It's been days since I finished this book, but I've been oscillating between a 3.5 and a 4.0 for the final rating. While I thoroughly enjoyed the prose, the culture and folklore, themes, and Mirae's journey (especially the ending), elements like the multi-POV, underdeveloped character relationships, inconsistent tone, and pacing bog down the story.

The prose did so much of the heavy lifting for this book. Yun's prose is splendid. She created images that were beautiful and haunting, and they left me feeling like I was holding my breath and bone-cold in deep water. It truly personified the feeling of hearing a beautiful voice singing a lullaby from the darkness of a river, and you can't help but step into the chilling waters. I especially loved the writing for Mirae's chapters. Mirae's emotions were palpable with each line, dripping with her hurt, frustration, and loneliness. Because of Yun's writing, each chapter from Mirae's POV was dynamic, gripping, and powerful.

Another aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed was the exploration of Korean culture and folklore. Culture and folklore are woven organically into the story. It didn't feel out of place or used as a mere tool, but as a way of life and understanding life. This aspect worked seamlessly with the themes of grief, isolation, parentification, generational trauma, and healing. It also added to Mirae's journey. Though a character that came back to life, her journey in finding justice for herself had so much life and hunger. As a reader, though the mystery was simple to figure out, because of the writing and the unique voice Mirae had, Mirae's story was utterly compelling.

Some parts of the magic system confused me though about how exactly the magic/powers work. While it is ambiguous and untethered to a stricter system, some actions jumped from the fantastical to the illogical. There should still be some type of logic, even if vague, to make the scenes a bit more believable.

When it comes to the story's weaknesses, I think Soojin was weak as a main character. She is more of a ghost observing her life rather than a character with agency (which is ironic compared to her sister, who is actually dead), and though this could be attributed to the theme and experience of grief, it left her chapters feeling boring and, at times, out of place. This weakness bled into my issue with the pacing.

Soojin's chapters, which usually follow Mirae's more dynamic chapters, add to the slow pacing. I think this has something to do with how exposition-heavy her chapters are. Her chapters are more often than not her thoughts on something, but her thoughts aren't gripping, and the writing for them is not the same as Mirae's either. The events happening are very slice-of-life, and I think that shifted the tone of the story from being completely horror, mystery, and thriller (which are the genre tags online) into small-town melodrama or angst. It's not bad, and I can see the appeal for those who want a more subdued type of horror, but it is a different tone compared to what the blurb sets up.

The blurb sets the expectation that the story will be fast-paced, dark, thrilling, and gritty, but multiple elements made the pacing feel waterlogged or a trail of water rather than a powerful current sweeping you into the story. One aspect that slowed it down was the multi-POV. I was okay initially with having Mirae's POV and Soojin's POV as the main points we jump back and forth between, but then the story included POVs from side characters and positioned them in awkward places within the plot that sank the momentum. I understand that some of the POVs are meant to amplify the horror of Mirae's actions, but Mirae's chapters are already horrific, and the mystery of what happened is dashed against these boulders, killing the dread and curiosity it should have inspired. I think instead of having other POVs to tell the readers what Mirae did or what happened in the past, it should have been Soojin actively uncovering and discovering the information to give Soojin some agency and to help her process her emotions and relationship with her sister.

The sibling relationship did feel shallow. We're told they're close and what they did, but the intricacies and nuances of their relationship were not explored fully. The reason for this, I feel, is how underutilized dialogue was to portray the relationships and to propel the story forward. The story relied more on exposition and explaining the plot and relationships in the narration. I felt so frustrated every time there was a chance to build relationships (like events that they went to), and the narration just says "they had a fun time". There was a specific, pivotal scene between Soojin and her father that I felt should have had a dialogue, but it was carelessly explained away by "they had a fight". One could make a case that the silence is the point of the story, that silence is supposed to portray the loneliness and isolation that everyone felt, but this could have been remedied by dialogue that could still isolate and make one feel lonely (e.g. misunderstandings, hidden secrets, ambiguous language, etc.). If there was dialogue, it was usually shallow and had no weight. Any important scenes that could have built up relationships, plot, or tension were fast-forwarded or explained in the exposition. This left a lot of the emotion and buildup to revelations limited in their impact for me.

All in all, I think this novel definitely has its strengths, especially if the correct expectation is set up. This might work for readers who like Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker but would like a slower pace, less horror, and more character exploration/family drama.

Came for information about milkweeds, stayed for the shocking information about aphid reproduction and alien horror ft. wasps feeling of appreciation for the interconnectedness of milkweeds to nature, people, bugs, and animals.