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The Last Story of Mina Lee
The Last Story of Mina Lee: A Novel | Nancy Jooyoun Kim
159 posts | 82 read | 1 reading | 42 to read
An electrifying debut novel for fans of Celeste Ng and Jean Kwok, The Last Story of Mina Lee is a poignant mother-daughter story and surprising mystery that illustrates the devastating realities of being an immigrant in America. Margot Lees mother, Mina, isnt returning her calls. Its a mystery to twenty-six-year-old Margot, until she visits her childhood apartment in Koreatown, LA, and finds that her mother has suspiciously died. The discovery sends Margot digging through the past, unraveling the tenuous invisible strings that held together her single mothers life as a Korean War orphan and an undocumented immigrant, only to realize how little she truly knew about her mother. Interwoven with Margots present-day search is Minas story of her first years in Los Angeles as she navigates the promises and perils of the American myth of reinvention. Barely earning a living by stocking shelves at a Korean grocery store, the last thing Mina ever expects is to fall in love. But that love story sets in motion a string of events that have consequences for years to come, leading up to the truth of what happened the night of her death. Told through the intimate lens of a mother and daughter who have struggled all their lives to understand each other, The Last Story of Mina Lee is both a gripping page-turner and a profound family saga that explores identity, secrets and what it truly means to belong.
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eldiaquemeodies
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Pickpick

Lovely book so far! I'm on page 150 and I'm really intrigued about the story of Mina

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LapReader
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The Byron Bay Library had a book sale on while I was there. Grand total $3.50. Afterwards I went to The Beach hotel for lunch and had a delicious poke bowl and white wine with my mum, nan, niece and sister while the boys went fishing.

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Margot0817
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Mehso-so

I like the idea but I wish the characters had more depth and were more well rounded. However, I can see how someone would disagree with me. For some reason it just didn't hit quite right with me. It wasn't a story that I walked away from that made me so happy that I read it.

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Clwojick
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After finishing the tagged book, I‘ve completed 488 books this year… which is exactly how many I read last year. I‘m crushing it this year! ☺️

Suet624 Wow! 👏🏻👏🏻 2y
70 likes1 comment
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Kempfme
Pickpick

This is an amazing read of family and love.

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rjsthumbelina
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Pickpick

This wasn't an easy read, but it was worth it. A beautiful meditation on grief, family, and the life of an immigrant in the US. Read the second half in December, after life went crazy in November and I couldn't finish it with #sundaybuddyread. #WGwordsearch 560 pts
#wintergames #teamgamesleigher @StayCurious
#bookspinbingo #thefestivereadathon #averymerryreadathon #wintercosy #averymerrybingo #adventathon #dashingDecember 6 hrs =420

rjsthumbelina Total points for this one = 1,011 🎄 3y
tokorowilliamwallace I did consider ordering this as a BOTM add-on. I might have to eventually. I'm guessing it was poignant and affective? 3y
rjsthumbelina @tokorowilliamwallace I would say it's definitely poignant when talking about the immigrant experience. The meditation on grief was pretty strong as well - I liked being able to see how different characters had different types of grief and handled their grieving process in different ways 3y
25 likes4 comments
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DanaManiac
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Pickpick

4.5 ⭐️

~Considering all of the characters involved, this story is very easy to follow and it moves quickly.
~I related to a lot of the elements of being first-generation American and felt for both Margot and Mina.
~The genre felt all over the place, but I don't think it was a bad thing- it just felt like a complicated story of intertwined lives.
~Some elements felt unresolved- the driver, the trip to Vegas, etc.

TheBookHippie This is the best review and captures the read perfectly! 3y
DanaManiac @TheBookHippie Thanks! I‘m still in shock over that plot twist 🥴 3y
TheBookHippie @DanaManiac SAME! Plus everytime I see red lipstick I think of this book ! 💄 3y
DanaManiac @TheBookHippie 🤣🤣🤣 and when I go to the grocery store, I wonder if there‘s drama behind the scenes. Very impactful book!! 3y
TheBookHippie @DanaManiac 😂😂😬🤷🏻‍♀️ 3y
20 likes5 comments
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DebinHawaii
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Pickpick

A solid pick for me, but more a mother-daughter, immigrant experience & coming of age story than the mystery it gets tagged as. Although Margot investigates her mother‘s death, it focuses more on Mina‘s life, her secrets & the divide between an immigrant parent & her American-born daughter. I enjoyed reading it with the #sundaybuddyread group because of the discussions & the descriptions of LA, Korea Town & the delicious food brought it to life.

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Karisa
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Pickpick

How well can we really know our parents? In this modern murder mystery a daughter must untangle her Korean immigrant mother‘s secretive past in the hopes of getting answers to both her mother‘s death and her own life. It kept me guessing until the end.

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janeycanuck
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Pickpick

Kim should write more novel-length fiction. She spun such beautiful characters in this novel. The mystery aspect didn‘t really work for me but I loved Mina‘s story, it was so captivating.

AmyG I loved Mina‘s story, too. The mystery fell a bit flat for me, too. 3y
Sargar114 Agreed! Mina‘s story really drove this one. 3y
36 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Sargar114
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Pickpick

What a gem this ended up being. I did not expect to like this one as much as I did. The story of Margot (an only child raised by a single Korean immigrant mother) and her investigation into her mother‘s life as well as her own heritage. I loved LA as a character and the food descriptions had me salivating! Read for #sundaybuddyread and was my #bookspin for October

AmyG Agree to all of this! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
27 likes2 comments
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CoffeeNBooks
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Mehso-so

I really wanted to like this one, and was very interested in Mina's story. The parts with Margot's story, though, almost seemed like they were written by someone else- the writing and dialogue, as well as Margot's thoughts and actions just didn't always seem to make sense.

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Andrew65
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Mehso-so

This one started off well but as it progressed found my concentration was drifting. Felt it needed more pace and direction in the story. May be better if read than audiobook but wasn‘t able to get a copy of the book #SundayBuddyRead

7th and last book finished for #NovelNovember

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DebinHawaii
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My 3rd Saturday of the month dinner is the dim sum (radish cakes, shrimp & chive dumplings & taro puffs) I grab from the craft & product market by my house. I spent a good portion of the day laying about getting over the after-effects of my booster shot so a late dinner & my chapters for #sundaybuddyread discussion tomorrow. It‘s Chinese food rather than the Korean food in the book, but it is still delicious.

63 likes1 comment
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CoffeeNBooks
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For #NovelNovember day #4, I'm focusing on reading this week's discussion section of The Last Story of Mina Lee for #SundayBuddyRead. @Andrew65

Andrew65 Great 😊 3y
58 likes1 comment
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Andrew65
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Started listening to the second section of the book ready for #SundayBuddyRead

Reading this as part of #NovelNovember and #AnyWayYouReadathon

TheBookHippie Can‘t wait to hear what you think is happening !!!! 3y
Andrew65 @TheBookHippie It is incredibly puzzling!!! 3y
62 likes1 stack add2 comments