Specs
Reviews
(3.50/5)In this novel, readers are drawn into a touching and wholesome narrative set in Gyeongsang-do. The story follows a young girl who is sent to her estranged father's hometown while her mother battles illness. As she navigates this new environment, she gradually warms up to the community, especially to a boy who is facing his own inner struggles.
However, for language learners, the regional dialect (satori) in the dialogue of locals might pose some significant challenge. While this adds authenticity and charm to the novel, it definitely creates a barrier to comprehension. I found myself alternating between passages I understand almost perfectly and ones where I could only grasp the gist (at most) and had to skip through the text.
Despite this, the essence of the story shines through, depicting a poignant exploration of human connection and resilience. It's probably not a good recommendation for one's first exposure to YA novels, but later on this can be a very rewarding experience, both in terms of language acquisition and emotional depth.
Not what I expected going in. This is in essence a summer romance type story, but takes some unexpected detours along the way.
There's the MC who has to suddenly move to the south to live with the father she's never met, the boy who won't talk to anyone, the struggling Judo team, the dark secret being kept by the townsfolk and a little bit of the supernatural even.
Strong 경산도 사투리 is used by almost every character except the MC, but is the most pronounced in the side characters like the Judo coach. I had to look up the 사투리 grammar as I went and some of the dialogue sections were pretty tough. On the plus side they generally weren't too long but they were essential to the plot. The MC's speech and the narration are all in 표준어.
If you are interested in a novel with 경상도 사투리 then it's a good first pick to get exposure to the dialect, but I wouldn't rec it to an intermediate or below learner otherwise as it's a bit too much work to be worth your time if you're just looking for easy korean reading material.