"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙨. 𝙄𝙛 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙖, 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙚."

Ahn Love opens with Margaret visiting her father, Sam Ahn, for his ninetieth birthday. He’s widowed, lonely, and holding on to this heartbreaking belief that if his orchids bloom, his wife will somehow return to him.

That moment pulls Margaret back to the summer of ’69, to a seven-day cruise across the Pacific when she was still a lovesick teenager nicknamed Monkey. It’s where everything began to shift, family tensions, her uncle’s "betrayal", and her mother’s fateful encounter that would shape the years to come. The story moves fluidly, drifting between past and present, and it really does feel like you’re inside Margaret’s thoughts as she remembers and processes everything.

This one hit close to home for me. As someone who’s close to my parents, I saw a lot of myself in Margaret. That constant pull, wanting to be there for your parents, to spend time with them, but also being caught up in your own life and responsibilities. I also loved how much you can feel Margaret’s love for her father. Her admiration towards him is something steady and unspoken throughout the narrative in the way she reflects on him.

This book touches on so many things: grief, love, forgiveness, family, and finding your place in all of it. It’s hard to pin it down to just one idea. It just feels very genuine and human.

What a gorgeous gorgeous book! The cover alone drew me in because it is simply stunning but the storyline as someone who is grief loss and all the things I could relate so much to this storyline and it was a beautiful reflection on life and love

[ARC REVIEW 📖]

Ahn Love
Author : Frances Park

The novel begins w/ Margaret visiting her hometown, Blue Stone, for her father's (Sam Ahn) 90th birthday. Widowed & lonely, Mr. Ahn still waits for his late wife (got into an accident & died) truly believing & convinced that she will come back once the orchids start to bloom.

This triggers memories & past experiences w/in Margaret, especially the family's seven-day cruise across the Pacific back in the summer of 1969, where a once happy family was destroyed in an instant due to betrayal & death. Just goes to show no family is perfect.

I love how mature Margaret was for her age at the time her mother was so emotionally disturbed at the cruise. I also adored her & Adam Kang's romantic love story. Kinda reminded of Titanic for some reason. 😅

My favorite was Uncle Bong & he was such an inspiring character too! I love how he was brave & determined enough to go find his own path in life.

I have to say though that the part about the mother's death was vaguely described that I have a feeling there should be more details about this "Eggman".

To be honest, I am generally not a fan of such poetic style of writing. It was a struggle to read, but the plot especially w/ the character-driven persona in the novel, made me stick through it & touched my heart. I am glad I was able to read this novel. 🥹

Thank you Netgalley, Penguin Random House SEA, & to the author for the opportunity to read! 🥹🫶

4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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