Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park is a book I've had my eye on since the author initially announced it, so I was absolutely leaping with joy when I was approved for an arc on NetGalley. I love reading books by translators and I love reading books from small Canadian presses that do interesting work, so it's a complete win all around for me honestly. And it's even more of a win because I really liked the book!

The book is set up as a kind of spy thriller that takes place in Oxford, and the story plays out primarily between three different perspectives: a North Korean, a South Korean, and a Korean American. There are some other characters, but most of the story revolves around them.

You can more or less get all of this information from the book synopsis, but what I wasn't expecting was for the book to actually shift point of view throughout the novel. I'm not really sure why I didn't expect this given the emphasis on the importance of the different perspectives and what I've heard the author mention about the book on social media, but it was an extremely welcome surprise. I absolutely love stories that do perspective changes.

It doesn't do just perspective shifts though—time jumps around as well. This is another feature of fiction that I really enjoy and I think it works really well for this story. Between the perspective and time shifts and the present tense narration, I found this novel really easy to become completely absorbed in. I didn't find the narrative intense, which I think many people reading a thriller would expect, but I think the story manages to thrill in a sense in a slow and contemplative way.

Things happen quickly, but because of the shifting perspectives and time, these events simultaneously feel like they're moving the speed of molasses. It's a good thing in this case. You know the characters as they know themselves and see how they evolve and move forward even as you're flying back in time. And this is perfect for a novel that I think is about identity and finding your place in the world because of and despite of the people around you. It's a powerful message.

And I don't think that you need to be Korean to understand or relate to that message. I know it head home for me and my life experience is vastly different than any of the characters in the novel or even the author.

Oxford Soju Club heartwarming and hopeful tragedy of a novel and I hope so many people enjoy it as much as I did.