My first reaction to this book was that it was beautifully written. But that isn’t quite the right word. While there is a certain beauty to its undeniable humanity, the violence and pain and suffering are not beautiful. They are harrowing and heartbreaking.

Well-written. That’s as close as I can get to describing it.

I loved the premise of this book. As the reader finds out more about Dong-ho through various other characters, its impossible not to feel the ache of human pain. Each character suffered in their own way, both physically and emotionally.

This book takes a horrifying and traumatic event and tries to find meaning within it, as well as asking the fundamental question: what is humanity?
Kang paints the various aspects of humans: the beautiful, the ugly, the violent, the loving, the kindness, the hatred; and creates a portrait of unarguably human acts.