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There are currently 27 member reviews
for The Stone Home
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Bill B. (Choctaw, OK)
Prison Walls
Ms. Kim has composed a heartfelt, thought-provoking novel. It kept my interest through my three reading time periods. She brought back "The Gulag Archipelago" for me, with similar tortures suffered by the prisoners. Then, there is the conclusion--with the prevailing knife symbol. I felt their pain and their undeniable need to survive.
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Lynne Z. (San Francisco, CA)
History Continues to Repeat Itself
The Stone Home uncovers yet another story of evil, cruelty and inhumanity inflicted upon innocent victims. It is difficult to read about the atrocities that occurred in the "reformatory" institutions of South Korea, and Crystal Hana Kim does not spare the details. What she does so skillfully, however, is to weave this history, with believable characters and a compelling story that kept my interest to the last page. By rotating chapters with Eunju and Sangchul's points of view, and by going back and forth from 1980 to 2011, Kim was able to reveal bits of information slowly and fully develop her characters. My only criticism is that I was often confused with Korean words, especially terms of address. I highly recommend this book for its fine writing and for uncovering a dark period of history.
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Stephanie K. (Glendale, AZ)
Hidden Horrors Brought to Light
Crystal Hana Kim's the Stone Home is a poignant fictional account of "reformatory school" atrocities committed in 1980s South Korea. The novel resonates deeply with today's hot-button topics of child abuse and wartime brutality. Anyone with an interest in hidden history and its resolution, not to mention finding solutions to human trafficking and forced birth, will find it both truthful and horrifying in its implications. Although written about a time long ago, the feelings and issues presented are timeless in nature. The book demonstrates, above all, that people are people, no matter what their circumstances, ethnicity or history.
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Donna C. (Pismo Beach, CA)
The Stone Home continues the spotlights provided by Nickel Boys and A Council of Dolls
As hard as it is to acknowledge and accept the reality of recurrent instances of intentional, institutional human to human cruelty and carnage across our world, the talented authors who bring them to light offer a deeper and realistic understanding of these devastating truths along with hope for a future where such actions can never again occur.
In her harrowing but remarkably creative and dynamic new novel The Stone Home, Crystal Hana Kim delivers a rich and detailed story of one such "residential school" in South Korea during the 1980s. With memorable and extraordinary characters, their intense relationships and gut-wrenching actions, Kim delivers a seamless, dual timeline picture of human emotions at their best and worst – hate, fear, anger, love and loyalty amid courage and the determination to survive – all alongside a slowly unraveling mystery. I couldn't put it down – definitely the most sorrowful and best book I've read this year!
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Victoria B. (Little River, SC)
A Difficult But Important Book
If you think, by the publisher's description, that this book is just a coming-of-age story in South Korea, you would be mistaken. It is so much more. The Stone Home tells the story of Eunju Oh and her mother who were picked up off the streets in Gunsan and transported to a reform/rehabilitation facility. There they find hard work, impossible demands, discrimination, imprisonment, and ultimately hope and family within a community suffering the same fate. The story of Eunju and her mother becomes intertwined with that of two brothers who have also been brought to the institution.
The novel details this difficult period in South Korea's history through different perspectives and lenses. The beautiful, raw, and often violent prose doesn't tell the complete story but gives a strong voice to the real citizens who suffered the same fate.
While I would strongly recommend The Stone Home to anyone who wants to learn about this tragic time, I would also suggest that this is not a book for sensitive readers.
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Mary A. (Lake Nebagamon, WI)
A Story that will stay with me for a very long time.
This story takes place in the 1980's. The South Korean government is in turmoil and may be chosen for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. They must collect the orphaned, homeless and disturbed vagrants off the streets.
The story speaks of what they have gone through. It shows our strengths and weaknesses in dealing with evil. How we become stronger together. At times disturbing to read. It is point in history that has been repeated elsewhere and must be read for history repeats itself.
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Kay E
The Stone Home
I like books that present situations of which I am unaware. This book had me wondering, "How could this be allowed to happen?" Home should be a place of warmth and comfort. In South Korea where this story unfolds, there is no warmth or comforting. There are friendships, hardships, leaders, and followers. There is loyalty, betrayal, abuse, death and escape. This book is not uplifting, but truly thought provoking. I recommend this book to those who like historical images woven with fiction books.
