We started the new year with a book club book! A book club book about a nonbinary artist named Jebi who somehow finds themselves in the middle of a revolution when really, they just wanted a job.
This story takes place in a speculative version of Japanese-occupied Korea, complete with a mecha dragon and magic derived from art, and secret revolutionaries and unexpected collaborators with the occupation, and no easy answers for anything. But it's also a love story, both between Jebi and the mecha dragon, who they create a telepathic means of communication via painting with inks which have distressing origins, and also between Jebi and a badass duelist. The tone has a lightness to it as well, in large part because Jebi is a delightful kind of unreliable narrator--there's so much of their world that they're clearly just not aware of, or haven't focused on, so they're constantly surprised by events in ways that feel believable, because prior to the narrative of the story, they just accepted the reality of where they lived and did their best not to think about it.
Their older sister did think about it, a lot, and one of the things Jebi discovers through the novel is how much more involved she is in elements of the revolution. I really liked their relationship, because it was a great example of how two people can love each other and care for each other without truly understanding one another, and accept that distance.
It's also an interesting book because Jebi's gender is just a fact, it's not notable one way or another, and there's a poly relationship that isn't necessarily socially acceptable, but for reasons beyond the number of people within it. The author is trans, and Korean-American, and I really, really enjoyed his perspective on this world and on this character.
Grade: A
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