Welcome back to Goodreads Monday! It’s been a very hot minute since I did one but I figured I might as well get back into it! This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it. Easy enough, right? Feel free to join in if you want to! I’ll be using a random number generator to pick my books from my insanely long GR Want-to-read list.

This week’s featured book is Human Acts by Han Kang. This is a historical fiction set in South Korea that was published in 2017 and has a 4.17 star rating on Goodreads with several thousand ratings and reviews.

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.
 
The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho’s best friend who meets his own fateful end; to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho’s own grief-stricken mother; and through their collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.
 
An award-winning, controversial bestseller, HUMAN ACTS is a timeless, pointillist portrait of an historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity. 

Why do I want to read it?

I actually have both of Kang’s books on my TBR and have yet to read them despite the fact that they’re not very long reads. I think I’ve hesitated to pick them up because I’ve heard quite mixed reviews about both which leads me to think that you either love or hate her books, with little in between. One of my besties bought this book for me and she also got herself a copy, but she said it was such a dark, depressing and heavy read that it kind of sent her into a smol slump. So I guess I’ve also been wary about that. But I am quite intrigued by the things people say about Kang’s stories so… I will eventually pick this up.

Have you read Human Acts or is it on your TBR?