The Last Story Of Mina Lee is a debut novel by Nancy Joooyoun Kim that is riveting in compassion, bursting with love, and enormously complex in family matters of the heart.
First and foremost, I must confess to having been selected to review this new work for Harlequin books and I'm thrilled at this opportunity.
In this new novel we have not only shifting storylines but building tensions with these two main characters Margot-the daughter and Mina-the mother.
As the story cautiously moves forward readers realize Mina won't make it and passes away from a hematoma while her daughter Margot tries to piece her life and her loving legacy back together.
The book progresses slowly as the tension builds into this private life of Margot that hardly anyone knew existed. It's quite interesting to see the author use this time to go between alternating chapters through Margot's current time frame in uncovering the truth about her mother to her mother's past some 30 years sooner during the summer she first moved to Los Angeles.
Sadly, Mina's life was one hardship after another and many reviewers noted they felt that Margot was just a sublet or building block to this life of hard knocks.
I don't feel the same as I felt both women stood their own ground as tenacious women looking to make their mark in the world.
Margot also had this side interest in Jonathan a co-worker who is blind and widowed and I'd loved to have seen a bit more between these two.
The creepy feel concerning Mr. Park was another section of the book that I found rather interesting as it showcased danger in a different light and one that resulted in weapons being used to simply feel safe and secure.
The diversity and culture was truly a great take away that I hope many readers will enjoy in this new work that truly captivated my heart, mind, and soul.
The climactic ending with the initial discussion of who Margot's father might be and the interconnected family history was quite surprising and revealing and kept me flipping the pages.
Thank you to Nancy, the pub, Netgalley, and Amazon Kindle for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.
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