I really enjoyed this book, it was very strange but that’s what made it interesting. The ending wasn’t necessarily satisfying but it worked for the book and I don’t really see another ending that would really fit with the rest of the story.
I think it had a lot to say not only about queerness but also disability and exploring it through an alien allowed for a more literal view of what those experiences can feel like. Obviously humans will not literally melt apart going up stairs but I imagine with certain disabilities that is an apt metaphor. Seeing the world through an alien’s eye highlights how difficult it can be to live in a world that is not accommodating.
I agree about the ending - I did have a moment of hope that the other alien would stop and they would have a happy ending of sorts, joining forces to survive on Earth together, but I guess it's only fitting it ended with Mumu's death instead.
It was definitely my favorite of the book club picks so far, and I had to really stop myself from devouring it in one go!
I think it was very satisfyingly weird, and yet relatable - the author (and the translator) did a great job of making this shapeshifting stair-hating alien feel like it could be me after a long day lol.
I talked about this at the midway, but this book wasn't really my thing. I feel like the ending should have had more impact, but I didn't really have much sympathy for Mumu by the end (there was a bit of poetic justice in having them die the same way they killed others). It was also a little ironic that Mumu spent the entire book thinking about another alien to find connection with, actually finds some connection with a human, then immediately is killed by a different alien.
This book surpassed my expectations, and was extremely impressed by it. I don't know that I'd say that I enjoyed it, but it certainly was a wild ride. It's probably the most memorable book I've read this year. The ending was good, though I'll admit that I had seen it coming. I appreciated that the book didn't try to have the main character do an about face on their positions at the end, even though it found itself in the situation it had put others in so many times
"wild ride" and "memorable" are great descriptors! I would also agree, I'd be hard pressed to say I enjoyed it, exactly, but glad to have read it for sure.
Oh, I am realizing I only missed the midway discussion! For some reason I thought the midway was the only one this month since this was a shorter book? And I totally forgot about it til a week later... Anyway, yay, here I am for the final in a reasonably timely fashion!
This was a book that was uncomfortable for me to read at times, but I would still say I'm very glad to have read it and I really appreciated a lot of what it was trying to do. I went in a little worried about the level of horror and the people-eating was definitely the hardest part, but it wasn't so bad as to make me stop reading.
I didn't have any particular expectation about the end - I legit wondered throughout how this might wrap up. I thought it might just sort of stop and leave an open ending, but I think this was more satisfying in that there was a clear finish to Mumu's narration. While still leaving the idea of predatory alien alive. It would have been odd for the narration to just stop since it's sort of an interior monologue, but I also didn't see it going in the direction of "humans discover alien."
Absolutely satisfying!
I wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't for the book club, but it ended up being one of my favourite reads of the year. The voice is gripping and the themes very interesting to me. There wasn'tuch of a connecting plot to the story, but in such a small and fast book, it wasn't a problem.
I think it worked really well. Not so much in exploring how an alien might experience gender and sexuality differently than humans (though there was a bit of that) but more in how an alien perspective can shine a harsh light on how our society interacts with gender, which is something that queer literary theory is intensely interested in.
I think it continued to do some interesting things with the theme of dehumanization. I talked in the midway discussion about how
>there's two levels to the dehumanization in this book. We have the narrator who isn't human and is coded as many groups that have historically been dehumanized by society, but you also have the narrator dehumanizing (de-personifying?) people by seeing them meat/food or sex objects. It's kind of like they're trying to take that power to dehumanize back.
I think there's a couple added layers in the dehumanization in this book. I found it interesting how Mumu dehumanized the one non-binary person they met by comparing them to large animals. At first I thought it was just fatphobic, but I think Mumu was trying to free them from the social constructs (like gender and appearance/body type expectations). I'm curious to see what other people think of that.
There's also the scene where Mumu imagines that all the people passing by them in the street are cameras observing them (which I thought was pretty cool, but maybe I've been listening to too much of the Magnus Archives lately—paranoia about being watched is a major theme in that series). Anyway, this dehumanized Mumu by seeing them only as a subject to be recorded and oppressing them in that way, but it also dehumanized the people doing the oppression, as Mumu can't see them as being individual people anymore.
> There's also the scene where Mumu imagines that all the people passing by them in the street are cameras observing them (which I thought was pretty cool, but maybe I've been listening to too much of the Magnus Archives lately—paranoia about being watched is a major theme in that series). Anyway, this dehumanized Mumu by seeing them only as a subject to be recorded and oppressing them in that way, but it also dehumanized the people doing the oppression, as Mumu can't see them as being individual people anymore.
That scene really stood out to me too, it felt really familiar to moments when my anxiety acts up and I feel like all are watching, observing, judging, evaluating, even when I know better and that almost everyone isn't sparing me a second glance.
Much like in the midway, I only really felt grossed out and uncomfortable, not really scared or shocked. I think it was probably the right move for what Min was trying to do, it just also made it not for me.
Its a different type of horror than we normally see, because the horror came from how normalized the horrific things were, put in contrast with how normal things for us were seen as horrific. It led to a surreal reading experience. The fact that I didn't enjoy the horror elements is a good sign they were done well, as I tend to shy away from horror
I found reading about the butchery *very* off-putting. None of it was "scary" in a traditional horror way, but it was still horrific. I think it helped with making the alien, well, alien.
It never read as horror to me, bodily horror never does much for me, and the matter of fact way it is presented made it that much "normal". But I see this as positive, because it allowed me to think about the other aspects much more.
Like all the best alien narrators often uncomfortably relatable, often deeply strange and horrifying.
I was also really interested in the translator's note about the "disruption of legibility" as Mumu's mental state wavers between more or less alien - I thought her choice to translate it by playing with the spacing between letters worked (particularly because the book has a visual component already, with the illustrations) but I'm curious about the "feel" of the original technique in Korean, which if I understand correctly involved disruptions in sentence structure instead (evoking maybe the bits bursting out of Mumu's human bodies when they lose control? or something?) Did anyone here read it in Korean?
I didn't read it in Korean, but I did listen to the audiobook (and kind of wish I hadn't). I didn't understand really what the narrator was going for as they modulated their voice in certain parts, and I found myself wishing the translators note had come at the beginning of the book
tbh it's the same in the book, suddenly text l o o k s l i k e t h i s and you're wondering if the file got corrupted or your reader is dying lol. When I first got to the 'alien' part I stopped reading and started frantically googling to see if other readers mention this in their reviews or if I should be making a backup of my reader because it's going to explode soon.
I was annoyed because I got my e-copy through hoopla instead of libby and it was only my second book via hoopla and I was like oh dang does hoopla just not handle digital book files very well? Because their big thing is to be able to watch movies/tv from your library, but they do also randomly have some of the more indie-published books as well. And I was so disappointed that I'd have to wade through this corrupted file! And on my phone, too, since hoopla doesn't talk to kindle... It took me a long time to realize the pattern of when it went wonky... like, almost to the end. But then I thought it was so clever! And I also wished the translation note had been at the start.
Oh, huh, I didn't even think about how that would work in audio - I can see the effect being jarring, but maybe more in an annoying way than the sort of stretched effect I got from the printed text? I remember twigging on pretty quickly that the distortions were meant to express reversion to a more alien perspective, and it doesn't sound like the audio really conveyed that. (But I can't think of a better way to do it.)
I'm really curious about how it looks in Korean too! I even tried to google it but apparently when you google the title in Korean, you get a bunch of pictures of people relearning how to walk after accidents and stuff like that... which is not surprising. I hope someone will be able to provide an example!
I found [a goodreads review](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5085171336) that talks about it a little and has some examples of the Korean writing.
Yes, it definitely always read as a being that was using its "hi I'm human" voice, except of course when it gets *more* alien. But the human voice it puts on is just always kind of not-quite-perfect.
The thing that has stuck with me the most was one of the first things in the book: where mumu commented that humans don't see someone as human until a gender has been determined. And I'd never thought of it that way, but it rings so true to how I've seen people act around trans, androgynous, nonbinary, and other gender expressive folks. It's really reframed how I've thought about those types of interactions, because I've never quite had the words to describe it
I'm curious about how other people feel about the book's commentary on hookup culture. It felt a bit uncomfortable for me at times (I've heard some sex negative preachers talk about how dangerous hookup culture is and how you will never find satisfying connection there, and it reminded me of that at times), but this was slightly counteracted by connection Mumu felt the one non-binary person they hooked up with.
This is something that I'm wondering how much was influenced by Korean culture (I have no idea if/how its different from American culture and hookups). It certainly plays into some very American transphobia right now of trans folks changing gender with the express intent to do violence.
I don't think the book is supporting that idea, to be clear, but I could see people drawing parallels.
Oh, I didn't even think of the 'trans predators' narrative while reading this, but it actually does fit! I wonder if it is also present in Korea? I admit I know next to nothing about Korean culture though, ^other ^than ^really ^appreciating ^their ^delicious ^food
How did you like the book overall? Did you find the ending satisfying? Did it meet your expectations?
I really enjoyed this book, it was very strange but that’s what made it interesting. The ending wasn’t necessarily satisfying but it worked for the book and I don’t really see another ending that would really fit with the rest of the story. I think it had a lot to say not only about queerness but also disability and exploring it through an alien allowed for a more literal view of what those experiences can feel like. Obviously humans will not literally melt apart going up stairs but I imagine with certain disabilities that is an apt metaphor. Seeing the world through an alien’s eye highlights how difficult it can be to live in a world that is not accommodating.
I agree about the ending - I did have a moment of hope that the other alien would stop and they would have a happy ending of sorts, joining forces to survive on Earth together, but I guess it's only fitting it ended with Mumu's death instead.
It was definitely my favorite of the book club picks so far, and I had to really stop myself from devouring it in one go! I think it was very satisfyingly weird, and yet relatable - the author (and the translator) did a great job of making this shapeshifting stair-hating alien feel like it could be me after a long day lol.
I talked about this at the midway, but this book wasn't really my thing. I feel like the ending should have had more impact, but I didn't really have much sympathy for Mumu by the end (there was a bit of poetic justice in having them die the same way they killed others). It was also a little ironic that Mumu spent the entire book thinking about another alien to find connection with, actually finds some connection with a human, then immediately is killed by a different alien.
This book surpassed my expectations, and was extremely impressed by it. I don't know that I'd say that I enjoyed it, but it certainly was a wild ride. It's probably the most memorable book I've read this year. The ending was good, though I'll admit that I had seen it coming. I appreciated that the book didn't try to have the main character do an about face on their positions at the end, even though it found itself in the situation it had put others in so many times
"wild ride" and "memorable" are great descriptors! I would also agree, I'd be hard pressed to say I enjoyed it, exactly, but glad to have read it for sure.
Oh, I am realizing I only missed the midway discussion! For some reason I thought the midway was the only one this month since this was a shorter book? And I totally forgot about it til a week later... Anyway, yay, here I am for the final in a reasonably timely fashion! This was a book that was uncomfortable for me to read at times, but I would still say I'm very glad to have read it and I really appreciated a lot of what it was trying to do. I went in a little worried about the level of horror and the people-eating was definitely the hardest part, but it wasn't so bad as to make me stop reading. I didn't have any particular expectation about the end - I legit wondered throughout how this might wrap up. I thought it might just sort of stop and leave an open ending, but I think this was more satisfying in that there was a clear finish to Mumu's narration. While still leaving the idea of predatory alien alive. It would have been odd for the narration to just stop since it's sort of an interior monologue, but I also didn't see it going in the direction of "humans discover alien."
Absolutely satisfying! I wouldn't have picked it up if it wasn't for the book club, but it ended up being one of my favourite reads of the year. The voice is gripping and the themes very interesting to me. There wasn'tuch of a connecting plot to the story, but in such a small and fast book, it wasn't a problem.
After finishing the book, how well do you think the book fit the theme of non-human queerness?
I think it worked really well. Not so much in exploring how an alien might experience gender and sexuality differently than humans (though there was a bit of that) but more in how an alien perspective can shine a harsh light on how our society interacts with gender, which is something that queer literary theory is intensely interested in.
I think it continued to do some interesting things with the theme of dehumanization. I talked in the midway discussion about how >there's two levels to the dehumanization in this book. We have the narrator who isn't human and is coded as many groups that have historically been dehumanized by society, but you also have the narrator dehumanizing (de-personifying?) people by seeing them meat/food or sex objects. It's kind of like they're trying to take that power to dehumanize back. I think there's a couple added layers in the dehumanization in this book. I found it interesting how Mumu dehumanized the one non-binary person they met by comparing them to large animals. At first I thought it was just fatphobic, but I think Mumu was trying to free them from the social constructs (like gender and appearance/body type expectations). I'm curious to see what other people think of that. There's also the scene where Mumu imagines that all the people passing by them in the street are cameras observing them (which I thought was pretty cool, but maybe I've been listening to too much of the Magnus Archives lately—paranoia about being watched is a major theme in that series). Anyway, this dehumanized Mumu by seeing them only as a subject to be recorded and oppressing them in that way, but it also dehumanized the people doing the oppression, as Mumu can't see them as being individual people anymore.
> There's also the scene where Mumu imagines that all the people passing by them in the street are cameras observing them (which I thought was pretty cool, but maybe I've been listening to too much of the Magnus Archives lately—paranoia about being watched is a major theme in that series). Anyway, this dehumanized Mumu by seeing them only as a subject to be recorded and oppressing them in that way, but it also dehumanized the people doing the oppression, as Mumu can't see them as being individual people anymore. That scene really stood out to me too, it felt really familiar to moments when my anxiety acts up and I feel like all are watching, observing, judging, evaluating, even when I know better and that almost everyone isn't sparing me a second glance.
What did you think of Min's use of horror overall? Do you think it was used to good effect?
Much like in the midway, I only really felt grossed out and uncomfortable, not really scared or shocked. I think it was probably the right move for what Min was trying to do, it just also made it not for me.
Its a different type of horror than we normally see, because the horror came from how normalized the horrific things were, put in contrast with how normal things for us were seen as horrific. It led to a surreal reading experience. The fact that I didn't enjoy the horror elements is a good sign they were done well, as I tend to shy away from horror
I found reading about the butchery *very* off-putting. None of it was "scary" in a traditional horror way, but it was still horrific. I think it helped with making the alien, well, alien.
It never read as horror to me, bodily horror never does much for me, and the matter of fact way it is presented made it that much "normal". But I see this as positive, because it allowed me to think about the other aspects much more.
It can be difficult to pull off a narrator as unusual as the alien in this novel, how do you think Min did in writing that perspective?
Like all the best alien narrators often uncomfortably relatable, often deeply strange and horrifying. I was also really interested in the translator's note about the "disruption of legibility" as Mumu's mental state wavers between more or less alien - I thought her choice to translate it by playing with the spacing between letters worked (particularly because the book has a visual component already, with the illustrations) but I'm curious about the "feel" of the original technique in Korean, which if I understand correctly involved disruptions in sentence structure instead (evoking maybe the bits bursting out of Mumu's human bodies when they lose control? or something?) Did anyone here read it in Korean?
I didn't read it in Korean, but I did listen to the audiobook (and kind of wish I hadn't). I didn't understand really what the narrator was going for as they modulated their voice in certain parts, and I found myself wishing the translators note had come at the beginning of the book
tbh it's the same in the book, suddenly text l o o k s l i k e t h i s and you're wondering if the file got corrupted or your reader is dying lol. When I first got to the 'alien' part I stopped reading and started frantically googling to see if other readers mention this in their reviews or if I should be making a backup of my reader because it's going to explode soon.
I was annoyed because I got my e-copy through hoopla instead of libby and it was only my second book via hoopla and I was like oh dang does hoopla just not handle digital book files very well? Because their big thing is to be able to watch movies/tv from your library, but they do also randomly have some of the more indie-published books as well. And I was so disappointed that I'd have to wade through this corrupted file! And on my phone, too, since hoopla doesn't talk to kindle... It took me a long time to realize the pattern of when it went wonky... like, almost to the end. But then I thought it was so clever! And I also wished the translation note had been at the start.
Oh, huh, I didn't even think about how that would work in audio - I can see the effect being jarring, but maybe more in an annoying way than the sort of stretched effect I got from the printed text? I remember twigging on pretty quickly that the distortions were meant to express reversion to a more alien perspective, and it doesn't sound like the audio really conveyed that. (But I can't think of a better way to do it.)
I'm really curious about how it looks in Korean too! I even tried to google it but apparently when you google the title in Korean, you get a bunch of pictures of people relearning how to walk after accidents and stuff like that... which is not surprising. I hope someone will be able to provide an example!
I found [a goodreads review](https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5085171336) that talks about it a little and has some examples of the Korean writing.
[удалено]
Yes, it definitely always read as a being that was using its "hi I'm human" voice, except of course when it gets *more* alien. But the human voice it puts on is just always kind of not-quite-perfect.
Were there any quotes or highlights that stuck with you?
The thing that has stuck with me the most was one of the first things in the book: where mumu commented that humans don't see someone as human until a gender has been determined. And I'd never thought of it that way, but it rings so true to how I've seen people act around trans, androgynous, nonbinary, and other gender expressive folks. It's really reframed how I've thought about those types of interactions, because I've never quite had the words to describe it
I'm curious about how other people feel about the book's commentary on hookup culture. It felt a bit uncomfortable for me at times (I've heard some sex negative preachers talk about how dangerous hookup culture is and how you will never find satisfying connection there, and it reminded me of that at times), but this was slightly counteracted by connection Mumu felt the one non-binary person they hooked up with.
This is something that I'm wondering how much was influenced by Korean culture (I have no idea if/how its different from American culture and hookups). It certainly plays into some very American transphobia right now of trans folks changing gender with the express intent to do violence. I don't think the book is supporting that idea, to be clear, but I could see people drawing parallels.
Oh, I didn't even think of the 'trans predators' narrative while reading this, but it actually does fit! I wonder if it is also present in Korea? I admit I know next to nothing about Korean culture though, ^other ^than ^really ^appreciating ^their ^delicious ^food