In 2026 I read City of Night Birds by Juhea Kim.
Another book I picked up because it was chosen by my book club.
I enjoy book club because it exposes me to books outside my typical sphere of interest. However, I have to admit that sometimes we pick a dud.
In this particular case, the writing just didn’t sing for me. A few years ago, I read Colum McCann’s novel Dancer about Rudolf Nureyev, and while that novel had its own flaws, it was written with a lyricism that felt much more suitable to the subject.
City of Night Birds, on the other hand, was overlong and the prose and dialogue were incredibly wooden. Important psychological beats happened without much warning and weren’t given their due as the narrative unfolded. The politics, while incredibly relevant to the story’s time period and eventual plot points, came across as shoehorned and shallow. As if the author realized she could not go 300 odd pages without mentioning them, but was more irritated by this fact than inspired to explore how they might actually shape her characters.
Overall, not something I particularly connected with. But I can also admit, that maybe I know too much about the business of the “Reese’s Book Club” stamp on the cover and the fact that those promoting to book see it more as an HBO mini series with significant ROI potential than a piece of standalone literature.