The Last Story of Mina Lee

A few weeks ago I started seeing this book everywhere.

 So when I snagged an arc from NetGalley, I was ECSTATIC.

The Last Story of Mina Lee is told in alternating viewpoints between Mina and her daughter, Margot. Most of Mina's story is told in the past, leading up to her death in 2014. Which is where Margot's story picks up, finding her mother face down in her apartment.

This book tackles a multitude of topics; such as immigration, depression, mortality, motherhood, friendship, and love. I originally picked this book up because I just moved back to America from Korea about a year ago. Now, I will never understand the exact nature of Mina moving to LA from Seoul. But I do understand some of the things she went through. That culture shock moving between countries is something you will never completely understand, until you're living it yourself.

All of the women in this book show such great strength. Mina left Korea for a better life in LA, she never expected to feel like such an outsider. Mrs. Baek left her abusive husband, only to be stuck in a similar situation millions of miles away. Margot moved out, ashamed of her mothers rundown apartment and small shop that was barely getting by. But in the end, she learned more about her mothers history than she could have ever expected. But she had to learn it without her mother, knowing some of these stories will never be told.

 

Absolutely phenomenal debut book by Nancy Jooyoun Kim!

 

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Park Row Books for sending me an advanced copy.

 

The Last Story of Mina Lee hits shelves September 1, 2020!!