Heart and Seoul by Jen Frederick is now available!
Blurb:
From USA Today bestselling author Jen Frederick comes a heart-wrenching yet hopeful romance that shows that the price of belonging is often steeper than expected.
As a Korean adoptee, Hara Wilson doesn’t need anyone telling her she looks different from her white parents. She knows. Every time Hara looks in the mirror, she’s reminded that she doesn’t look like anyone else in her family—not her loving mother, Ellen; not her jerk of a father, Pat; and certainly not like Pat’s new wife and new “real” son.
At the age of twenty-five, she thought she had come to terms with it all, but when her father suddenly dies, an offhand comment at his funeral triggers an identity crisis that has her running off to Seoul in search of her roots.
What Hara finds there has all the makings of a classic K-drama: a tall, mysterious stranger who greets her at the airport, spontaneous adventures across the city, and a mess of familial ties, along with a red string of destiny that winds its way around her heart and soul. Hara goes to Korea looking for answers, but what she gets instead is love—a forbidden love that will either welcome Hara home…or destroy her chance of finding one.
Review:
3.75- 4 stars
****
I'm kind of conflicted about this book. I found Heart and Seoul to be a very good, unique story. But there was a lot about it that I did not like. I would have rated it even higher without those things. Heart and Seoul is Hara's story. She is an adult, American woman who was adopted from Korea as a baby. She decides to go to Korea to find her birth parents and drama ensues.
When I finished the book, I thought this was a very good book. Hara's journey is interesting and mysterious. I liked the story and I liked Hara. I felt for her and what she was going through. But I think this book was not sure what genre it wanted to be. I do not think this book was a romance. There is a romantic storyline, but neither that storyline nor her romantic prospect is very fleshed out. Most of the book is focused on Hara and her journey, feeling more like young women's fiction. I liked the descriptions of Korea, the food, etc., and of Hara falling in love with her birthplace. The beginning of the book is slow but picked up speed in the second half. There are a lot of dramatic, unexpected twists that I felt were to add unnecessary drama. Still, I was left thinking this was an engrossing read that I enjoyed for the most part. But the end left a lot to be desired. I think, from searching online, that this is going to be a series. But I do think there should have been a note at the end if that is the case. It very much ends on a non-HEA, depressing note.
Overall, I did enjoy Hara's story. I enjoyed learning about her conflicted feelings about her adoption, adoptive parents and birth parents. And I enjoyed learning about Korean culture along with Hara. But I wish she had found more peace and a sense of closure about her situation, as well as some hope for the future. Still, I will probably continue this series (if it turns out to be one), just for curiosity's sake.
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