Yolk

Mary H.K. Choi writes young adult books in a style or tone akin to how Clueless and Romeo and Juliet and Mean Girls are teenagery films, smart and witty and just well good. Give me Cher and Dionne as an option and it’ll win 90% of the time. Although give me Sister Act as an option and it’ll win 100% of the time. I LOVE Sister Act, but I’ll expound on the extensive joy that is Delores some other day.Yolk, is the story of two sisters, Jayne and June, of Korean descent (I don't think that’s what I’m supposed to say, heritage maybe, first generation immigrants?) they live in New York and they aren’t at all besties but June gets sick and melodrama ensues, except it doesn’t, well maybe a little. It’s a nuanced portrayal of at least 4 important things. We have race, the everyday things you wouldn’t even think to consider if you are in the predominate ethnic category, all the tiny micro aggressions faced by those who aren’t of the default setting. Eating disorders, specifically bulimia which is not merely alluded to but weaved into the very fibres of this novel, Choi’s depiction of this isn’t like any I’ve seen written about before. It’s not the cliched portrayal you tend to get and I doubt you’d find a more brutally honest rendering. Really. Much like the eating disorder it’s insidious. Choi doesn’t just throw it in all of a sudden. Rather it’s hidden and gradually you see all the little signs, you’ll see it if you know what your looking for and it gets harder to miss as the novel progresses. It’s worth reading just for that, for the understanding of the ramifications of a disorder that really isn't talked about, at least not with the comparative ease that anorexia is often addressed. And I’m not saying anorexia is a walk in a park AT ALL, I’m just saying there is often a little more shame attached to bulimia. And don’t be throwing The Crown at me, I’d bet all my kidneys that Princess Diana’s battle with bulimia didn't run such a tidy arc, and she certainly didn’t just decide to stop one day and that was it. That sort of shite is damaging and wrong and they lose their participation points for reinforcing false notions that these things are as simply resolved as by the exertion of will. And now I'm getting off my soap box. Other items of woe contained in this book; there is cancer of a specifically female form along with other things in that neck of the woods. Family, how things can be perceived incorrectly, and how lots of little things can shape a person, affect their self worth, bullying in any number of forms and the lasting effects of that, healthcare and affordability. All of that sounds properly grim right? Like really why would you read a book that sounds that miserable. But the thing is, it isnt miserable. I dont know what Jedi mind trick Choi pulled but you don’t come away as bereft as you might think considering the content here is at quite the juxtaposition with the chipper yellow cover. Instead you’re left with that slightly warm feeling you get from certain alcoholic beverages and I’d like to hope an understanding of things that are very rarely spoken openly of. So fetch.

This book explores the complicated relationship of sisters, eating disorders, family and stupid boys. I think the moment I loved it was the entire page dedicated to a Gilmore Girls discussion. I LOVE very specific references in books.I wouldn't call this a YA novel, although her last two were. But it does follow Jayne on a coming-of-age journey of sorts. The book starts when she finds out her sister June (2.5 years older and everything Jayne envies, loves, and loathes) has cancer. The revelation sends shockwaves through the life Jayne has made for herself in New York City and forces her to connect with her past.I really loved this book. I love Mary Choi's writing and her messy characters who feel very real. It deals with some very heavy subjects but it does so in a way that gives you a window into the character's world, rather than wrapping things in a neat bow. A really good read.

The book is really good. It was a really great read. However the relationship between Patrick and Jayne doesn't really feel very developed, in my opinion. I like his apartment tho. If the story doesn't appeal to you buy it for the cover. This book is so pretty. I regret not getting a hardback.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  The book quality was very damaged as shown in the pictures not what I expected.But came on time

Wow!!

Mary H.K. Choi needs a never ending round of applause. Yolk is an absolute tour de force work of fiction that needs to be read by the masses. The book follows the story of Korean-American Jayne as she tries to make sense of her world.Jayne is a wonderfully compelling character to read about. She is so beautifully human and deeply flawed which makes her feel truly authentic. But being inside her head is... well sometimes it’s incredibly frustrating but it was always absorbing. She’s struggling with deep rooted emotional issues some of which are family related, others which are founded in the way that western society is dictated by a Eurocentric aesthetic, and also how as a Korean American she felt somehow neither American enough nor Korean enough. There’s so much complexity in this book but it’s all handled with care and sensitivity. I wanted to reach into the novel and shake Jayne at times, but mostly I wanted to reach in and hug her. Her pain is so visceral. It’s so visible but yet she denies it. She tries to hide it. Her struggles with her own self image and self worth are difficult to read about because I truly experienced her sadness as a reader.Please be aware that this book provides a deep insight into bulimia and issues surrounding body dysmorphia, and therefore if this is a potentially triggering subject for you you need to be prepared for rather graphic detail. Please be gentle with yourself and read only if you have a suitable support system in place so that you can safely discuss any upset that you may experience.The book also follows a female reproductive system cancer storyline which does touch on issues of infertility and heavy, dysmenorrhea so please be advised if this is something that may be upsetting to you.During her time in New York Jayne has become estranged from her elder sister June, but upon discovering that June has cancer the two begin to have a relationship again. And this is where the novel truly excels. Their relationship is written with such careful detail, such emotion, and incredible sensitivity. The undeniable love between the two sisters is intertwined with hatred, jealousy, feelings of inadequacy... the book doesn’t shy away from showing the complexities of sisterly love and is all the better for illustrating this dichotomy of love and hate that can exist within family ties.As a white person living in my native country all my life I have no personal experience of what it’s like to have immigrant parents and how that impacts my cultural identity. This book explores the experience of being Korean American, and I personally found this aspect of the novel to be incredibly compelling and insightful.At times I struggled to like both Jayne and June as characters. But that was because the book was very “warts and all”. No aspect of their personalities was hidden, they who appeared on the page as very much wholly realised characters and that meant that they both had traits that are less than desirable as we all do as human beings. Sometimes though, this meant that I struggled a little bit when it came to empathising with the characters; I think that’s quite a human response on my part though, rather than a flaw of the novel because in my opinion it helped the novel re the journey of the two main characters to ebb and flow in a very natural manner.I really do have to make brief mention of the story’s climax. Without wishing to give away any spoilers what I can say is that it was one of the most authentically emotional and cathartic endings to a novel I have ever read. It was perfect in both tone and pace, and is the reason why I feel this book should be read by as wide an audience as possible. I think the dissection of human relationships in this novel is incredible, and that readers of both YA and adult fiction would enjoy this story in equal fashion.Overall this was a brilliantly written novel that I would heartily recommend to lovers of contemporary fiction with realistic characters.*An e-copy was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley for honest review*