4 Stars
Told through multiple POVs but mostly following Gracie and her mother Ji-Eun, Cracks deals with many heavy hitting topics, but most of all how grief will follow you and if you don’t deal with it properly, it will also affect those closest to you.
Gracie is a Korean-American teenager who feels like she does not belong fully in either culture, her mother is dying and her father is either absent or abusive, and then there is the Mul-Gwishin, a ghost of someone who drowned, coming ever closer, dragging secrets from the past with her.
There are some nice and creepy moments early on when exploring Ji-Eun’s past and her ability to see ghosts, and of course things ramp up towards the finale, but most of the book actually explores Gracie’s and Ji-Eun’s inner thoughts. Their cultures clash and neither seems to fully understand what the other one tries to communicate. There is a lot of regret, grief, and longing in both their hearts. Personally, I think there is a bit too much contemplation and it does slow down the plot a bit, but I do find their experiences and inner conflicts interesting, so it does not harm my overall opinion too much.
Towards the end, parts of the novel felt very much YA, especially the story arcs with Drew and Amber, as well as the ending, but the rest of the book is serious and grown-up.
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