Ryan Estrada

Kim Hyun Kim

The gripping true story of a South Korean woman's student days under an authoritarian regime in the early 1980s, and how she defied state censorship through the rebellion of reading.

Banned Book Club

Briar's Reviews

Yay for another graphic novel to add to my list! One of my 2020 goals was increasing the amount of graphic novels I've read (and have on my shelves) and this book seemed perfect! 

Our lead, Kim, goes off to college to learn bright and new things. Suddenly, she's found herself apart of a book club but not just any book club... it reads banned books, which is quite the scandal in South Korea during the 80s. This political true story is an incredible read and I think it's in the perfect format to tell this story.

Reasons why this book is awesome:
1. The cover is wickedly cool and grabbed my attention. 
2. Cartoon-y art style that gave it a fun personality.
3. Banned Book Club = super intriguing premise AND ITS A LEGIT THING SO EVEN COOLER. 
4. Non-fiction graphic novels/mangas = THE BOMB. Not literally, the cool 80/90s term everybody always used and suddenly didn't use anymore. 
5. I always love a good memoir. Graphic novel form is just way cooler. 
6. I learned a lot about South Korea from this book and doing a little research about what was going on at the time. BONUS FOR LEARNING! 

Overall, this is a truly marvellous story in a great artistic form. I will definitely want to pick up more books by Kim Hyun Sook in the future.

Four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Iron Circus Comics and Letter Better Publishing Services for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

Montgomery Pierce

This was a fantastic, quick read that packed a lot into the short story that it told. We don't often see stories about South Korea, specifically like those that Kim Hyun Sook has told, and though this is a story that comes from the tumultuousness of 1980's South Korea, there is so much to learn and absorb from Huyn Sook's time at college, the themes of anti-establishment, the conversations surrounding the banning of books or the limiting of the kinds of books we're allowing people to read. These are things that even today, we're very familiar with, and contesting today, in the case of authoritarian regimes, strict military states, and the control of information. 

While this book deals with what is arguably heavy, and hard-hitting topics, Banned Book Club is a good starting point, especially for young readers, to learn more about the politics and history of South Korea. The art style is also incredibly cute, which I think helps make it a little more accessible.

Gabriel Noel 

ARC given by NetGalley for Honest Review

Banned Book Club is definitely a story of our time while being told about the past. In the political climate of today's world this is an incredible look back to a time of censorship and fascism in Korea. Hyun Sook is invited to join a banned book club and while apprehensive at first she realizes over time that being apathetic about politics can be more detrimental than not. Her and her friends use her colleges tools and clubs as means to secretly defy the government while hoping not to get caught. 

This story discusses things like corporal punishment (we see Officer Ok beating boys for information), rape (also committed by Officers), and women's rights. 

While this story went by quickly in my opinion, it's refreshing to see people continuing to write about corrupt government as an act of defiance against them. Hyun Sook delivers a beautiful monologue at the end, telling her younger self not to give up hope and to continue to fight. That there will always be corruption and progress isn't always linear but it will always get better. If there is one thing you can take away from this story it would be ...read banned books! Can't wait for the pub date to come so I can add this to my personal and professional collection!

Khloe Grotting

I LOVED this graphic novel!! It’s probably the best nonfiction graphic novel I have ever read. I also thought the art style was amazing. I would totally recommend this book to anyone!

Samantha Seeman

This was eerily similar to some things that are happening in the United States today.. too similar. It was so interesting though.