Minyoung Kang (translated from Korean by Shanna Tan) introduces us to unassuming Yoohee in this "addictive South Korean import...part horror story, part noir mystery, and part women's revenge tale" (Booklist). Publishers Weekly offers this summary and glowing review:
"A woman abandons her office job to open a nursery that sells more than plants in Korean journalist Kang's brilliant debut. At her new shop in the quiet Sejin City neighborhood of Dosan-gu, Yoohee has created a lush, peaceful storefront brimming with her favorite plants. Sometimes, she offers her clients advice on removing troublesome insects from their gardens; other times, she helps them kill and dispose of the abusive men in their lives. News of her services spreads through careful word of mouth, but the disappearances pique the interest of police detective Cha Dokyung, who visits Yoohee's shop seeking answers ... What follows is a delightfully tense game of cat and mouse between Dokyung and Yoohee, who devises increasingly ingenious methods of dispatching entitled, dangerous abusers while avoiding detection. Smoothly translated by Tan, Kang's prose is both propulsive and plainspoken, and glimpses of Yoohee's past lend the narrative significant emotional depth. The result is an exquisite ode to female rage."
Although I found the writing to be a little stilted at times, perhaps due to the translation, I was definitely rooting for Yoohee to succeed in her plant-inspired vigilante machinations. This is a quick read.
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