#jinwoo chong

[indogaysian]

“You're the most fun I have all day. I think that makes you my best friend. Sad for both of us, isn't it?”

— Jinwoo Chong, Flux

[lifesarchive]

reading next:

THE TROOP by NICK CUTTER FLUX by JINWOO CHONG HUNGRY GHOSTS by KEVIN JARED HOSEN DEVIL HOUSE by JOHN DARNIELLE THE VIOLIN CONSPIRACY by BRENDAN SLOCUMB THE SHARDS by BRET EASTON ELLIS

[bloodmaarked]

➫ monthly book round-up: february 2024

books read: 6 [1 DNF] [-14%] average rating: 3.6 [-4%] average speed: 7.8 days [-20%] total pages: 2,083 [-27%] yearly goal progress: 11/50 best of the month: the space between here & now, sarah suk worst of the month: knife skills for beginners, orlando murrin

4* reads:

the space between here & now, sarah suk

a song of wraiths and ruin, roseanne a. brown

3.5* reads:

flux, jinwoo chong

when we were birds, ayanna lloyd banwo

3* reads:

gleanings, neal shusterman

DNFs

knife skills for beginners, orlando murrin

currently reading:

saving time, jenny odell

the murder at the vicarage, agatha christie

[ethereallad]

EVENT: Gaithersburg Book Festival

I will be attending the Gaithersburg Book Festival this Saturday, May 20, where I will be in conversation with two authors — Owen King and Jinwoo Chong. The folks at the Washington Independent Review of Books asked me to conduct these interviews.

[queerographies]

[Flux][Jinwoo Chong]

Un'azienda promette una batteria infinita, ma nasconde un segreto che potrebbe cambiare il corso del tempo. Un viaggio emozionante tra passato, presente e futuro, alla ricerca di risposte e di una seconda chance.

Spezzare il flusso del tempo: una corsa contro il passato Titolo: FluxScritto da: Jinwoo ChongTitolo originale: Flux Tradotto da: Luca BriascoEdito da: Minimum FaxAnno: 2024Pagine: 349ISBN: 9788833895703 La trama di Flux di Jinwoo Chong Poco prima di Natale Bo perde sua madre, investita da un autobus e dal flusso del tempo. Vent’anni dopo Brandon perde il lavoro, perché il giornale per cui…

[siriuslygrimm]

Chance and Choice

#BOOKREVIEW - Chance and Choice - #ILeaveItUpToYou #blog

A coma can drastically alter a person’s perception of and interaction with the world around them, which a witty yet disoriented man navigates upon waking from his two-year coma in I Leave It Up to You by Jinwoo Chong. Jack Jr. wakes from a coma after 23 months to a world very different from the one he remembers: his advertising job, Manhattan apartment, and partner are all gone but in their…

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Flux | Author: Jinwoo Chong | Publisher: Melville House (2023)

[reviewsthatburn]

DNF 4 hours 18 minutes in (47%).

I like the way the narrative is layered, and the commentary on the role of media in the formation of identity, especially when that media was not ideal representation, all of that was very interesting, and is part of why I kept reading for as long as I did. but either most of what’s in the description for the book doesn’t come in to play until the second half, or I’m missing something huge in the story. I’m not sure which, and I’m ultimately ended up not finishing it. I think this is the first DNF that I might want to revisit later when I’m in a better headspace, that time just isn’t right now. 

Full review at link

[lifesarchive]

FLUX by JINWOO CHONG (REVIEW)

quick synopsis: a newly unemployed marketing assistant stumbles into a job at a tech start-up for time-traveling research. (young guy living in the city / brothers who don’t get along / parental trauma / apartments and office buildings high in the sky / sketchy CEO’s with too much ego / racist and stereotypical 80’s tv / using tech from the future to fix the past).

This three-part story sits among the likes of ARRIVAL or DEVS… a sci-fi drama where the main character doesn’t figure out what is happening until it has already happened. The writing uses some interesting techniques like intertwining timelines, and narrating the story to a fictional 80’s TV character ‘Raider’. However, it takes forever for the story to gear up, and the drama outweighs the science fiction. The sci-fi (the time-traveling element), is clouded in mystery and is difficult to discern. It happens, but no one talks about it until the end in an underwhelming final exposition. After watching Arrival and DEVS, I saw the ending coming. The story makes it to its destination, but the journey is neither fulfilling nor breathtaking. I can see this souped up with special effects and turned into a Netflix movie… but as a story, it lacks the finesse required to balance drama and science fiction.

★ ★ ★

[bloodmaarked]

flux // jinwoo chong

first published: 2023 read: 12 february 2024 – 26 february 2024 pages: 387 format: ebook

genres: fiction, adult, science fiction (time travel), LGBTQ+ (queer protag) favourite character(s): bo, hal least favourite character(s): brandon, blue (esp. after what he did at the end)

rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 thoughts: flux was a weird one... in terms of being a cool, unusual, experimentative piece, this worked. in terms of the message i suspect the author wanted the reader to take from it, i'm not sure it did.

the general vibe and narrative were stylish and unique compared to anything else i've read before. the pacing was pretty fast, and you piece things together quickly and get taken on a wild ride. i think the main thing for me is that it tried to tackle too many plot points and themes in quite a compact story, which meant i came away from it a little lukewarm and not quite knowing what the author had wanted me to feel or think about after turning the last page. if it had been a bit more focused, this book could've been really special. also, while i grasped most of the plot easily and didn't find it too confusing, there are still some unanswered questions and parts that left me wondering why they were added to the story.

i also think our main character (brandon) could've been more compelling. he's not particularly likeable, which i didn't mind, but he also wasn't particularly interesting and i did find myself wanting to know what was happening with bo and blue instead.

not terrible overall, but not as stellar as i hoped it would be from the cover and blurb.

[tigger8900]

Flux, by Jinwoo Chong

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Brandon has just been let go from his job, leaving him directionless and his love life in shambles. Fortunately, he's quickly recruited by a fast-paced industry disruptor, one which promises the impossible. As a result of his new employment he begins to trace connections, discovering truths about himself, his family, and his racial and ethnic identity. Who is Bo, the young boy whose life has just been shattered by unspeakable tragedy? What about Blue, the middle-aged man breaking his long silence about what disaster had gone down at the company he'd once worked for? And what does all of this have to do with Raider, a short-lived 80s detective show of great significance to all three of them?

This was one of those books that I read, and then had to spend a few days deciding if I'd liked or not. There's a lot going on here, and despite the brisk pace of the narrative I think most readers will require a bit of processing time to work through the various connections. Something important to note is that the book summary is marketing lies, specifically the part where it teases a cover up for violent crimes. It's technically true, in that violent crimes did take place and I suppose there must have been a cover up, but it was all off-screen and it wasn't what the characters were primarily concerned with. Rather, this novel is about identity, and spends a great deal of time investigating the fallout resulting from trauma. I sympathize with the author(who doesn't really get a say in the cover copy, and is probably frustrated as hell) on this, and try not to hold it against the story.

But describing it that way makes it sound like a sad book, which it wasn't. It read like the kind of thriller where you've got all the puzzle pieces almost from the start, and the tricky bit is putting them together in a way that makes sense to get from A to Z. I wasn't particularly surprised by any of the reveals, but I also didn't mind; I was invested in uncovering the how and the why, rather than the who and the what, if that makes sense.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was the depiction of Brandon as not only bisexual, but as an unapologetically messy bisexual. He doesn't have his anything together, and as the narrative unfolds it begins to make sense as to why. If you're looking for a competent, well-put-together protagonist, this isn't the book for you. But his bad decisions are the journey, and I couldn't help but feel a certain fondness for this disaster of a man, even if I didn't agree with many of the actions he chose to take. I also had a lot of thoughts about whether or not he did the right thing, in the end. I'm still not sure I've reached a decision on that.

Something I didn't mind but that will be a dealbreaker for some is the technology. It's definitely closer to the "reverse the polarity!" end of the sci-fi spectrum, which is to say it's barely explained and doesn't even pretend to be plausible. I though it suited the novel that way, but if you're someone who likes fictional technology — or magic pretending to be technology — to be explained to you, be warned this is not that kind of story. You kind of have to just accept it for what it is.

I enjoyed this debut, and would be interested to see what the author might come out with next. And hopefully the marketers leave his summaries alone in the future, because no reader likes getting to the end of a book only to realize they've been mislead!

[biglisbonnews]

Flux is a dizzying, dazzling debut novel about trauma, time travel, and 80s cop shows Flux is the debut novel from writer Jinwoo Chong. It just came out this week from Melville House publishing, and folks, I'm here to tell you: it's fantastic. Here' the official synopsis: A blazingly original and stylish debut novel about a young man whose reality unravels when he suspects his mysterious employers have inadvertently discovered time travel—and are using it to cover up a string of violent crimes . — Read the rest https://boingboing.net/2023/03/23/flux-is-a-dizzying-dazzling-debut-novel-about-trauma-time-travel-and-80s-cop-shows.html

[jonathanpongratz]

New Book Release: Flux by Jinwoo Chong

    Blurb: A blazingly original and stylish debut novel about a young man whose reality unravels when he suspects his employers have inadvertently discovered time travel and are covering up a string of violent crimes. Combining elements of neo-noir, speculative fiction, and ’80s detective shows, FLUX is a haunting and sometimes shocking exploration of the cyclical nature of grief, of moving past…