Truman show meets hunger games but less interesting. ( )

I found that I didn't enjoy the book as much as I thought I would. I tend to gravitate towards stories about dystopian futures that are a bit grittier and dark, and I am sure outside of Snowglobe that would be the case. Most of this story took place inside Snowglobe, a city that provides reality tv entertainment for the masses who toil away outside the city providing power for everyone. One, I'm not a fan of reality tv and secondly, and it's not necessarily a bad thing, this is definitely targeted to the Young Adult reader. I was really more interested in finding out how this world came to be more than the pop culture drama that was being played inside of it. ( )

DNF @page 121/33%

Lots of little things that annoyed me added up to finally being too much so I decided not to finish. I tried to overlook the various things that didn’t quite make sense and just couldn’t push through.

First sentence: In the living room, Grandma is sunk in her chair in front of her favorite TV show, a heavy quilt draped over her lap. I look down at the weather ticker scrolling away along the bottom of the screen.

I read the description of this one and that was enough of a hook to get me. I'm not sure I could do the book justice by trying to summarize it. You should know it is set in a futuristic dystopia. The world building was FANTASTIC. The characters were well-developed, fleshed out. The plot was both simple and complex.

It stars a sixteen year old, Jeon Chobahm, who wants to be part of their world--Snowglobe. The residents of Snowglobe seemingly have it all. The residents are actors, directors, celebrities if you will. They are the only people on earth to live in a warm climate. The rest of the world is in perpetual winter or ice age. Her dream is to be a director, to be direct one of the shows of Snowglobe.

Be careful what you wish for. She'll be presented with an opportunity. Does she have the right to say no? Maybe? maybe not? Regardless, she does NOT want to miss this opportunity. She runs straight for it. It is only afterwards when she begins to suspect that the Snowglobe she knows through the screen isn't the real Snowglobe.

I am so glad I borrowed this one from the library. It was such a fascinating/engaging read. Usually dystopian novels require a LOT of suspension of disbelief. You almost read with an eye-roll. It may be very entertaining, but equally obnoxious. Some are so heavy-handed and ridiculous hitting you over the head with a couple of hammers that there's no fun to be had. This one I completely became absorbed in. I didn't feel manipulated or preached at. ( )

Mesmerizing!

Snowglobe is a young adult dystopian tale by author Korean author Soyoung Park, recently translated into English by Joungmin Lee Comfort. It is book one of a duology, so readers need to be prepared to hold on when all their questions are not answered in this volume. But, with its intriguing premise, engagingly relatable main characters, and nimble execution, Snowglobe is pure entertainment.

The main character is Jeon Chobahm, a sixteen-year-old twin living in the frigid “open” world with her mother, twin brother, Ongi, and grandmother, who is firmly within the grasp of dementia. Since graduating from school ten months earlier, she and Ongi have been working 10-hour days at the power plant with their mother.

Chobahm’s dream is to become a director of reality show-styled programming in the domed city of Snowglobe, where it is all created and filmed. She is conflicted when her idol, director Cha Seol, offers her the opportunity to “help” her on her most famous show, Goh Around, by secretly replacing the star, an amazing lookalike named Haeri. With this harsh background and difficult bleakness looming, Chobahm is amazingly hopeful for her future, and it was easy to understand her agreeing to Director Cha’s scheme. Her innocent beliefs are quickly challenged.

While Chobahm struggles with the ethics of the impersonation, the unsettling dynamics in the Goh family, and the actions and agenda of the intimidating and dangerous Cha Seol, she sinks into her role as Haeri more easily than I would have expected. Her long attention to the show prepares her well. But what happens off-camera is tense and stressful, and Chobahm has no one she can trust. As her masquerade continues, she uncovers startling revelations that the viewers at home are completely unaware of.

The setting of the domed city of Snowglobe is one of the things that drew me to this story, but with Chobahm’s hectic, supervised life, we only get a narrow glimpse of what it’s like. She’s in a very restricted niche, and her life stays pretty much in that lane except for a couple of wrong moves on her part. We have a much more robust vision of the open world than the physical nature of Snowglobe proper.

The story is well-told and nicely paced, with some eye-opening twists and turns to keep me glued to its pages. I read almost the entirety of the book in one reading session without even a thought for a break. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any information about the sequel.

I recommend SNOWGLOBE to readers of young adult fiction and dystopian stories.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through TBR and Beyond Book Tours. ( )