Reviews
Read what people are saying about SECONDHAND WORLD:
“This disquieting début novel begins like a murder mystery: in a hospital burn unit, a badly scarred eighteen-year-old flatly informs us of her parents’ death by fire. The story that follows, however, is less an investigation than an exorcism… The writing is exquisite and exacting.” —The New Yorker
“Min’s strengths lie in her lush writing and full development of the vibrant, complex characters… By the end of the book, readers feel as though the characters are personal friends, and are fully invested in the satisfying conclusion.” —Sara Astruc, MSNBC.com
“Raw, emotionally urgent and peppered with acute detail, Secondhand World feels like a childhood memoir, but it’s crafted with the seasoned hand of an older author who writes with insight and polish.” —Deborah Vankin, The L.A. Times Sunday Book Review
“Katherine Min gives such celebrated writers as Louise Erdrich, Zadie Smith and Amy Tan a run for their money. Exquisitely written, wrenchingly imagined, “Secondhand World” will stand your hair on end.” —Sally Fielder, The Buffalo News
“I was hooked on Secondhand World after the first two paragraphs.” —Rebecca Rule, The Concord Monitor
“In the beginning, Min skillfully captures the angst and rebelliousness of this self-indulgent teen. Then, through vivid description, graceful language and a startling plot twist, the story evolves to show how choices made by Isa and her family have a greater impact on one another than they could ever imagine. In all, a remarkable achievement.” — Verna Noel Jones, Rocky Mountain News
“Leaves the reader breathless with questions about one’s own capacity to forgive.” —Helen Zia, Ms. Magazine
“Min… admirably [captures] the depth and complexity within Isa and her immigrant family… Isa’s adolescence unfolds in short chapters that read like impressionistic sketches… that resonate strongly in Min’s quietly affecting novel. ” —Entertainment Weekly
“With a down-to-earth tone, Min sifts through the life of a torn and insecure girl from whom everyone can learn.” —Halley Bondy, New York Daily News
“Gritty with evidence of what the shards of two cultures do to identity, Secondhand World crosses the emotions of loss, separation and coldness as well as hope and healing.” — Christina Ashie, The Battalion (Texas A&M)
“Katherine Min overturns conventional stereotypes in her portrayal of an Asian-American family…” —The Boston Globe
“Min’s spare prose not only vividly evokes this particular household… but resonates with the exquisiteness and oppressiveness of all family life.” —More Magazine
“Some authors need to publish a few books before they find their voice, or before they create a truly memorable character, and then there are a select few, like first-time novelist, Katherine Min, who seem to write like seasoned veterans the first time out.” —Jack Rightmyer, The Sunday Gazette
“Written in a fluid style, with concise, emotionally taut chapters, Secondhand World marks the debut of a major talent.” —Northwest Asian Weekly
“Min poignantly captures the dilemma of second-generation Americans as they try to find a place in their universe, but she also tells of a quest for self-discovery, which is universal.” —Pat Bangs, School Library Journal (Best Books of 2006)
“Min’s Secondhand World should emerge amongst conscientious readers as a novel to truly love.” —New York Literary Society
“Secondhand World is not a book that can be easily put down. A page turner, it is a lovely yet excruciating tale told with aching humanity and a masterful vocabulary.” — Lily Azerad-Goldman, BookPleasures.com
“[A] haunting debut … Swirling, textured, beautifully detailed … Min’s rendering of an outsider family’s tight-knit alienation is spot-on.” — Publishers Weekly
“Engaging both history and the needs of the passionate self, Secondhand World reveals an exquisite and powerful imagination under the sway of exceptional writerly disciplines.” —Providence Journal
“[This] always-colorful book is an easy but powerful treat to be completed in five or six hours. It’s an obvious choice for a beach read or book club selection, and it leaves the reader anxious for Min’s future works. —Susan Smyre, The Honolulu Weekly
“Min poignantly captures the dilemma of second-generation Americans as they try to find a place in their universe, but she also tells of a quest for self-discovery, which is universal.” –Pat Bangs, School Library Journal
“[A] troubling yet lovely debut… Min evokes period and place as well as characters with stringent attention and honesty.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Min gives her readers something wonderful to savor.” —Shirley Chen, The Columbia Spectator
“A lovely novel, filled with longing and regret…” —The Monadnock Ledger
“[An] absorbing story… Min’s strong writing skills expose the secrets that come to shape Isa’s character…. Touching and bittersweet… filled with universal themes [that] should resonate with teen readers of both today and yesterday.” — Library Journal
“What makes this novel so memorable — and hard to put down — is the realness and urgency of its emotion. It’s a force that commands the reader from one aching and beautifully concise chapter to the next. SECONDHAND WORLD is both powerful and intimate and offers us a piercing, new view of immigrant isolation.” — John Dalton, author of Heaven Lake
“In SECONDHAND WORLD, Katherine Min depicts with wonderful eloquence the coming of age of an unusually spirited heroine - Isadora Myung Hee Sohn - as she struggles to negotiate between her family’s Korean past and their American present. A fiercely compelling and immensely intelligent debut.” — Margot Livesey, author of Banishing Verona