Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ever since her Korean Canadian BFF Lucas Pak ghosted her at 14 after she confessed her feelings to him, Yena Bae, also Korean Canadian, hasn't stuck with "anything or anyone for very long." With no post--high school plans, Yena takes a summer job at her mother's memory-erasing clinic in Busan, South Korea. Lucas, meanwhile, travels to Busan on a desperate quest to admit his grandfather, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, into a memory-restoring trial spearheaded by Yena's mother. Though Yena is shocked to find archival evidence indicating that Lucas erased her from his memory, she nevertheless feels compelled to help him after they reconnect in Busan. But with the long-term effects of memory erasure undetermined, could her presence jeopardize Lucas's health? Via Lucas and Yena's alternating perspectives, interspersed with sections narrated by anthropomorphized objects (including a movie reel and a lawn mower), Suk (The Space Between Here & Now) highlights the intimate connections between senses and memory. As the teens unspool secrets and awaken old affections, this uniquely structured, memory-bending speculative romance and love letter to Busan raises meaty questions about scientific morality. Ages 13--up. Agent: Linda Epstein, Emerald City Literary. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
In a world where memory tampering is possible, two Korean Canadian teens deal with the repercussions of memory loss. Seventeen-year-old Yena Bae is in Busan, South Korea, for the summer, working at her divorced mother's memory erasure clinic. When she runs into her childhood best friend, Lucas Pak, who left Vancouver for Alberta without a word, she's shocked--they're halfway around the world and, having discovered his memory tape at the clinic, she knows he had his memories of her erased. Lucas is in Busan visiting his grandfather, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Lucas hopes to enroll Harabeoji in the clinic's new memory restoration trial. As Lucas enlists Yena's help, she struggles with questions around his motivations while having to keep their old friendship a secret to protect him from complications of the erasure procedure. At the same time, Lucas can't shake the feeling that people are hiding something. This story explores the grief of carrying formerly shared memories alone, while also offering readers an earnest budding romance. The narrative alternates between the leads' perspectives and includes a rich tapestry of settings (a bamboo forest, a fish market) as well as flashback vignettes from the points of view of various inanimate objects (a popcorn machine, a lawn mower) whose sounds were captured on cassette tapes used for the memory erasure procedures. The novel's speculative premise offers musings on the social consequences of technology as an intriguing backdrop for a gentle friends-to-lovers romance. Thought-provoking and comforting.(Speculative romance. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
