I loved that Cho took us back into Jiyoung’s childhood and adolescent to examine the many experiences that have contributed to her state of mind.

Everything, good and bad, is laid bare for the reader to experience. It isn’t weighed down by flowery description and this serves to make the reality of Jiyoung’s situation even starker. Cho’s (or perhaps the translator’s) language is blunt and to the point. It’s also an incredibly sad book as we watch Jiyoung break down after the birth of her daughter. From being told that boys like you when they’re tormenting you to the grandmother that worships her grandsons (and resents her granddaughters) to feminism (or the like) being considered a dirty or undesirable word, everything just rang true. It felt like I was reading an account of my own childhood even though I was not born in Korea and I wasn’t born until the 90s. Not necessarily the stuff about being a mother, because I don’t have children, but everything about being a woman resonated with me.

I’ve never read a truer tag line on a book. I loved everything about Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 and it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. Kim Jiyoung has started acting strangely. A wife who gives up her career and independence for a life of domesticity. A model employee but gets overlooked for promotion. A good student who doesn’t get put forward for internships.

A daughter whose father blames her when she is harassed late at night. A female preyed upon by male teachers at school. She is a sister made to share a room while her brother gets one of his own. Summary: Kim Jiyoung is a girl born to a mother whose in-laws wanted a boy.

Kim 1982 book