Review of Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum

*Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop* by Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan (2024). Published by Bloomsbury Publishing.

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Anyways, in the spring of 2024, I was wrapping up my master’s thesis on colonial and immediate postcolonial Korean women’s literature. During that time I was knee deep in academic readings and didn’t have a lot of time for fun, especially working five jobs and trying to run this blog, so many books I wanted to read during this time were shelved.

That said, once I returned from studying abroad in Busan, South Korea, in the summer I was pumped and ready to read. I was waiting for a visa that unfortunately would never arrive, throwing off my plans for an entire year, and I spent a lot of time catching up on the blog, my to-read list, and all of my television shows.

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop has been on my list to read, but I did procrastinate on it because I tend not to care for Korean healing fiction.

This genre is very indicative of the society Korea has, and as someone who is very dedicated to trying to live a simple life myself, for some reason I don’t care to read fiction about it. So me picking this book up is actually going outside of my usual comfort zone!

Let’s get into the review; I don’t want to ramble too much in the introduction.

A burnt out corporate employee decides to change her life and quit her job, opening up a bookstore in an unassuming narrative.

Our main protagonist, who the core of this story is attached to, is Yeongju. She lives in the capital city of Seoul, which if you’ve never been to, is full of life and fast-paced. Yeongju has a successful career and works hard at her job, as well as attending to her seemingly thriving marriage, but she’s not happy with the life she lives.

So she walks away. She quits the job, divorces her husband, and decides what to do next. Always a reader and someone who enjoyed the value of books, she decides that her next plan of action is to open a bookstore in the neighborhood of Hyunam-dong. This is a somewhat odd choice, as

And while this might be Yeongju’s dream for now, she’s going to learn that there is a long, hard journey ahead of her. Selling books is never profitable wherever you are in the world, and she hires a part-timer barista named Minjun, whose story we get to know in the later chapters, to cover the coffee-making duty.

Minjun is hired above the market rate at about 12,000 won an hour for a full-time gig, and Yeongju is determined to make this work. She figures out ways to do social media marketing, blogging, and even brings in authors to come speak with the patrons of the bookstore.

Minjun, a college grad unable to find a job and lost in his own life, finds a purpose at the bookstore, and often goes to Jinmi, the woman who they source beans from. Other stories are woven into Minjun and Yeongju’s experiences throughout the book, as we get to meet a blogger-turned-author as well as backstories for our main duo.

These are just ways to keep going for now, as we see in the later chapters of how other bookstore owners discuss that it’s basically a short-term focus to stay alive and keep their doors open. Yeongju also gets someone’s kid dumped on her after school, as she recommended the boy’s mother a book for him and it seemed to be a hit.

That led to the mother leaving the kid, Mincheol, with Yeongju instead of cram school. Yeongju is already busy, and now she has to deal with this kid too. He’s not bad though, and becomes Minjun’s coffee taster at times. As the business starts to thrive a little bit more, Yeongju can’t do it all, and she needs to look for more help.

Overall Thoughts

I think this book falls into similar struggles that other books in this healing fiction genre come across: it lacks structure and progression. There is little to no conflict throughout the course of the novel, and it can be summarized pretty much as the day-to-day life of a woman who owns a bookstore and the lives she touched doing so.

Which some readers might love, but it’s not for me. I tend to go for more plot-driven stories and the lack of conflict or urgency besides “we have to keep this place open” didn’t do it for me.

I also don’t know if this is the translation or the way the book is just written, but the sentences and writing itself is also very basic. I wanted more from it at times, and wished that we could be seeped more into the world of this store. I wasn’t sold on it in the end.

Regardless, I may dislike it, but you may love it. Taste is subjective. If you haven’t read the book and want to, don’t let one less than stellar review ruin your motivation. Go pick it up and form your own opinion.

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