And the River Drags Her Down
by Jihyn Yun
Young Adult Fiction
Korean American Soojin and her sister Mirae, like all women in their family, have the power of reviving the dead by placing a small fragment of the deceased being into the ground. Their mother has died in a car crash, but she had warned the sisters against ever using their powers on anything larger than a small animal. Their father being emotionally distant, Mirae has become Soojin’s parental figure since their mother’s death. When Mirae dies unexpectedly in a drowning accident, Soojin is so lonely and lost without her sister that she dares to break her mother’s rules about never using their powers on a human. She brings her sister back using a baby tooth that she still had in her dresser drawer. She is so thrilled to have her sister back that she fails to notice signs that Mirae is not quite the same, dismisses the dark marks appearing on her own body, and does not make the connection when some of the town’s powerful residents are mysteriously attacked.
I love that this novel manages to be equal parts creepy and poignant. While the terror surrounding Mirae’s resurrection grows, we see Soojin’s profound loneliness, grief, and inability to let go. Yun’s writing is incredible, managing to root us in reality while the fantastic unfolds. Some of her strongest writing is the depiction of the friendship between Soojin and incredibly patient Mark (who has obviously fallen for Soojin) and in her poetic descriptions of natural settings. I also appreciate the nod to elements of Korean culture in the story.
It is remarkable that And the River Drags Her Down is Yun’s debut novel. The cover art is simply stunning and, happily, in this case, the story inside lives up to the cover. It is deserving of its Kirkus starred review. And for those who appreciate a local connection, Yun is a resident of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Reviewed by Bryan Latimer
Zauel Library
