Book Review: Snow Globe by Soyoung Park

Snowglobe by Soyoung Park 

Translated by Joungmin Lee Comfort

Genre: YA Dystopian, Mystery, SciFi

Concept: The "Snowglobe" is the only place left on Earth that is warm, because a climate disaster caused the entire Earth to freeze over. In exchange for living there, the residents must broadcast their lives for the entertainment of others. Specifically those who work in the powerplant, whose work supplies the power to the Snowglobe and their necessities, are their primary viewers. Jeon Chobham, a powerplant worker and an aspiring director, is chosen to replace one of the actors; Haeri who has committed suicide, to cover up for her death. 

⭐⭐⭐.5

Would recommend

TLDR(+no spoilers): I would recommend Snowglobe to anyone who enjoys a good dystopian, sci-fi, or mystery novel. Especially to those who enjoy dystopian commentaries on the climate, and the future of television and the acting industry. And as long as you don't mind one too many characters named Haeri. 

Normal review (spoilers):

This book was interesting, exciting, and an entertaining read overall, through having a very interesting world, of which I would have liked to explore more – much like other directors   and shows within the Snowglobe. Within the second book of the duology, I hope to see more exploring. The main twist of the main character, Haeri and others being part of a genetic experiment to create the perfect actor, was somehow both shocking, yet expected, at the same time.

While I could hardly put the book down, the mystery wasn’t as compelling as others that I have read. Possibly twist being a genetic experiment wasn’t very new, I have read numerous dystopian books where the twist or a secret is the characters are part of a genetic experiment. The build up to the twist was slow. Or because the main character Chobham spent a decent portion of the book attempting to ignore all of the issues and secrets around her. However, once she is forced to see the problems surrounding her, she is almost immediately presented with the fact that she is part of a genetic experiment by Director Cha’s (the one who created the experiment) sister. Granted it is after she is sent out of Snowglobe so there are less people keeping secrets. Overall this book is interesting and entertaining and it brings up many important and interesting questions about the fate of the world, climate change, surveillance, the realities of the film industry – particularly with child actors and reality television.