home, Elinor returns to a landscape she hardly recognizes, overrun by tens of thousands of newcomers. Surrounded by roughnecks seeking their fortunes in oil and long-time residents worried about their changing community, Elinor experiences a profound sense of alienation and grief. She rages at the unrelenting male gaze, the locals who still see her as a foreigner, and the memories of her family’s estrangement after her mother decided to escape her unhappy marriage, leaving Elinor and her sister behind. The longer she pursues this potentially career-altering assignment, the more her past intertwines with the story she’s trying to tell, revealing disturbing new realities that will forever change her and the way she looks at the world.
With spare and graceful prose, O Beautiful presents an immersive portrait of a community rife with tensions and competing interests, and one woman’s attempts to reconcile her anger with her love of a beautiful, but troubled land.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 9, 2021
255 people are currently reading
13260 people want to read
About the author
Jung Yun
3 books537 followersJung Yun was born in South Korea, raised in North Dakota, and has lived in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and most recently, Baltimore, Maryland, where she currently resides. Her short fiction has appeared in Tin House, The Best of Tin House: Stories, The Indiana Review, and The Massachusetts Review.
Her latest novel is All the World Can Hold, which will be published by 37 Ink/Simon & Schuster in March 2026. Her other novels are O Beautiful, a The New York Times and Amazon Editor’s Choice, and Shelter, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, an Amazon Best Book of the Month selection in two categories (Literature/Fiction and Mysteries/Thrillers/Suspense), an Indie Next selection, an Apple iBooks' Best Books of the Month selection, and a Goodreads Best Books of the Month selection. It was also long-listed for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, a semi-finalist for Good Reads' Best Fiction Book of 2016, and a finalist for the 2016 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program.
Her latest novel is All the World Can Hold, which will be published by 37 Ink/Simon & Schuster in March 2026. Her other novels are O Beautiful, a The New York Times and Amazon Editor’s Choice, and Shelter, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, an Amazon Best Book of the Month selection in two categories (Literature/Fiction and Mysteries/Thrillers/Suspense), an Indie Next selection, an Apple iBooks' Best Books of the Month selection, and a Goodreads Best Books of the Month selection. It was also long-listed for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize, a semi-finalist for Good Reads' Best Fiction Book of 2016, and a finalist for the 2016 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 718 reviews
July 1, 2021
I gave my own book five stars! But I spent five long years with this story, so of course I love it. I hope others will too.
June 30, 2021
I read this book - slowly and carefully—
Most > passionately!!! There’s a lot going on…
I will return to write a more detailed review soon!
I’m back….
“O Beautiful”, opened my eyes to corruption, injustice, racial slandering, pollution, traffic overcrowding, sexism, misogyny, environmental toxicity, Native American civil rights, noise, and the oil boom that turned the small quiet town of Bakken into total chaos…creating divided rumble and strife between the ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’.
Character, Harry Bergum —(for example), considered the King of Avery, was the unofficial mayor.
Bergum was the first local to truly make big money and oil —$28 million and counting— he did this long before anyone knew what fracking or horizontal drilling was. Many locals felt that he not only brought jobs, but he also brought the oil trash and crime —and everything else that was ruining their town.
So….
…..setting these basic facts aside — for a moment —there is much more going on in “O Beautiful”….(several more poignant and complicated themes)….
But….the book is anything but dry. I took my time thinking about many issues brought up - but Jung Yun’s prose had so much experiential charm…that I was thoroughly enthralled. Had a few fun chuckles too.
We meet Elinor Hanson (a staggering/captivating protagonist), who gives “O Beautiful”, the novels dazzling heartbeat.
The opening scene is knockout hilarious—(a fabulous beginning teaser introducing readers to more serious issues which will float to the surface the further we get deeper into this story).
Elinor Hanson was a tall half-Asian-half-white women.
She was forty-two years old, from New York….(grew up in North Dakota: in Markow, about ninety minutes from Avery).
At the start …..
Elinor was sitting next to a stranger on the plane who kept generating a conversation with her - when she simply wanted to take Restoril and fall asleep.
The man kept staring at her.
Then says:
“You have some interesting tattoos. I don’t see a lot of Asian women with tattoos usually, not like that, at least”.
The man on the plane kept on talking to Elinor. He told her that he was in finance. He kept pushing for conversation when Elinor was trying to politely tell him she wanted to sleep.
“I was only making conversation, you know. I don’t pick up random women on planes, if that’s what you’re thinking”.
“I didn’t think you were trying to pick—“
“Yeah, well, don’t flatter yourself. You’re not my type”.
His anger seemed disproportionate to what Elinor said, but she let it go.
The plane lands….
……the drama continues and continues….taking new turns.
The imagery—the experience—of the oil patch town, with its donut shops, long lines everywhere to get into stores, the roughnecks, the fallout for the community, the repercussion from the explosive growth, …was so vivid to me — at times it felt like watching current event news from my own living room on the TV.
And…..
…..Its Elinor who gives this story personal intimacy.
She was hired to write an article about the changes in North Dakota.
Elinor actually grew up in this town. Her father was stationed in the Air Force Military. Her mother was from Korea.
The personal stories- background history about Elinor’s parents, (Ed and Nami), Elinor’s own younger self, her education, her involvement with a professor, (who got her the assignment writing job), her insecurities, (feelings of being an outsider), her anger, being a woman, being Asian, being misunderstood….. > all add so much to this novel.
When Elinor was in her late teens and twenties, men usually ‘assumed’ she was a model. She was!
“By industry standards, she had a prettier- than-average face, but not a well-known one”.
She had over fifteen years of steady catalog work and the occasional print ad. I found it insightful to learn - from Elinor - the differences of being the normal white model vs. the occasional exotic Asian model —
INJUSTICE IS FRICKEN EVERYWHERE!
Elinor hadn’t modeled in years, but she still had difficulty presenting herself as something other than what she ‘was’.
She reinvented herself….from model to writer…..by writing non-fiction, for magazines.
I enjoyed how Elinor’s voice became stronger throughout this novel. When she felt rage, I felt rage right along with her.
At some point - the article Elinor ends up writing was very different than the one it started out to be.
She took control of ‘her’ project ….ruffled some feathers …(I felt she was even honoring her mother in doing so)….kicked some ass….
and inspired the heck out of me.
Great book…(not one to rush-read…but very powerful).
I’m a fan of Jung Yun 📚💕
Most > passionately!!! There’s a lot going on…
I will return to write a more detailed review soon!
I’m back….
“O Beautiful”, opened my eyes to corruption, injustice, racial slandering, pollution, traffic overcrowding, sexism, misogyny, environmental toxicity, Native American civil rights, noise, and the oil boom that turned the small quiet town of Bakken into total chaos…creating divided rumble and strife between the ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’.
Character, Harry Bergum —(for example), considered the King of Avery, was the unofficial mayor.
Bergum was the first local to truly make big money and oil —$28 million and counting— he did this long before anyone knew what fracking or horizontal drilling was. Many locals felt that he not only brought jobs, but he also brought the oil trash and crime —and everything else that was ruining their town.
So….
…..setting these basic facts aside — for a moment —there is much more going on in “O Beautiful”….(several more poignant and complicated themes)….
But….the book is anything but dry. I took my time thinking about many issues brought up - but Jung Yun’s prose had so much experiential charm…that I was thoroughly enthralled. Had a few fun chuckles too.
We meet Elinor Hanson (a staggering/captivating protagonist), who gives “O Beautiful”, the novels dazzling heartbeat.
The opening scene is knockout hilarious—(a fabulous beginning teaser introducing readers to more serious issues which will float to the surface the further we get deeper into this story).
Elinor Hanson was a tall half-Asian-half-white women.
She was forty-two years old, from New York….(grew up in North Dakota: in Markow, about ninety minutes from Avery).
At the start …..
Elinor was sitting next to a stranger on the plane who kept generating a conversation with her - when she simply wanted to take Restoril and fall asleep.
The man kept staring at her.
Then says:
“You have some interesting tattoos. I don’t see a lot of Asian women with tattoos usually, not like that, at least”.
The man on the plane kept on talking to Elinor. He told her that he was in finance. He kept pushing for conversation when Elinor was trying to politely tell him she wanted to sleep.
“I was only making conversation, you know. I don’t pick up random women on planes, if that’s what you’re thinking”.
“I didn’t think you were trying to pick—“
“Yeah, well, don’t flatter yourself. You’re not my type”.
His anger seemed disproportionate to what Elinor said, but she let it go.
The plane lands….
……the drama continues and continues….taking new turns.
The imagery—the experience—of the oil patch town, with its donut shops, long lines everywhere to get into stores, the roughnecks, the fallout for the community, the repercussion from the explosive growth, …was so vivid to me — at times it felt like watching current event news from my own living room on the TV.
And…..
…..Its Elinor who gives this story personal intimacy.
She was hired to write an article about the changes in North Dakota.
Elinor actually grew up in this town. Her father was stationed in the Air Force Military. Her mother was from Korea.
The personal stories- background history about Elinor’s parents, (Ed and Nami), Elinor’s own younger self, her education, her involvement with a professor, (who got her the assignment writing job), her insecurities, (feelings of being an outsider), her anger, being a woman, being Asian, being misunderstood….. > all add so much to this novel.
When Elinor was in her late teens and twenties, men usually ‘assumed’ she was a model. She was!
“By industry standards, she had a prettier- than-average face, but not a well-known one”.
She had over fifteen years of steady catalog work and the occasional print ad. I found it insightful to learn - from Elinor - the differences of being the normal white model vs. the occasional exotic Asian model —
INJUSTICE IS FRICKEN EVERYWHERE!
Elinor hadn’t modeled in years, but she still had difficulty presenting herself as something other than what she ‘was’.
She reinvented herself….from model to writer…..by writing non-fiction, for magazines.
I enjoyed how Elinor’s voice became stronger throughout this novel. When she felt rage, I felt rage right along with her.
At some point - the article Elinor ends up writing was very different than the one it started out to be.
She took control of ‘her’ project ….ruffled some feathers …(I felt she was even honoring her mother in doing so)….kicked some ass….
and inspired the heck out of me.
Great book…(not one to rush-read…but very powerful).
I’m a fan of Jung Yun 📚💕
September 3, 2022
“O Beautiful” is a quietly brooding stunner of a novel. Author Jung Yun is able to paint an oppressive environment filled with rage, fear, greed, insecurity, wealth, and poverty. What is stunning is that she uses an unlikable protagonist to hook the reader into caring about her journey.
Elinor Hanson is a former model, exotically beautiful, with a chip on her shoulder. She used her looks as income, and as happens with many models, she self-sabotaged herself with alcohol and partying. Once she became a has-been, she went to grad school to become a writer and reinvent herself. She’s stalled in her writing career when her former grad school mentor (and lover) offers her a writing assignment for an esteemed magazine about the Bakken oil boom in North Dakota. Because Elinor grew up near there, at an air force base, she is considered an “insider” and will have the advantage of connections.
She is amazed at the change of the area since she was last there a few decades ago. The town, Avery, was a population of 4,000 prior to the thousands of itinerant oil workers who came to work there. The town had no infrastructure to support the masses. Jung’s prose made me viscerally cringe with uncomfortableness.
Elinor is expected to write about the town being altered by greed, desperation, and competing interests. Her week-long journey brings to light another, more interesting story involving a divided population leading to all the ugliness of racism. Using and following her writing instincts, she notes and follows the women who chose to work here.
My favorite quotes:
“That’s probably why this land means so much to her, it’s a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start.”
“And they’re not likely to appreciate her pointing out that racism can sometimes be ugly and overt like this, but more often than not, it’s the drop of poison in the well that people don’t notice because they’ve been drinking the same water for too long.”
Jung Yun takes us on Elinor’s journey of reckoning with her past and acknowledging the current moment and her place as an Asian American woman in our deeply divided nation. This isn’t a bad guy good guy story, Yun shows the complexity and greyness of racism, sexism, and social class.
Beautifully written with an important message. I highly recommend this novel.
Elinor Hanson is a former model, exotically beautiful, with a chip on her shoulder. She used her looks as income, and as happens with many models, she self-sabotaged herself with alcohol and partying. Once she became a has-been, she went to grad school to become a writer and reinvent herself. She’s stalled in her writing career when her former grad school mentor (and lover) offers her a writing assignment for an esteemed magazine about the Bakken oil boom in North Dakota. Because Elinor grew up near there, at an air force base, she is considered an “insider” and will have the advantage of connections.
She is amazed at the change of the area since she was last there a few decades ago. The town, Avery, was a population of 4,000 prior to the thousands of itinerant oil workers who came to work there. The town had no infrastructure to support the masses. Jung’s prose made me viscerally cringe with uncomfortableness.
Elinor is expected to write about the town being altered by greed, desperation, and competing interests. Her week-long journey brings to light another, more interesting story involving a divided population leading to all the ugliness of racism. Using and following her writing instincts, she notes and follows the women who chose to work here.
My favorite quotes:
“That’s probably why this land means so much to her, it’s a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start.”
“And they’re not likely to appreciate her pointing out that racism can sometimes be ugly and overt like this, but more often than not, it’s the drop of poison in the well that people don’t notice because they’ve been drinking the same water for too long.”
Jung Yun takes us on Elinor’s journey of reckoning with her past and acknowledging the current moment and her place as an Asian American woman in our deeply divided nation. This isn’t a bad guy good guy story, Yun shows the complexity and greyness of racism, sexism, and social class.
Beautifully written with an important message. I highly recommend this novel.
February 24, 2022
[4.5] For me, this was not a book to finish, put down and forget. It will live inside me. I was invested in Elinor (and worried for her) from the first page. A recent college graduate in her 40s, Elinor is on unsteady ground in her new writing career when she arrives in the oil boom town of Avery, North Dakota on assignment.
While trying to write about the greed, racism and misogyny she encounters, Elinor is forced to reckon with her own past and her mother's abandonment. The town and the land is "a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start." Yun's writing is fresh and pitch perfect. A profound book!
While trying to write about the greed, racism and misogyny she encounters, Elinor is forced to reckon with her own past and her mother's abandonment. The town and the land is "a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start." Yun's writing is fresh and pitch perfect. A profound book!
October 27, 2022
A novel with a unique plot. In O Beautiful, we follow forty-something-year-old Elinor Hanson, a biracial Asian American former model who travels to a town in North Dakota, close to where she grew up, for a journalism assignment. Elinor learns about the town and its people and their struggles all while reconciling her own past, including a mother who left her, her sister, and her father before Elinor had all grown up.
I liked this book’s incisive portrayal of the racism and sexism Elinor experiences as an Asian American woman. O Beautiful also does a nice job of capturing issues of classism in this booming North Dakota oil town as well as the xenophobia and racism of its white inhabitants. Jung Yun highlights Elinor’s own shortcomings and growth in regard to issues of race and gender which made her realistic as a character. Yun’s writing is superb, too, a quality I remember from her debut Shelter - her prose feels effortless, easy and melodic to read.
My main constructive critique of O Beautiful is that I don’t feel like all the elements of Elinor’s character and relationships came together? Namely, she has a complicated connection with her sister as well as a nuanced, troubled former relationship with one of her writing professors. While I get that not all relationships are resolved in life, I didn’t feel compelled by where Elinor’s relationships left off. I wanted more focus on them and a deeper dive into her own character and feelings.
While writing this review I went back and forth between three and four stars. I’m landing on four because I think the ending of this book ends on a hopeful though not unrealistic note, showing Elinor’s growth through the messiness of her journey in O Beautiful.
I liked this book’s incisive portrayal of the racism and sexism Elinor experiences as an Asian American woman. O Beautiful also does a nice job of capturing issues of classism in this booming North Dakota oil town as well as the xenophobia and racism of its white inhabitants. Jung Yun highlights Elinor’s own shortcomings and growth in regard to issues of race and gender which made her realistic as a character. Yun’s writing is superb, too, a quality I remember from her debut Shelter - her prose feels effortless, easy and melodic to read.
My main constructive critique of O Beautiful is that I don’t feel like all the elements of Elinor’s character and relationships came together? Namely, she has a complicated connection with her sister as well as a nuanced, troubled former relationship with one of her writing professors. While I get that not all relationships are resolved in life, I didn’t feel compelled by where Elinor’s relationships left off. I wanted more focus on them and a deeper dive into her own character and feelings.
While writing this review I went back and forth between three and four stars. I’m landing on four because I think the ending of this book ends on a hopeful though not unrealistic note, showing Elinor’s growth through the messiness of her journey in O Beautiful.
August 29, 2021
4.5 stars. Somehow Yun has managed to capture almost everything in our present moment while also giving us a story that's extremely specific to a character and a place. Expertly done.
Elinor grew up half-white, half-Asian in North Dakota, a place she never felt at home. She escaped for New York the moment she could. Now, in her 40's, her career as a catalog model over and attempting to restart her life as a journalist, Elinor is coming back to North Dakota to report a story for a big name magazine about the way the oil boom has impacted a small town. Coming back home Elinor has to confront all the things she was running from--her mother leaving them when she was young, her fraught relationship with her sister, the racism she left behind--but there's also a whole new set of problems, Elinor's and the town's.
This makes it sound pretty complex, and it is, but at its heart the question of this book is, "Will Elinor write a good story?" As far as stakes go, it doesn't sound like all that much. But when you pile in all of the context and everything Elinor goes through, it ends up being an awful lot.
Elinor is kind of a mess in the way you get when you don't want to deal with your issues. She makes rash decisions sometimes, and other times she stays quiet instead of speaking up. She struggles to keep herself regulated without substances but won't admit that she's feeling anxious. To complicate matters more, Elinor only has this story because she was given it by her former professor and ex-lover, so it's not even a story that feels like hers. I feel like I've seen characters like Elinor before, the person who is really in need of shaping up, who keeps getting themselves into jams instead of out of them, but they're often young or they're men or they're white, and having a middle-aged Asian-American woman, where we also get to see exactly why she is the way she is, it hits differently.
There is so much here about insiders and outsiders, about race, about class, about gender. Everything in this town is dialed all the way up with the huge influx of people trying to make money while also wreaking havoc on the land and people around them. Elinor starts to see the ways she has overlooked things all her life, as she is forced to seek people out to report her story.
I was most of the way through this book, having been swept along, when I started to wonder what was going to happen. There wasn't much time left. Elinor was in more and more dire straits. I didn't see how we could resolve it. In fact, things only seemed to escalate, to the point that a scene near the end had me quivering with anxiety. And then, somehow, she did it. In just a few pages, she recentered me in Elinor and who she was and what I knew I wanted for her. Yun made it clear that this wasn't just a book where one thing happens and then another, it was a quick ending but an incredibly effective one.
Elinor grew up half-white, half-Asian in North Dakota, a place she never felt at home. She escaped for New York the moment she could. Now, in her 40's, her career as a catalog model over and attempting to restart her life as a journalist, Elinor is coming back to North Dakota to report a story for a big name magazine about the way the oil boom has impacted a small town. Coming back home Elinor has to confront all the things she was running from--her mother leaving them when she was young, her fraught relationship with her sister, the racism she left behind--but there's also a whole new set of problems, Elinor's and the town's.
This makes it sound pretty complex, and it is, but at its heart the question of this book is, "Will Elinor write a good story?" As far as stakes go, it doesn't sound like all that much. But when you pile in all of the context and everything Elinor goes through, it ends up being an awful lot.
Elinor is kind of a mess in the way you get when you don't want to deal with your issues. She makes rash decisions sometimes, and other times she stays quiet instead of speaking up. She struggles to keep herself regulated without substances but won't admit that she's feeling anxious. To complicate matters more, Elinor only has this story because she was given it by her former professor and ex-lover, so it's not even a story that feels like hers. I feel like I've seen characters like Elinor before, the person who is really in need of shaping up, who keeps getting themselves into jams instead of out of them, but they're often young or they're men or they're white, and having a middle-aged Asian-American woman, where we also get to see exactly why she is the way she is, it hits differently.
There is so much here about insiders and outsiders, about race, about class, about gender. Everything in this town is dialed all the way up with the huge influx of people trying to make money while also wreaking havoc on the land and people around them. Elinor starts to see the ways she has overlooked things all her life, as she is forced to seek people out to report her story.
I was most of the way through this book, having been swept along, when I started to wonder what was going to happen. There wasn't much time left. Elinor was in more and more dire straits. I didn't see how we could resolve it. In fact, things only seemed to escalate, to the point that a scene near the end had me quivering with anxiety. And then, somehow, she did it. In just a few pages, she recentered me in Elinor and who she was and what I knew I wanted for her. Yun made it clear that this wasn't just a book where one thing happens and then another, it was a quick ending but an incredibly effective one.
March 26, 2023
I went into this book with high hopes, but something fell. It's hard to describe, because I kept reading, immersed in the story of Elinor Hanson and fascinated by a cover with something to say.
Elinor, the product of an abandoned Korean mother and American father, is struggling to make sense of her new path. A former model, now in her 40's, aspiring to be a journalist. She's back in her old stomping grounds--North Dakota, to research the oil fracking business. She got the job on a whim--her ex-lover and professor has given her the story. She feels unsure of herself, never really part of any community. Too white for her people, too Asian for the Whites.
Nothing has changed in North Dakota, she still feels unwelcome, uncomfortable. Elinor can't get by without drugs and alcohol to numb the life she's lived. She also feels entitled. Smoking in a non-smoking hotel and getting fined, but arguing and whining...a mostly unlikeable character--but one you also feel for--growing up in a town that mocks you for looking and being different.
As she researches and uncovers the story of the North Dakota oil boom, she begins to learn of the unfairness, cruelty, and so much more.
O' Beautiful was a perplexing story. On the one hand, I was enticed by the geopolitical conflict, but the more I read, the more the story turned in a completely different direction. I was suddenly ushered to focus on racism and sexism. The original plot left dangling, swallowed by a new storyline. Even though the new premise was important, it left parts unfinished.
Elina was arrogant and self righteous. We are told in twenty different ways how hot she looks in her 40’s. Like, I get it, you're a model, you were hot, and maybe you still are, but let's move on...
Even though some things bothered me about this book, I kept reading, interested in Elina's journey of uncovering truths but also finding hope in her future. She was a fighter, desperate to unravel the truth and make something of herself--for that, I applaud her
I struggle to rate this book. It's a high 3, low 4. This is the second book I've read that was good enough to keep reading, but something bothered me--when I saw it, i couldn't unsee it...
3.75/5
Elinor, the product of an abandoned Korean mother and American father, is struggling to make sense of her new path. A former model, now in her 40's, aspiring to be a journalist. She's back in her old stomping grounds--North Dakota, to research the oil fracking business. She got the job on a whim--her ex-lover and professor has given her the story. She feels unsure of herself, never really part of any community. Too white for her people, too Asian for the Whites.
Nothing has changed in North Dakota, she still feels unwelcome, uncomfortable. Elinor can't get by without drugs and alcohol to numb the life she's lived. She also feels entitled. Smoking in a non-smoking hotel and getting fined, but arguing and whining...a mostly unlikeable character--but one you also feel for--growing up in a town that mocks you for looking and being different.
As she researches and uncovers the story of the North Dakota oil boom, she begins to learn of the unfairness, cruelty, and so much more.
O' Beautiful was a perplexing story. On the one hand, I was enticed by the geopolitical conflict, but the more I read, the more the story turned in a completely different direction. I was suddenly ushered to focus on racism and sexism. The original plot left dangling, swallowed by a new storyline. Even though the new premise was important, it left parts unfinished.
And they’re not likely to appreciate her pointing out that racism can sometimes be ugly and overt like this, but more often than not, it’s the drop of poison in the well that people don’t notice because they’ve been drinking the same water for too long
Elina was arrogant and self righteous. We are told in twenty different ways how hot she looks in her 40’s. Like, I get it, you're a model, you were hot, and maybe you still are, but let's move on...
Even though some things bothered me about this book, I kept reading, interested in Elina's journey of uncovering truths but also finding hope in her future. She was a fighter, desperate to unravel the truth and make something of herself--for that, I applaud her
I struggle to rate this book. It's a high 3, low 4. This is the second book I've read that was good enough to keep reading, but something bothered me--when I saw it, i couldn't unsee it...
3.75/5
June 5, 2023
Elinor grew up in the small town of Avery, North Dakota and escaped to NYC as soon as she could. She spent time modeling, then attended college, and now in her 40s, finds herself returning home to ND with an assignment to write about the oil boom taking place.
Elinor’s dad was a white man in the military and her mom, a Korean woman, who left when Elinor and her sister were younger. Elinor never felt at home in ND, a feeling that remains when she returns. At the same time, she’s surprised by the flood of temporary newcomers, doing whatever they can for money.
In addition to the influx of blue collar workers, the oil boom creates challenges for longtime town residents and financial opportunity for investors. As Elinor investigates the story she was assigned to tell, other threads of ND stories emerge and Elinor is forced to confront her past, one she’s worked hard to abandon.
While fictional, O Beautiful feels representative of our country, for better or worse. This quote from the book concisely sums up my feelings about the US:
“It’s a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start.”
Years ago, I read Shelter by Yun and while I did not care for the main character, the dark story kept me engaged. I felt similarly about O Beautiful — It’s also a somber story and I did not like a lot of Elinor’s behavior, yet I stayed very interested in the book.
Elinor’s dad was a white man in the military and her mom, a Korean woman, who left when Elinor and her sister were younger. Elinor never felt at home in ND, a feeling that remains when she returns. At the same time, she’s surprised by the flood of temporary newcomers, doing whatever they can for money.
In addition to the influx of blue collar workers, the oil boom creates challenges for longtime town residents and financial opportunity for investors. As Elinor investigates the story she was assigned to tell, other threads of ND stories emerge and Elinor is forced to confront her past, one she’s worked hard to abandon.
While fictional, O Beautiful feels representative of our country, for better or worse. This quote from the book concisely sums up my feelings about the US:
“It’s a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start.”
Years ago, I read Shelter by Yun and while I did not care for the main character, the dark story kept me engaged. I felt similarly about O Beautiful — It’s also a somber story and I did not like a lot of Elinor’s behavior, yet I stayed very interested in the book.
November 8, 2021
I'm still not sure on my rating (it's between a 3 or 4), but I realize if I wait to write this review while I'm deciding, I will forget everything I want to say.
This is an extremely challenging book for me to review. I didn't really like it and the main character is very hard to like (you start out sympathizing and cheering for this person, but by the end of the book even someone with an incredible amount of patience would be struggling). Put that together with this being a character based story...it was a challenge to want to pick up by the end. However, I thought this was an important book to read and I learned a lot from it. So....make that make sense!
For the record, I don't *need* to like the characters to like the book, I don't *need* to have a fast paced book, I don't *need* to feel uplifted, but the combo of all three is tough for me to overcome in this particular reading mood I'm in right now. With that said, I want to give this four stars because I thought the writing was superb (just like her last book) and the amount of issues she tackles (and well) makes this a book club darling. This isn't your typical 'I've read this same story 19 times over' either. This is a story from a perspective and place we need more of. It tackles socioeconomic, environmental, gender, race and cultural issues and as I said above I learned and wanted more.
So I guess, if you're still reading this...I will give it a 3.5 and split the difference.
Thanks to St. Martins Press for the gifted advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review Date: 11/07/2021
Publication Date: 11/09/2021
This is an extremely challenging book for me to review. I didn't really like it and the main character is very hard to like (you start out sympathizing and cheering for this person, but by the end of the book even someone with an incredible amount of patience would be struggling). Put that together with this being a character based story...it was a challenge to want to pick up by the end. However, I thought this was an important book to read and I learned a lot from it. So....make that make sense!
For the record, I don't *need* to like the characters to like the book, I don't *need* to have a fast paced book, I don't *need* to feel uplifted, but the combo of all three is tough for me to overcome in this particular reading mood I'm in right now. With that said, I want to give this four stars because I thought the writing was superb (just like her last book) and the amount of issues she tackles (and well) makes this a book club darling. This isn't your typical 'I've read this same story 19 times over' either. This is a story from a perspective and place we need more of. It tackles socioeconomic, environmental, gender, race and cultural issues and as I said above I learned and wanted more.
So I guess, if you're still reading this...I will give it a 3.5 and split the difference.
Thanks to St. Martins Press for the gifted advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Review Date: 11/07/2021
Publication Date: 11/09/2021
September 10, 2021
“O Beautiful”, by Jung Yun, is a novel with an agenda. I assumed it was going to be about the evils of oil companies and fracking, by showing the negative effects in a small North Dakota town after an oil boom. But it turns out that just serves as the setting for a novel that paints all men as jerks at best, and violent abusers at worse. So if you agree with her you’re going to enjoy this, if you don’t you will not, and if you think the issue is way more nuanced and complicated than it’s portrayed here, then you’re probably just going to be left as cold as I was.
I usually have no problem with unlikable or irritating protagonists, and Elinor Hanson, is a hot mess of contradictions, poor decisions, and erroneous assumptions. She was once a model, but she feels “assaulted” when a man tells her she is beautiful. She wants to succeed on her own and to not be sexually objectified, yet she used a sexual relationship with a professor to get ahead. All these characteristics made her interesting and unpredictable, but they didn’t make her credible or reliable.
It makes sense that Yun portrays Elinor’s duality so viscerally; she’s been assigned to write a feature story on the oil boom in the area she grew up in in North Dakota. She’s been told to write about the “insiders and the outsiders” there, assuming she can relate to both because she is half Korean.
Beginning with the first scene with an abusive jerk on an airplane, to every man (except two who are very minor characters) she encounters, plus her Air Force serviceman father, all the men are vile, and Elinor and all the women characters are victims of their “toxic masculinity”. It started to become very noticeable and I found it distracting. (Warning: don’t try a drinking game every time a male character does or says something egregiously offensive or you’ll get alcohol poisoning.)
If Elinor had observed these men as despicable because of her past personal experiences, yet letting the reader understand that her perception might be skewed, I’d understand, but Yun wrote them all as abjectly horrible. Her assertion seems to be that groups of men without enough women around, become uncontrollable animals. This unsubtle generalization just fell flat.
I usually have no problem with unlikable or irritating protagonists, and Elinor Hanson, is a hot mess of contradictions, poor decisions, and erroneous assumptions. She was once a model, but she feels “assaulted” when a man tells her she is beautiful. She wants to succeed on her own and to not be sexually objectified, yet she used a sexual relationship with a professor to get ahead. All these characteristics made her interesting and unpredictable, but they didn’t make her credible or reliable.
It makes sense that Yun portrays Elinor’s duality so viscerally; she’s been assigned to write a feature story on the oil boom in the area she grew up in in North Dakota. She’s been told to write about the “insiders and the outsiders” there, assuming she can relate to both because she is half Korean.
Beginning with the first scene with an abusive jerk on an airplane, to every man (except two who are very minor characters) she encounters, plus her Air Force serviceman father, all the men are vile, and Elinor and all the women characters are victims of their “toxic masculinity”. It started to become very noticeable and I found it distracting. (Warning: don’t try a drinking game every time a male character does or says something egregiously offensive or you’ll get alcohol poisoning.)
If Elinor had observed these men as despicable because of her past personal experiences, yet letting the reader understand that her perception might be skewed, I’d understand, but Yun wrote them all as abjectly horrible. Her assertion seems to be that groups of men without enough women around, become uncontrollable animals. This unsubtle generalization just fell flat.
November 1, 2021
The premise of this novel excited my interest, but oh my, I am so torn after reading it.
The writing is excellent. But the plot? I'm not sure what the author wanted to do with the book. There were so many themes, none of which is fully developed, in my opinion. The oil boom's impact on rural North Dakota takes center stage at times, but the plot pivots haphazardly to other stories, all underdeveloped: the protagonist's back story with her sister, mother, and father, the all-pervasive misogyny and racism in the region; the issues on the local reservation.
The protagonist of O Beautiful was hard to like. She was self-destructive, did not seem to care for anyone, and didn't seem to grow or develop as the book progressed. There honestly was not a single likable character in the book, making it very hard to connect.
Maybe Yun wanted to structure the novel to feel like a collection of vaguely related journalist interviews? Eleanor was trying to figure out her story's angle and seemed to settle on one at the end. But that is not a very interesting plot. The many subthemes could have made a great story in and of themselves, but none reached any conclusion or closure.
I received an audiobook version of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The writing is excellent. But the plot? I'm not sure what the author wanted to do with the book. There were so many themes, none of which is fully developed, in my opinion. The oil boom's impact on rural North Dakota takes center stage at times, but the plot pivots haphazardly to other stories, all underdeveloped: the protagonist's back story with her sister, mother, and father, the all-pervasive misogyny and racism in the region; the issues on the local reservation.
The protagonist of O Beautiful was hard to like. She was self-destructive, did not seem to care for anyone, and didn't seem to grow or develop as the book progressed. There honestly was not a single likable character in the book, making it very hard to connect.
Maybe Yun wanted to structure the novel to feel like a collection of vaguely related journalist interviews? Eleanor was trying to figure out her story's angle and seemed to settle on one at the end. But that is not a very interesting plot. The many subthemes could have made a great story in and of themselves, but none reached any conclusion or closure.
I received an audiobook version of the book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
July 23, 2021
O Beautiful, for spacious skies…any child growing up in America knows the song by rote.
We celebrate beauty in all its forms. But in reality, beauty is a complicated burden to bear. And if there is a message in this stunning novel, it is that great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted right from the start.
Elinor Hanson is a beautiful woman, a one-time model. She is also a complicated woman, having grown up in North Dakota as the daughter of a Korean mother and Caucasian father. She has visible tattoos up and down her arms and doesn't hold her liquor particularly well. When we meet her, she is on her way to Bakken, a dusty town that has suddenly become revitalized due to an oil boom and the fracking business.
Now in her 40s, Elinor has a newly-minted college degree and finally caught a professional break: her college professor and former lover has handed her a plum reportorial assignment to return to Bakken—not far from where she grew up—to write about the transformational changes that have occurred.
Many people in the town have become rich overnight and the town is straining against its success. But this isn’t the story that Elinor wants to follow. As the quintessential outsider, the oozing ugliness of the town gradually reveals itself: the raping of the environment, the misogyny towards and objectification of women, the racism that boils right beneath the surface, the unbridled effects of run-amok capitalism, the gaping chasm between the have and have nots.
O Beautiful isn’t preachy. These recognitions unfold along with the story, which is as old as the hills: one woman’s return to the small town from which she escaped. Can one accept where one came from, warts and all, while still not being complicit in one’s silence? This is an ambitious and unflinching book, and I am very grateful to St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.
We celebrate beauty in all its forms. But in reality, beauty is a complicated burden to bear. And if there is a message in this stunning novel, it is that great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted right from the start.
Elinor Hanson is a beautiful woman, a one-time model. She is also a complicated woman, having grown up in North Dakota as the daughter of a Korean mother and Caucasian father. She has visible tattoos up and down her arms and doesn't hold her liquor particularly well. When we meet her, she is on her way to Bakken, a dusty town that has suddenly become revitalized due to an oil boom and the fracking business.
Now in her 40s, Elinor has a newly-minted college degree and finally caught a professional break: her college professor and former lover has handed her a plum reportorial assignment to return to Bakken—not far from where she grew up—to write about the transformational changes that have occurred.
Many people in the town have become rich overnight and the town is straining against its success. But this isn’t the story that Elinor wants to follow. As the quintessential outsider, the oozing ugliness of the town gradually reveals itself: the raping of the environment, the misogyny towards and objectification of women, the racism that boils right beneath the surface, the unbridled effects of run-amok capitalism, the gaping chasm between the have and have nots.
O Beautiful isn’t preachy. These recognitions unfold along with the story, which is as old as the hills: one woman’s return to the small town from which she escaped. Can one accept where one came from, warts and all, while still not being complicit in one’s silence? This is an ambitious and unflinching book, and I am very grateful to St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.
August 16, 2021
There is no denying that Jung Yun has the ability to paint a gorgeous picture with her words alone. Her cadence, observations and characters all in sync. This story exposed the gritty side of the oil boom in North Dakota. Along the way, the reader is introduced to racism, misogyny, elitism, sexism, destruction, alienation, the power of money and the pain of sudden expansion.
“She wonders how many of her own passing encounters have turned out like this, opportunities for connection wasted by some combination of judgment and defensiveness, insecurity and shame.“
Elinor ( born of a Korean mother and a White father) is a 40+ former model-turned journalist following a story that takes her back to the city she grew up in. A city she was desperate to leave. Now a city exploded by the oil industry. An explosion of population (a vast majority of them males) that this city in North Dakota is trying not too successfully to keep up with. Elinor has been relatively unsuccessful in her journalism career. When she is offered the opportunity by a former professor/mentor/lover to write about her hometown, she jumps at it.
The story drawn up for her to research and the article she is expected to write is not what she decides the story is. As she works to unravel the “real’ story, the reader is taken through her interviews and, in turn, is able to further glimpse the struggles this town and its residents have been dealing with. A town that has attracted many “roughneck” males in search of high paying jobs. The town feels overrun by what residents consider outsiders. The ration of men to women add to the tension this boom has created in this relatively small town. While following the story for the article she is to write, Elinor reflects on her upbringing, her choices, her family and her struggles to fit in.
The story follows many different avenues and unfortunately felt a little too disjointed. The ending felt sudden and left so many loose ends. Still a solid 4 star read for me though as the story is engaging throughout and the insights are relevant and important. None of the characters were overly endearing, but the character development is very strong. I was curious and vested in all the different characters and storylines. I really appreciated reading a book with a main character that was a female in her forties. The writing was beautiful and there were so many great lines in this book to savor.
“What lengths Elinor would have gone to as a child, what lengths she actually did go to, to feel like she belonged to an “us.” Now the group she’s been swept into, albeit temporarily, is no more wanted in this community than she was, an irony that isn’t lost on her.”
Recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy to read and review.
“She wonders how many of her own passing encounters have turned out like this, opportunities for connection wasted by some combination of judgment and defensiveness, insecurity and shame.“
Elinor ( born of a Korean mother and a White father) is a 40+ former model-turned journalist following a story that takes her back to the city she grew up in. A city she was desperate to leave. Now a city exploded by the oil industry. An explosion of population (a vast majority of them males) that this city in North Dakota is trying not too successfully to keep up with. Elinor has been relatively unsuccessful in her journalism career. When she is offered the opportunity by a former professor/mentor/lover to write about her hometown, she jumps at it.
The story drawn up for her to research and the article she is expected to write is not what she decides the story is. As she works to unravel the “real’ story, the reader is taken through her interviews and, in turn, is able to further glimpse the struggles this town and its residents have been dealing with. A town that has attracted many “roughneck” males in search of high paying jobs. The town feels overrun by what residents consider outsiders. The ration of men to women add to the tension this boom has created in this relatively small town. While following the story for the article she is to write, Elinor reflects on her upbringing, her choices, her family and her struggles to fit in.
The story follows many different avenues and unfortunately felt a little too disjointed. The ending felt sudden and left so many loose ends. Still a solid 4 star read for me though as the story is engaging throughout and the insights are relevant and important. None of the characters were overly endearing, but the character development is very strong. I was curious and vested in all the different characters and storylines. I really appreciated reading a book with a main character that was a female in her forties. The writing was beautiful and there were so many great lines in this book to savor.
“What lengths Elinor would have gone to as a child, what lengths she actually did go to, to feel like she belonged to an “us.” Now the group she’s been swept into, albeit temporarily, is no more wanted in this community than she was, an irony that isn’t lost on her.”
Recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy to read and review.
April 18, 2021
Elinor returns to North Dakota where she grew up when her father was stationed there with the Air Force. Throughout her life she has felt like an outsider due to her mixed parentage, but had enjoyed a career in New York, modeling, and decided to reinvent herself as a writer, earning a degree and being given the opportunity to write an article about the changes wrought by the oil boom to her home state. What ensues is a different story than the one she'd originally set out to do. O, Beautiful is told exclusively through her experiences, her shift in focus and her choices that result in her changing the direction of her research. Jung Yun's second book is if anything better than her first, exploring what it means to be a woman seeming to be fortunate but whose reality is more complex when her intelligence is judged as secondary to her looks.
September 16, 2021
The casual assault of the land; the casual rape of women
Jung Yun has created an unforgettable character in her latest novel, set in the Badlands, or Bakken, circa 2011. Elinor Hansen, raised in North Dakota, is a military brat. Her father is Caucasian and her mother Korean--a spousal choice her father made, in order to marry a woman that would be subordinate to him. He wasn’t purposely cruel as much as he was limited on gender roles. Eventually, Elinor’s mother, Nami, left the family while she searched for a life of her own, and Elinor and her sister were subsequently motherless. Elinor has had a complicated life, and her return to her roots unfolds potently in this character-driven and theme-based novel. The limitless themes--from victim to survivor--would be banal in a lesser author.
Elinor’s beauty and stature helped her financially--she had an early modeling career, a profession she recognized as superficial and driven by the male gaze. However, it helped pay for university and grad school in journalism as she entered her late 30s and early 40s, and allowed her to pursue a life of intellect and observation, rather than being the observed and acted upon.
Now, in a first big assignment, an ex-lover/ex-professor has handed over an oil boom story of the Bakken to her, ostensibly because she grew up around there. Elinor is about to go “home” and discover that the murky sediment beneath the surface of the Badlands is more than geological; the oil boom has uncovered the ugly strata of male privilege and hypermasculinity, class divide, racial prejudice, environmental degradation, and the treachery of a lost humanity hidden under casual cruelty. Ruthless to each other, tyranny toward the land. It’s left to the few to amplify the beautiful.
Yun covers broad themes subtly, without reducing it to topics. She lifts contrary and contradictory conundrums from the page into our lives, a universal experience, and executed without platitudes or stereotypes; Yun rules the unruly and untamed wilderness with a controlled narrative. She conveys our shortcomings with a blend of realism, idealism, and desire. Is past prologue? How do we relate to our planet and to each other? Is there a connection?
If I tried to cover all the themes, I’d be writing a doorstopper. But one thing that clearly stood out for me is the way the author began and ended her story on the toxicity of male privilege run amok. I won’t give spoilers, only an observation that Yun’s bookended narrative does concentrate on the unrefined male gaze, and how that profiles a wide expanse of human behavior, the benevolent and the bitter.
Our heroine, Elinor, is still navigating a rough landscape. The story, which both embraces and defies archetypes, does not go past the finale. You'll be disappointed if you expect reassurance of "happy ever after"--after. Just like life, we are all passing through and stopping to get our bearings. Elinor came for a story of others, but she also learned a lot about herself, her own radius, her point on the dial. At 40-something, she is growing up, evolving in her searching and inquisitive way.
Some readers might get justifiably frustrated at the end of the book. The action doesn't end abruptly but the finale gives us only a sneak peek of Elinor's new self-awareness. It was hard won, not an epiphany, and we do journey with her there. A complex story begins with a victim and ends when she becomes a survivor (I'm purposely being just a little reductive to make a point). I accepted it that way, with a tinge of envy for what I won't get to see. Elinor was real to me, so if she leaves and takes it all with her--her new self--I'm going to cry a little because I thought I earned her entire life. !!!! (A common reader eccentricity). Other readers may sigh with fury because they won't share in her next journey. We only follow her until she evolves; are we really supposed to see any more?
“That’s probably why this land means so much to her. It’s a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start.” Elinor will stay with me and resonate for a long time.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC to review. O Beautiful will be one of my top books of the year.
Jung Yun has created an unforgettable character in her latest novel, set in the Badlands, or Bakken, circa 2011. Elinor Hansen, raised in North Dakota, is a military brat. Her father is Caucasian and her mother Korean--a spousal choice her father made, in order to marry a woman that would be subordinate to him. He wasn’t purposely cruel as much as he was limited on gender roles. Eventually, Elinor’s mother, Nami, left the family while she searched for a life of her own, and Elinor and her sister were subsequently motherless. Elinor has had a complicated life, and her return to her roots unfolds potently in this character-driven and theme-based novel. The limitless themes--from victim to survivor--would be banal in a lesser author.
Elinor’s beauty and stature helped her financially--she had an early modeling career, a profession she recognized as superficial and driven by the male gaze. However, it helped pay for university and grad school in journalism as she entered her late 30s and early 40s, and allowed her to pursue a life of intellect and observation, rather than being the observed and acted upon.
Now, in a first big assignment, an ex-lover/ex-professor has handed over an oil boom story of the Bakken to her, ostensibly because she grew up around there. Elinor is about to go “home” and discover that the murky sediment beneath the surface of the Badlands is more than geological; the oil boom has uncovered the ugly strata of male privilege and hypermasculinity, class divide, racial prejudice, environmental degradation, and the treachery of a lost humanity hidden under casual cruelty. Ruthless to each other, tyranny toward the land. It’s left to the few to amplify the beautiful.
Yun covers broad themes subtly, without reducing it to topics. She lifts contrary and contradictory conundrums from the page into our lives, a universal experience, and executed without platitudes or stereotypes; Yun rules the unruly and untamed wilderness with a controlled narrative. She conveys our shortcomings with a blend of realism, idealism, and desire. Is past prologue? How do we relate to our planet and to each other? Is there a connection?
If I tried to cover all the themes, I’d be writing a doorstopper. But one thing that clearly stood out for me is the way the author began and ended her story on the toxicity of male privilege run amok. I won’t give spoilers, only an observation that Yun’s bookended narrative does concentrate on the unrefined male gaze, and how that profiles a wide expanse of human behavior, the benevolent and the bitter.
Our heroine, Elinor, is still navigating a rough landscape. The story, which both embraces and defies archetypes, does not go past the finale. You'll be disappointed if you expect reassurance of "happy ever after"--after. Just like life, we are all passing through and stopping to get our bearings. Elinor came for a story of others, but she also learned a lot about herself, her own radius, her point on the dial. At 40-something, she is growing up, evolving in her searching and inquisitive way.
Some readers might get justifiably frustrated at the end of the book. The action doesn't end abruptly but the finale gives us only a sneak peek of Elinor's new self-awareness. It was hard won, not an epiphany, and we do journey with her there. A complex story begins with a victim and ends when she becomes a survivor (I'm purposely being just a little reductive to make a point). I accepted it that way, with a tinge of envy for what I won't get to see. Elinor was real to me, so if she leaves and takes it all with her--her new self--I'm going to cry a little because I thought I earned her entire life. !!!! (A common reader eccentricity). Other readers may sigh with fury because they won't share in her next journey. We only follow her until she evolves; are we really supposed to see any more?
“That’s probably why this land means so much to her. It’s a reminder of how complicated this country is, how great beauty and terrible ugliness have coexisted here from the start.” Elinor will stay with me and resonate for a long time.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press for sending me an ARC to review. O Beautiful will be one of my top books of the year.
December 2, 2021
Outstanding. I couldn't put it down. Timely, angry, necessary.
December 10, 2021
After being super impressed by the propulsive force of this author's previous novel Shelter, I definitely wanted to read O Beautiful asap.
The story is interesting - Elinor is in her early 40s and back in North Dakota near where she grew up to write a story about the Bakken oil boom. She's been handed preliminary research by her mentor and former lover, but the story feels like it's about something else, especially from her perspective as a Asian-American woman.
The story is interesting, but lacks the heightened reality and momentum of Shelter, which was more of an unputdownable book. Still worth a read.
Thanks to the publisher for providing access through NetGalley. The book came out in November.
The story is interesting - Elinor is in her early 40s and back in North Dakota near where she grew up to write a story about the Bakken oil boom. She's been handed preliminary research by her mentor and former lover, but the story feels like it's about something else, especially from her perspective as a Asian-American woman.
The story is interesting, but lacks the heightened reality and momentum of Shelter, which was more of an unputdownable book. Still worth a read.
Thanks to the publisher for providing access through NetGalley. The book came out in November.
October 14, 2021
I have ambivalent about this work. The writing was wonderful. In the beginning I didn’t particularly like it. I didn’t like the protagonist and her self destructive, stupid actions. As the book progressed, it drew me in, though.
Just as Elinor saw several different story lines for the article she was supposed to write, the novel itself pursued several different themes. What they had in common was a pervasive toxicity in our society.
And that conclusion….not very satisfying. At times, I thought the story could accomplish great insight about so much. But in the end, it seemed it was just about Elinor.
I vacillate between three and four stars. I guess I have to give it four for the writing, but three for my reaction to it overall.
Just as Elinor saw several different story lines for the article she was supposed to write, the novel itself pursued several different themes. What they had in common was a pervasive toxicity in our society.
And that conclusion….not very satisfying. At times, I thought the story could accomplish great insight about so much. But in the end, it seemed it was just about Elinor.
I vacillate between three and four stars. I guess I have to give it four for the writing, but three for my reaction to it overall.
June 21, 2021
I really enjoyed this book. I really enjoyed the character Elinor, an Asian woman, who returns to her hometown as a reporter. Much has changed, and Elinor quickly becomes embroiled in those changes. Highly recommend.
January 8, 2022
The plot of this novel is confusing. What exactly does the author want us to take away after reading? She covers many important social themes but unfortunately does not fully develop any of these topics.
November 30, 2021
Where do I start. I dove into this book with the perception that this was going to be about the oil industry taking over farms and native lands with Elinor's family back story. Oh how wrong I was. That is what makes this absolutely beautifully written novel unique. All of a sudden you are hit with harassment, discrimination, supremacy and choices. Elinor, as the reader does, arrives in Avery ND to take over a story for a popular magazine. She is to interview residents about the oil company take over of this small town. As she begins she realizes that is not the story that should be told. This is so packed with issues but never feels bogged down.
July 8, 2022
Started off dull - and it’s a possible sexual assault scene. It’s too heavy handed; its ultimate sin is it takes itself too seriously, and I couldn’t care less about what happened to any of them. Trying too hard, to be about everything - Misogyny! Male gaze! Racism! Family! “Real Americans”! Fracking! Unappreciative boyfriend! Always v sad when I dislike a k-lit. Hate read just to finish.
Roughnecks.
Roughnecks.
August 7, 2021
There are not enough stars to give this novel.
Review to come.
Review to come.
February 27, 2022
My favourite read of 2022 so far.
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June 29, 2021
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: November 9, 2021
Mini-Review
Jung Yun authored the critically acclaimed debut novel, “Shelter.” I was expecting to devour her second novel, which follows a biracial Korean-American female freelance journalist as she goes on assignment in her hometown. Yun’s prose is beautiful. However, this character-driven novel is all over the place taking on many subplots. I thought I would be reading a tale on the immigrant experience in a divided America. Yet, the emphasis is mainly on the Me Too Movement. The journalist was a model in her youth always admired for her beauty and not her brains. So, what the reader actually follows is a woman who realizes that she is a gender stereotype because of her looks and that there is much more to her than that. Keeping with the leading title, yes, our protagonist does feel like an outsider not belonging or being accepted in either the Asian or American world. Still, for this reviewer, the tale turned felt flat. I do think a good editor could have made a big difference.
I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review.
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Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: November 9, 2021
Mini-Review
Jung Yun authored the critically acclaimed debut novel, “Shelter.” I was expecting to devour her second novel, which follows a biracial Korean-American female freelance journalist as she goes on assignment in her hometown. Yun’s prose is beautiful. However, this character-driven novel is all over the place taking on many subplots. I thought I would be reading a tale on the immigrant experience in a divided America. Yet, the emphasis is mainly on the Me Too Movement. The journalist was a model in her youth always admired for her beauty and not her brains. So, what the reader actually follows is a woman who realizes that she is a gender stereotype because of her looks and that there is much more to her than that. Keeping with the leading title, yes, our protagonist does feel like an outsider not belonging or being accepted in either the Asian or American world. Still, for this reviewer, the tale turned felt flat. I do think a good editor could have made a big difference.
I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review.
Find all my book reviews at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list…
https://books6259.wordpress.com/
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review…
https://www.facebook.com/martie.neesr…
https://twitter.com/NeesRecord\
October 6, 2021
I can’t even.
December 3, 2021
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
It pains me to say this since I thought Shelter was a phenomenal read, but this book tries to do too much. It attempts to cover: fracking, the impact of oil money disrupting traditional communities, rural/urban dynamics, absentee parent/family issues, sexism and misogyny (including academic sexual harassment, rape, and assault), racism (being biracial, the experience of Native Americans, and more), and the rise of white supremacy. Ultimately we end up with a very uneven book where instead of interlacing these areas with the complexity they deserve, we end up with pockets of topics that start and stop with little cohesiveness.
I also found Elinor an unsympathetic main character who reminded me a lot of the MC in The Flight Attendant.
It pains me to say this since I thought Shelter was a phenomenal read, but this book tries to do too much. It attempts to cover: fracking, the impact of oil money disrupting traditional communities, rural/urban dynamics, absentee parent/family issues, sexism and misogyny (including academic sexual harassment, rape, and assault), racism (being biracial, the experience of Native Americans, and more), and the rise of white supremacy. Ultimately we end up with a very uneven book where instead of interlacing these areas with the complexity they deserve, we end up with pockets of topics that start and stop with little cohesiveness.
I also found Elinor an unsympathetic main character who reminded me a lot of the MC in The Flight Attendant.
Read
December 2, 2021I'm not really sure what to think about this one. It's brilliant, but brilliant in that it gave me a stomachache and made me feel like I should be looking over my shoulder for danger. The oppressive whiteness and maleness of the people around Elinor is just relentless, and Elinor herself isn't the most sympathetic character. I did not enjoy spending hours in the company of the people in this book, but I also very much admire how the reader's view of them unfolded piece by piece. In terms of craft, it feels authentic and not like the author is just throwing every microaggression (and some macro ones) at the reader just to prove a point; the way they layer on one another and how Elinor reacts makes for a strong story, far from being trauma porn or a one dimensional political rant. In terms of the emotional experience of reading it, it's real and visceral in an uncomfortable way; you feel Elinor's fear and anger and hangover nausea and self-centeredness, her profound disorientation in her home state.
I should have taken a break from it midway, but eh I'm under the weather and have been lying on the couch tearing through books. This is a really excellent piece of writing, just one that relentlessly pushes the bad things about America at you, and almost but didn't quite deliver enough catharsis at the end to make it feel worthwhile to me. I'm not solely an escapist reader by any means, and this one left me thinking a lot about what I personally need and want from such a deeply sad, angry story of alienation and discomfort. The feeling of constantly, exhaustingly treading water in a sea of misogyny and racism was not it, even as I found a lot to admire in how vividly that feeling was invoked.
I should have taken a break from it midway, but eh I'm under the weather and have been lying on the couch tearing through books. This is a really excellent piece of writing, just one that relentlessly pushes the bad things about America at you, and almost but didn't quite deliver enough catharsis at the end to make it feel worthwhile to me. I'm not solely an escapist reader by any means, and this one left me thinking a lot about what I personally need and want from such a deeply sad, angry story of alienation and discomfort. The feeling of constantly, exhaustingly treading water in a sea of misogyny and racism was not it, even as I found a lot to admire in how vividly that feeling was invoked.
October 13, 2021
I am torn. I love the writing style – so vivid and engaging. But… the viewpoint character (and author?) believes all men are misogynistic and all North Dakotans are racist. As satire this might work, but it’s not written that way. The narrative is very preachy. And call me Boomer, but I can’t stand reading about characters getting high.
I received a free digital advance copy of this novel from NetGalley.
I received a free digital advance copy of this novel from NetGalley.
December 31, 2021
I have extended family that lived or worked in the Bakken oil boom. That lead drew me into this book. Going in, I knew it would be a rough story because I’ve never heard a mining boomtown story that wasn’t rough. But I was deeply surprised early in that the protagonist and the Bakken reminded me of the strange juxtaposition of gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson’s book of travel to and coverage of the 1980 Honolulu Marathon in his book The Curse of Lono. Even down to the airplane restroom and the intriguing blue flushing liquid.
But this book is even more than strange. It has so many themes—native/not native, military outsider in a community, reservation life and people, mixed-race in the predominantly white Midwest, sister rivalry, addiction, poor relationship choices, sexual abuse and control, environmental devastation, publishing, and more-- there might be a few too many of them. My biggest takeaway was the reinforcement of my belief that the toughest lived experience of racism seems to be with folx who are of mixed race. There is an ever-persistent sense of not belonging that is haunting and seems to lead to poor choices for our protagonist throughout most of the story. But the way the author reveals the racism slithering through the story is spot on and so very real.
But this book is even more than strange. It has so many themes—native/not native, military outsider in a community, reservation life and people, mixed-race in the predominantly white Midwest, sister rivalry, addiction, poor relationship choices, sexual abuse and control, environmental devastation, publishing, and more-- there might be a few too many of them. My biggest takeaway was the reinforcement of my belief that the toughest lived experience of racism seems to be with folx who are of mixed race. There is an ever-persistent sense of not belonging that is haunting and seems to lead to poor choices for our protagonist throughout most of the story. But the way the author reveals the racism slithering through the story is spot on and so very real.
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