This was a fascinating look at South Korea, from beauty culture, to class issues, to sex work. It follows five young women, who all live in the same inexpensive apartment building. Kyuri, who has had all of the best plastic surgery to get a jon in a “room salon” - an underground bar where the women are very much for sale, Miho, a talented artist who grew up in an orphanage but studied art in NYC, where she fell in with a wealthy crowd and after a tragedy, has a very wealthy boyfriend, Ara, a hairstylist who cannot speak after a traumatic attack, loves a K-Pop idol and has a best friend that wants extreme plastic surgery to get a job in a room salon and finally Wonna, a newlywed trying to have a baby that she and her husband cannot afford even with their white collar jobs.
I could not put this book down! It was so interesting and there were so many different layers to unpack to each character and their dynamic. I couldn’t believe how the orphanage system worked, the entire concept of a “room salon” and how engrained the beauty culture is in success in the country. I highly recommend this anyone!