Such a tricky book to give a review for. The writing (translation) was good, great. The subject matter was depressing and eery.

It is basically a character study of a woman who is 'unhappy' - to say the least - and her pursuit of a happiness that is out of reach for her, unless she can manipulate people to make it happen.

A powerful but pressuring novel, I think it's something one will read just the once.

To say I enjoyed it, doesn't sound right. I appreciated it and found the writing to be intriguing and entertaining.

It's not the type of thing I'm comfortable reading. It feels too dark and gloomy, not suitable for reading during the day, in a happy mood.

“I think you will eventually become happy if you slowly collect happy moments over a lifetime.”
“Wrong. Happiness isn’t addition.”
Yuna stared out the balcony window, as though she were searching for a distant horizon. Although he doubted she could see much more than the reflection of their apartment in the glass pane.
“Happiness is subtraction. It’s getting rid of the possibility of unhappiness until life becomes perfect.”

“행복한 순간을 하나씩 더해가면, 그 인생은 결국 행복한 거 아닌가.”
“아니, 행복은 덧셈이 아니야.”
그녀는 베란다 유리문을 물끄러미 바라봤다. 마치 먼 지평선을 넘어다보는 듯한 시선이었다. 실제로 보이는 건 유리문에 반사된 실내풍경뿐일 텐데.
“행복은 뺄셈이야. 완전해질 때까지, 불행의 가능성을 없애가는 거.”

Perfect Happiness (2025) is Sean Lin Halbert's translation of 완전한 행복 (2021) by 정유정 (Romanized here as You-Jeong Jeong).

This the third of the author's books to be translated into English after The Good Son (종의 기원 - which directly translates as The Origin of Species) and Seven Years of Darkness (7 년의 밤) both translated by Chi-Young Kim.

On my review of both books I noted that author is "known as South Korea’s Stephen King, is an award-winning and bestselling author of psychological thrillers and crime fiction" (this per the publisher of this novel). I'm a fan of Korean literary fiction (Bae Suah, Han Kang or Hwang Sok-yong say) and culture, but would not read Stephen King novels, and as the novel feel neither particularly Korean nor particularly literary, I'm not really the target audience.

That said I did find this more successful than the previous two novels. As with those this is not a whodunnit more whydidtheydoit, i.e. focused on the psychological motivations of the characters. Switching from the first to the close third person perspective, and at no point from that of the 'villian', helps I think here, as the novel's main strength is to see the impact of the narcassistic (nad murderous) Yuna on the behaviour of those around her, such as her elder sister who was terrified of the younger Yuna from a young age:

'Yuna didn’t call Jane unnie like she was supposed to. In some ways, it was thanks to Yuna that Jane learned so many alternatives for the phrase “big sister.” Her favorites, were Hey, You, Idiot, That Thing, It, and Bitch.'

And which leave Jane, despite her affection for her niece, far from an entirely sympathetic character - two examples of her initial reaction to others who are also trying to unravel Yuna's web of deceit:

'She was so enraged by the shameless look on his face that she almost took the hot frying pan and hit him across the face with it, omelet and all. If only she had screamed out in anger and told him to fuck off, she might have felt less resentment to him in the future.'
and
'She shouldn’t have run out of the café like that yesterday. She should have broken Min-young’s fingers. That way she wouldn’t have been able to send Jane such an infuriating email.'

And Yuna's manipulation causes those around her to exhibit not just mistrust in each other, but also unconscious obedience to Yuna, and a refusal to believe what is increasingly clear, as it might destroy their world view:

There are moments in life when everything suddenly comes into focus, when it feels like you can see the entire universe. This was one of those moments. The curtain of unconsciousness that had been covering Jane’s eyes had been torn down in one swift motion. The wall of resistance had been toppled in one blow. The imagination that had been locked away burst like a dam. Jane was terrified of her own imagination for being able to accept such a possibility.

Against that, the monstrous Yuna could come across as a rather extreme character, although the author has said this is based on someone who marred her own life (hopefully not to the extent of multiple murder/manslaughter though). And the novel can sag a bit as the characters carefully reconstruct movements and facts to piece together the jigsaw.

2.5 stars rounded to 3

I knew well into going in requesting for this author’s work, that it would not be an easy read. Having read two of their previous works, and knowing their style, it was expected to be this way. What I did not expect was for the author to reveal that they were also manipulated by a narcissist.
The story unfolds around Yuna, a narcissist whose actions stem from a hurt that ran deep since childhood. But what follows is her “search” for happiness, but entirely on her terms. The narration never went in with Yuna’s POV. It was told in through the eyes of her daughter, her ex-husband, her husband and her sister. Each having their own harrowing details to add, and each trying to grapple with the extend of Yuna’s cruelty.
This was not an easy read. And I don’t mean to say this about the writing, but about the story and premise as a whole. It leaves behind a lot of scars, ones that most certainly cannot be erased with time.

This book offers an intricate character study of one person through the eyes of several people close to her. Though, I don't know if it's the translation or the original writing style, I had a hard time getting into the story and staying engaged.

This book was great I liked it my first from this author won’t be my last thank you for this book I will recommend

'La felicità completa si raggiunge per sottrazione', afferma ineffabile la protagonista del romanzo. 'Elimino qualsiasi cosa la minacci'.
Niente e nessuno è al riparo da Yuna e dalla sua lotta per ottenere una vita perfetta; se solo non continuasse a incontrare persone che vogliono sabotarla...!
Storia di una narcisista e della distruzione che lascia sulla sua scia, raccontata (con grande efficacia) da tre punti di vista diversi (tre vittime del suo ego: figlia, sorella, marito); mai dal suo, scelta che rende la vicenda ancora più efficace, e permette di vedere anche i meccanismi che inducono chi la circonda a scelte incomprensibili, se non si tengono in considerazione le trappole che vengono tese all'interno della psiche delle sue prede.
Appassionante e inquietante.

Perfect Happiness is a haunting portrayal of the extremes someone might go to preserve an ideal—and what happens when that ideal starts to crack. If you’re drawn to psychologically complex characters and dark domestic noir with a sharp edge, this novel will stay with you long after the final page

The struggle with perfection is a moral implication that society has forced you to perform behaviors instead of truly living for yourself. This is a story about a narcissist who destroys everyone around her for personal gain and temporary pleasures. The way this has resonated with me was how impactful narcissists can be with an intent to harm and weigh down my sense of self – this hit hard. The façade of perfection being achievable is what creates the horror in this novel. This is a slow paced read through that really earns the eerie trophy through a reprehensible action of just one narcissist.
The third person was difficult for me to get into the narrative in the first three chapters but it grew on me. Because even with this third perspective we are experiencing the dreams with the protagonist and feeling like we are losing our minds with them. We are losing the sense of reality and how to be able to rely on the narration with how well it is written. The monotony of playing the behavior handbook of domesticity is loud in the pacing of the narrative.
I love the themes these narrative presents and it really makes me question, how do we measure luck? If happiness is a measure then how does that perspective change from person to person? Sometimes the transitions between chapters felt abrupt and I needed to reread the last few lines to fully gather my thoughts in the current setting – but this was a delightful but dark read. What completely factored into my rating was the combination of pacing and the thriller aspects being nearly too subtle. Thank you Net Galley and Creature Publishing for the opportunity to read this digital arc in advance and then provide an honest review!