About

hi, i’m jiyoon (she/her)

i’m a 20-something korean american lesbian who lives in san francisco. i love books so much that just reading them apparently wasn’t enough — now i need to write about them, too.

i’m drawn to reading books that are doing something new; something i haven’t previously seen, or thought about, or felt. witnessing writers, particularly those who are of color and/or LGBTQ+, being bold and inventive in their work excites me and makes me feel like i’m a kid again: curious and open and pliable.

but that was pretty vague! so, to be more specific: i’m a horror aficionado and expect to write about the genre a lot, but i’m picky about reading “good horror,” so you can also find me talking about literary fiction, experimental fiction, mysteries and thrillers, science fiction, and nonfiction. on this blog, you’ll find reviews, think pieces and analysis, recommendations, and challenges.

also, a warning: this blog is going to be a mishmash of lowercase and traditionally capitalized sentences. this is because i prefer the Look™ of lowercase letters but can’t bring myself to write actual book reviews that way — i can’t explain why, but i just can’t. so, this is my compromise with myself.

some of my god tier books are:

  • WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE and THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE by Shirley Jackson
  • THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI by Akwaeke Emezi
  • LANNY by Max Porter
  • LINCOLN IN THE BARDO by George Saunders
  • THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
  • SHARKS IN THE TIME OF SAVIORS by Kawai Strong Washburn
  • SEVERANCE by Ling Ma
  • NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney