Nancy Jooyoun Kim

An electrifying debut novel for fans of Celeste Ng and Jean Kwok, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a poignant mother-daughter story and surprising mystery that illustrates the devastating realities of being an immigrant in America. Margot Lee's mother, Mina, isn't returning her calls. It's a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot, until she visits her childhood apartment in Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. The discovery sends Margot digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous invisible strings that held together her single mother's life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother. Interwoven with Margot's present-day search is Mina's story of her first years in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. Barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a string of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death. Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a profound family saga that explores identity, secrets and what it truly means to belong.

The Last Story of Mina Lee

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'I loved this book so much' REESE WITHERSPOON 'Suspenseful and deeply felt...raises questions about the reality of the American dream and illuminates stories that often go untold, in life as well as fiction' CHLOE BENJAMIN Reminiscent of Celeste Ng's page-turning meditations on identity, this searing mother-daughter story explores the diverse and unsettling realities of being an immigrant in America. Margot Lee's mother is ignoring her calls. Margot cannot understand why, until she makes a surprise trip home to Koreatown, LA. What she finds there makes her realise how little she knows about her mother, Mina. Thirty years earlier, Mina Lee steps off a plane to take a chance on a new life in America. Stacking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing she expects is to fall in love. But that moment will have shattering consequences for Mina, and everything she left behind in Seoul. Through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, Margot and Mina's story unravels the unspoken secrets that can drive two people apart - or perhaps bind them closer together. --- 'Painful, joyous... A story that cries out to be told' LA TIMES 'Carefully illuminates the two sides of the silence between a Korean immigrant mother and her Korean American daughter, a silence only too familiar to many of us - and emerges with a stunningly powerful and original novel' ALEXANDER CHEE 'A timely, important novel... Fans of Celeste Ng won't be able to put down this heartfelt, cross-generational novel about the powerful bond and fragility of family and what it really means to strive for the "American dream"' POPSUGAR --- Readers fell in love with Margot and Mina... 'Beautifully rendered. Achingly sweet. Enjoyable story with wonderfully realistic characters that you want to follow' 'An emotionally gripping story of loss and belonging' 'I LOVED THIS BOOK' 'This book is filled with wonderful characters, a story to please and mouth-watering Korean food' 'It speaks to all women who have been marginalized by their families or society at large'

the Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick

cee 

Something about this country made it easy to forget we needed each other.

Did stories keep us alive? Or kill us with false expectations? 

Amelia Hruby

The waitress returned to the table with a platter full of raw meat-the marinated short ribs and porkto grill. Soy sauce and sugar, ginger and garlic caramelized, dripping fat into the fire. With an intense feeling of gratitude, Margot moved the galbi and slices of pork belly to keep them from sticking to the grill. How joyful, how abundant life could sometimes be—despite the disappointments, the tragedy. Every meal, even a somber one like this, was a celebration of what we had left, what remained on this earth to taste and feel and see.

Grief and loss in two generations, in multiple ways. As a second gen Asian American, I found myself and my mother in Mina and Margot's stories. 

Bria

Idk why but I saw this book and was obsessed and it did NOT disappoint

taryn

3.5 

A moving story of a single immigrant mother and daughter in America. I really liked the two timelines weaved and overlapped throughout the book. It made me want to give my mom a big hug and just ask about my family to learn and absorb our history.

A beautifully haunting story of family & loss, the way war & immigration shapes us, and great food descriptions

Skye Sherman

Read on audiobook. A nice story with some surprising twists at the end. Part mystery, part mother-daughter story told through two separate (though intertwining) lives and storylines.

cossette

** spoiler alert **
           A major thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this arc. 

Trigger warnings for: Death (parental death), cancer, sexual assault 

I'm not even sure where to begin with this review. I'd been intrigued with the premise, but couldn't have expected to love this book as much as I do. I was hooked from the first page, and didn't want it to end. 

As an Asian immigrant, who was raised by a single mother, this book really hit home. I found the story and dynamic of Margot and her mother, Mina, to be so relatable. The dichotomy between being too Westernized, or not Westernized enough was a struggle that I know all too well. It made me reevaluate my own identity, and my relationship with my mother. Learning about Mina's struggles to assimilate into a society that didn't care for her, didn't want her, and how hard she worked was heartbreaking, and necessary. I felt like Margot's "ungratefulness" to her mother might come off annoying, or whiny, but it felt all too real to me. I saw so much of a younger version of myself in Margot, who didn't understand why things were this way; why her mother clung to tradition and was so harsh on her. 

By interweaving Margot's present day search for the truth about her mother, and Mina's journey during her first year in Los Angeles, we get to learn and feel so much more for both Mina and Margot. I was so enthralled by Mina and Margot's stories that I almost forgot about the mystery behind it all; at times I would try to guess certain plot points, but each time I was pleasantly surprised - the twists and turns were really well done. 

I found Margot's relationship with Jonathan unnecessary - especially since he didn't seem to have too much to do with the plot, and I'm generally uncomfortable with relationships with large age-gaps. Overall, I thought this book was so well written, and is probably one of my top reads of 2020 so far.

Kimberly Diaz

Not my favorite. I loved Mina Lee but the overall novel disappointed me.

Laura

Gorgeous story of a Korean woman who moved to the US and her daughter's journey to understand her after her death. 

This book travels down two time lines. Interweaving them beautifully to give an engaging story.

Devin Mainville

I really wanted to like this book. As the daughter of a mother, I’m always down for some good maternal storylines, but the disconnect between Mina and her daughter Margot just didn’t do it for me. The book opens with Margot coming home after a long time away to find her mother dead. When ensues is a mess of mystery mashed up with flashbacks to Mina’s early days as a lone Korean immigrant figuring out where she fits in America.

I appreciated the look into Korean culture (namely the food. Don’t read this book on an empty stomach.) and liked the through line of that most uncomfortable rite of adulthood: realizing your parents are people who existed, and continue to exist, separate from you.

Ultimately, what drug this story down was its instance to be something it wasn’t. It tried to keep a toe in the thriller pond without ever committing to it. If it had leaned further into the contemporary fiction of it all I think it would have had more room to breathe and felt more cohesive.

Becca Futrell

Thank you to Park Row Books for providing me with a copy of The Last Story of Mina Lee in exchange for an honest review!

Buddy read with Reg!

I don't know what I was expecting when getting into The Last Story of Mina Lee, but it definitely wasn't this. & that's a good thing, because wow, what a wild ride. 

In The Last Story of Mina Lee, we explore two different timelines: 

- The Past: A young Mina Lee who's exploring her first year in Los Angeles as an undocumented immigrant.
-The Present: Margot, who discovers her mother, Mina Lee, has died. It's been ruled as an accident, but Margot is convinced there's more to what happened. 

I love the fact that The Last Story of Mina Lee wove elements of Mystery and Thriller into a Contemporary/Historical Fiction read. It adds the umph that I personally need when reading an Adult Contemporary. & on top of the "whodunnit?" aspect, this novel puts you into the shoes of Mina Lee. As mentioned above, Mina Lee is an undocumented immigrant who's just arrived in America. Diverse books are so important!!!! -- it's always good to step into the shoes of others, and see the world through their lens! 

The Last Story of Mina Lee has the perfect amount of just about everything: suspicious death, mystery & secrets? CHECK. Diversity? CHECK. Figuring out what it truly means to belong? CHECK. & taking a step away from the plot-content, it's all so beautifully written! This is Nancy Jooyoun Kim's debut novel & I can't wait to see what else she puts into this world.

Sharon Steinman

I really enjoyed reading about different cultures and learning history about different countries and how it impacts peoples lives. The Last Story of Mina Lee is a great book, it tells the story of about the relationship between a mother and daughter and their struggles. We learn about Mina's life and how her struggles growing up have helped to become a strong person who survives in the US. 

I think the book felt a little bit stretched out near the end but overall it's a great book and I'm glad I was able to read it over the past few days.

Megan Rose

** spoiler alert **
           
   The Last Story of Mina Lee
 follows Margot’s journey to learn more about her mother, Mina, after Mina has passed away. I liked the jump from Margot’s perspective back to Mina’s - I think that helped make the book a faster read. I would have enjoyed more time from Mina’s perspective. There was a lot of ‘scratching the surface’ and not much time spent going into depth on the other characters (even Margot). There was also a lot of borderline too convenient moments and characters that made scenes unbelievable. Overall, this was a fast read and I’m glad I read it, but I don’t know if it’s a book I’ll revisit again in the future.

The Last Story of Mina Lee

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