Interesting in that the character exploration was laid out well - the people searching and exploring their identity but there were far too many full stops. The sentences were short and jarring and distracted me from the story. However, I feel that if I tried to read this again I would be able to piece it together better and enjoy it from a different perspective.

A good debut novel, would be better if there were longer sentences.

If you like complex spy thrillers, this is for you. Don't let the length fool you into thinking this will be a quick and easy read. With multiple perspectives, shifting chronology and tautly controlled plot, you need to concentrate!

3.5 stars! thx netgalley for the arc!! i loved the cover and the title and then found out the author is a tiktoker!

this book was a fun exploration of the korean diaspora in the format of a whodunnit, following a north korean, a south korean, and a korean american as their journeys intersect in a restaurant called Soju Club in Oxford.

it overall was a quick engaging read, with quick POV changes and multiple timelines. i enjoyed getting to know some of the characters (jihoon was my fav) but the book felt a little too short and a lot of characters storylines felt like they were cut short (which maybe was the point). the mystery/thriller also wasn’t that exciting for me & the plot twist was pretty predictable. i fear i may forget the plot in a couple months. nonetheless the writing was still good so im intrigued to see what Park writes next!

I first want to thank the publisher and Net Galley for the free advanced copy. I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I was expecting Korean mystery but this book is so much more than that! Korean mystery meets cultural identity and belonging. This book follows Yohan, Jihoon and Yunah who are undercover spies playing cat and mouse with each other. The author chose to use their spy names some times and their real names at other points. I found this to be a bit confusing and hard to follow, but I was able to keep up using context clues. I really enjoyed each character but I think they could have been a bit more developed. Switching from present to past really helped build the characters but I was left craving a bit more from each character. This is a pretty short book so I think it could have been a bit longer and fleshed out. Without giving away spoilers, I will say I loved the ending.

A letter from the author at the beginning of the book explained that he modeled the characters after him and his experiences trying to assimilate. I definitely agree that was a main theme throughout the book. For being a debut, I think it’s really strong and if he comes out with more in the future, I will definitely be reading them.

I absolutely loved this. An excellent look into identity all wrapped up as a pseudo-spy novel that deals with how immigrants interact and make relationships with each other. National identity is explored in an engaging and exciting way, opening up an avenue for intense conversation that other readers may not have been privy to.

i've been following the author for a while on tiktok/instagram for his great book reccomendations and i was thrilled to be able to read his debut novel thanks to netgalley

in oxford soju club we follow a couple of spies, some south korean, some north korean, and korean american. oh and a korean restaurant owner. the only one in town.

as they all spy on each other, trying to get through governement-manifactured identities, the reader slowly unravels who each character really is deep down. we get a glimpse of their past, their family situation, and how it has led them to now.

all of this between motorcycle chases, killings, and drinks/food at the oxford soju club, where most of the characters meet at some point during the story.

i had tears in my eyes a couple of times at the end of the novel. even if we don't spend a lot of time with the characters you really get attached to them. i also really enjoyed the found family aspect.

i liked that north korea was really involved in the story, i wasn't expecting it when starting the book.

great debut novel!

Oh my gosh, this book. A mystery and a spy thriller about cultural heritage and humanity. Tense and page-turning and filled with character intricacies, I felt myself in love with the character dynamics Jinwoo Park has created in this book.

I really enjoyed the simple, clear writing style of this one! I enjoyed getting to know the characters, their backgrounds, and how they navigated struggles in life and with their identities.

As a fan of Jinwoo Park's online content, I was highly anticipating his debut novel and it absolutely did not disappoint. This works brilliantly as both a spy thriller and an exploration of identity. It's perfectly paced with tension that builds to a satisfying conclusion, deftly handling all of the moving pieces, secrets and reveals in a way that felt natural and engaging. While the characters are in part a representation of the different masks Korean immigrants wear, they also feel like fully realized people with believable motivations, complex relationships and loyalties, and moments of introspection and growth. As the story is told through multiple POVs and timelines and slowly reveals more about the characters backstories and connections, I found myself becoming quite attached to several of them. Its obvious Park has spent some time in Oxford as he makes both the city and the eponymous fictional restaurant the Soju Club come to life. This novel both presents you with a fast-paced engaging story and leaves you with important questions to contemplate. I'll be thinking about this one for a while!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me early access to this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

OXFORD SOJU CLUB is a mystery whodunit with Korean identities at the forefront. Only about 200 pages but it was filled to the brim with backstories and a whole banchan of diaspora, cultural heritage, longing for home—longing for self.

From the first page, I was sucked in by a very unique storytelling structure. Each chapter was told from the viewpoints of the Northerner, the Southerner, and the American, along with the past and the presence weaving in and out of the story. It’s amazing how Park managed to thread every Korean identity in such a compact book. I can’t say if it manages to erase any division between the countries and our histories, but I do think it succeeds in boiling down to how similar we all are as human.

Toward the end, it’s less about finding who the murder was, but it’s about what’s next. The more we find out about the past, the clearer we see the future.

My favourite quote in this book: “You’re finally feeling it, the weight of being your own self.”

Hmm, this was a tough one. While a short and fast-paced story, I did not care for the back and forth through time for various characters. I enjoyed seeing a glimpse of people trying to find who they are in unfamiliar territory while struggling with holding on or letting go of their ethnic identities. Besides that, I found myself not connecting to the story throughout and found I had to keep forcing myself to push through to the end. I do think the ending wrapped things up well. I’m interested in reading other works from this author even if the Oxford Soju Club wasn’t for me.

This book was super interesting, and I was surprised at how much I liked it.

The setting of this book was beautifully described. You really feel like you're there in Oxford alongside our characters.

The character development through the book was clearly well thought out. All the characters go through a really great journey and I loved learning about everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me early access to this ARC!!

Well this was a pleasant experience! This would make a great dip into translated fiction for any reader but particularly the people who love crime, mystery and most importantly Oxford! The Oxford setting was so well researched and so great! The story could have been longer but it’s better that us as readers are left wanting more than anything else! A great one sitting read too

This was a wonderful novel! The characters all had compelling stories that intertwine as the novel goes on. An amazing exploration of identity and self- I highly recommend it!

“There are people who plan for the future, and there are people who plan for the present,” he recalls Dr. Ryu telling him. “Those who plan for the future rely on assumptions. They expect that there will be a tomorrow, a kind of tomorrow that fits into their projected narrative. It’s why the powerful are obsessed with planning for the future. Only power can guarantee things. For us, however, we must plan in the present. We’re not so lucky with our resources. We have to assume that we’ll have nothing in the future.”

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to gain early access to this novel!

Oxford Soju Club is a soon to be released spy thriller which delves into the lives of three key characters. Each character is facing their own demons and trying to keep their secrets and true identities under wraps, all while trying to be the one who comes out alive.
Jinwoo Park’s use of varying timelines when telling the characters’ stories was often clever as it kept me guessing, however, there were times where the jumping of timelines came across as confusing.

Overall, this story possessed in-depth character development and several exciting, and often heartbreaking, twists and turns.

Book Review: Soju Club by Jinwoo Park

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
(I received a free digital copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.)

Jinwoo Park’s Soju Club is a fast-paced, high-stakes thriller that kept me hooked from start to finish—well, almost. This is exactly the kind of book I love: sharp writing, a gripping plot, and characters who feel real. It’s got everything—spies, secrets, shifting alliances, and a deeper story about identity and belonging.

What Works

The setup is fantastic. Yohan, a North Korean operative, is trying to uncover the truth about his mentor’s death. Yunah, a Korean American CIA agent, is desperate to save her failing investigation. And Jihoon, the owner of Oxford’s only Korean restaurant, just wants a fresh start. Their lives collide in a way that feels completely natural yet impossible to predict.

Park keeps the tension high while giving the characters emotional depth. This isn’t just a spy novel—it’s a story about people trying to find their place in the world. That balance between action and character is what makes this such a standout read.

I have no doubt Soju Club is going to be made into a movie. It’s too cinematic not to be. I can already picture the tense conversations, the double-crosses, the atmospheric shots of Oxford’s streets. I’d love to see how a director brings this to life, but until then, the book itself delivers everything I want in a thriller.

Where It Falls Short

For the first 75% of the book, the pacing is razor-sharp. The stakes keep escalating, the character dynamics stay fresh, and the twists come at just the right moments. But in the final stretch, the energy shifts. Instead of the tightly controlled tension that made the earlier chapters so engaging, the plot starts to drag, weighed down by drawn-out resolutions and a sense that the story is circling rather than driving forward.

It’s not that the ending is bad—Park knows how to wrap up a narrative—but compared to the electric buildup, the conclusion lacks that same urgency. The last act feels like it’s moving through the motions, ensuring every plot thread is neatly tied rather than delivering the same heart-pounding suspense that made the first three-quarters so gripping.

That said, the novel still stands out as one of the strongest spy thrillers I’ve read in a while. The depth of the characters, the layered storytelling, and the overall execution make Soju Club absolutely worth reading. Park is a writer to watch, and I’ll be eager to see what he does next.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing a digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The most intriguing of stories is woven by Jinwoo Park and I couldn't put it down! It was masterful seeing how all the different components were operating on their own and then seeing how it all came together at the end was like watching a conductor close out the ending notes of his symphony. I stayed up until 2Am finishing this because I couldn't put it down. A definite must read for anyone who has lived with a mask (that is to say, EVERYONE)!

This was a very interesting read.

Set during 2012 in Oxford, I was immediately intrigued because being Korean myself and Oxford being one of my favorite places in the whole world, it seemed right up my alley.

I was not expecting it to be sympathizing more with the North Korean spies, and almost villainizing the South Korean character in a way. However, I think that’s what makes this story particularly unique. It challenges you to think outside the box and stretches your mind to realize that not all things are black and white. There are lots of grey areas when it comes to these topics.

The writing felt a bit disjointed at times and I did find myself getting lost several times because of this. And for that reason, I’m giving it a 3.5 star rating.

But overall, a solid read and looking forward to seeing more from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dundurn Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Reading this book feels like watching a fast paced Korean action movie. Its about political intrigue and the cat and mouse chase between operatives as well as the classic standoffs between North Korea, South Korea and America (they are always in the center of everything) but its main themes revolves around the sense of belonging as well as identity especially those who's ethnicity and nationality are considered two polar opposites; where do they belong? What part of their self determines their identity? Is it their blood? Their culture? or Their nationality in their passport?
I like how this book tackles such issues through the perspectives of the characters in this book.

A great debut novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dundurn Press for giving me an arc of this book <3.

Oxford Soju Club is a whodunnit spy story that also pushes themes of Korean diaspora to the forefront.

This book is multiple point of view and multiple time lines that jump from one to another within each chapter. I felt that the execution was often confusing. There's a lot of names for a shorter story.

I was a fan of the ending though. It was very heartfelt and really pushed the themes forward that I believe Park was trying to get across.